True. But unlike this BD vs HDDVD war which lasted only two years, the VHS vs Beta war lasted 12 years. (Beta introduced in 1975; VHS in 1976; Sony conceded defeat in 1988.) And unlike Toshiba right now who is refusing to make a BD player [officially; some sources still rumor that a Toshiba BD is in the prototype lab], Sony did make VHS recorders since its defeat.
I have noticed a pattern here: When there's a format war, it seems that the winning format is that format backed by Panasonic. Panasonic supported VHS since its beginning (I even believe Panasonic helped JVC design the format), also heavily promoted SVHS during its limited professional life (and also tried to market SVHS for home consumers, albeit with little success), sided with Toshiba & JVC's SDD (Super Density Disc) during its brief internal war with Sony & Philips' MMCD (MultiMedia Compact Disc), both formats ending up unified as DVD, co-invented DVHS along with JVC, and ultimately became one of the nine founding fathers of BD (along with big players Sony, Philips, Hitachi, Samsung, and Pioneer). So next time there is a consumer video format war (and the next one might involve holographic or 3D discs), just check out which side Panasonic chooses and stick to that side.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bizdady @ Feb 19th 2008 6:51PM
Sour grapes anyone?
Larry @ Feb 20th 2008 2:35AM
So better formats always win?
Err... VHS???
mugatu @ Feb 20th 2008 7:20AM
@Larry
VHS won BECAUSE it was better. Beta had half the recording capacity
of VHS. Get your facts straight before you get your flame on.
Leroy Vargas @ Feb 23rd 2008 6:35PM
True. But unlike this BD vs HDDVD war which lasted only two years, the VHS vs Beta war lasted 12 years. (Beta introduced in 1975; VHS in 1976; Sony conceded defeat in 1988.) And unlike Toshiba right now who is refusing to make a BD player [officially; some sources still rumor that a Toshiba BD is in the prototype lab], Sony did make VHS recorders since its defeat.
I have noticed a pattern here: When there's a format war, it seems that the winning format is that format backed by Panasonic. Panasonic supported VHS since its beginning (I even believe Panasonic helped JVC design the format), also heavily promoted SVHS during its limited professional life (and also tried to market SVHS for home consumers, albeit with little success), sided with Toshiba & JVC's SDD (Super Density Disc) during its brief internal war with Sony & Philips' MMCD (MultiMedia Compact Disc), both formats ending up unified as DVD, co-invented DVHS along with JVC, and ultimately became one of the nine founding fathers of BD (along with big players Sony, Philips, Hitachi, Samsung, and Pioneer). So next time there is a consumer video format war (and the next one might involve holographic or 3D discs), just check out which side Panasonic chooses and stick to that side.