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From: andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: net.video
Subject: Re: The Fate of Beta Format
Message-ID: <1912@orca.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 29-Nov-85 17:46:13 EST
Article-I.D.: orca.1912
Posted: Fri Nov 29 17:46:13 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 2-Dec-85 03:28:19 EST
References: <703@leadsv.UUCP> <1666@hammer.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 34

>>
>>	Do people on the net think that Beta will last?  Or is
>>Sony going to eventually cave in and adopt VHS?  I am thinking about
>>buying a VCR.  Anytime I have seen a market like this, everyone
>>eventually adopts one format( e.g. IBM).  But there are incentives to 
>>buy Beta.  If I go with Sony will I be left hanging in a couple of years?
>
>Why would Sony spend the bucks for developing Beta HiFi and SuperBeta
>if they planned on dumping the format?  People have been saying that
>Sony should drop Beta for years now, but Sony just keeps improving it,
>keeping Beta ahead of VHS technically, if not in sales.

Let's go back a few years and change some names ...

"Do people think that CED videodisks will last?  I am thinking about
buying a videodisk player, and I like laserdisk but there are
incentives to buy the RCA CED ..."

"Why would RCA spend the bucks for developing stereo CED disks and
interactive (mucho special effects) if they planned on dumping the
format?"

This sort of argument doesn't seem to wash.

Please, no flames about Beta/VHS quality vs CED/laserdisk quality.  I
personally don't think that Beta will die soon, but I see Sony putting
more of their work into 8mm and less emphasis on Beta.  When 8mm
quality reaches Beta quality (and it will -- analogy with audio tape
reel-to-reel vs cassette; they stopped improving RtR quality but
continued pushing cassette quality to parity), then I think Sony will
stop pushing Beta altogether.  Just my opinion, of course.

  -=- Andrew Klossner   (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew)       [UUCP]
                        (tekecs!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay)  [ARPA]