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From: wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin )
Newsgroups: net.video
Subject: Re: Why are prerecorded tapes so ?!$# expensive ?
Message-ID: <10507@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 8-May-85 13:10:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.10507
Posted: Wed May  8 13:10:39 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 10-May-85 21:15:31 EDT
References: <5260@cbscc.UUCP> <654@vortex.UUCP>
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In article <654@vortex.UUCP> root@vortex.UUCP (The Superuser) writes:
>One factor is the fact that (for all practical purposes) most videotape
>duplicating is done in realtime.  With discs, you just stamp them out.
>With audio tapes, you can do high speed duplication.  But for helical
>video, there are major problems with high speed duplication and most
>(if not all) of the manufacturing is done in 1:1 realtime.  This
>is a slow process, and it is reflected in the costs.
>--Lauren--

The thing is that SOME tapes are retailed at $39.95 list, while others
have lists of $79.95, or $89.95, etc. If a company can make money 
duplicting and selling any one tape at $39.95, they can just as
easily sell ALL tapes for $39.95. And these are current, high-return-
to-the-participants tapes. Old movies retail for $11.95 at K-Mart.

I think I can use your argument against you -- if you have to make
real-time duplicates, it is just as easy to switch the master any
time and make different tapes; with high-volume stamping, it costs
more to stop the line and change the master to make different items.
So real-time duplication could lead to it being as easy to make many
different tapes, all at the same low cost. The only higher cost factor 
would be that the per-item printing costs for the sleeves would be
higher (25 cents instead or 5 cents, maybe? piffle!). So there should be
a wide variety of tapes available at the lower lists (like $39.95 for 
newly-released movies).

Will