Why was VHS chosen as the standard format for video tape? Wasn’t Sony first with Beta?
If I remember correctly, it didn’t matter who was first. More of the big manufacturers chose to go with VHS, therefore Beta didn’t get the market penetration that it needed to be successful in the long term. There were more VHS VCRs so more companies made their products in that format and that caused MORE companies to turn towards VHS. Everything snowballed from there.
The full story, from Urbanlegends.com:
http://www.urbanlegends.com/products/beta_vs_vhs.html
Actually Philips was first with 2000 which had best quality of the three. Then Sony with Beta which was better than VHS and lastly Panasonic with VHS. What won the war was marketing strategy.
Philips and Sony (like Apple Computers) thought they had such a hot product it would sweep the market and they did not license it to others while VHS (like PC) was licensed and ended up winner.
Philips and Sony learnt a lesson and their joint effort in developing the CD was a market success.
I agree with the urban legends link in most regards, esp. how the 6 vs 4.75 hour recording time played a big role (caused in turn by Sony’s preference for a smaller cassette). But it also varied by country. In England, according to Palsite, rental of Video Cassette Players was popular. Since VHS players were slightly cheaper, the British rental industry went that way.
The issue of “no noticable difference playback quality” of course enrages all decent honest Betaphiles. It also ignores that there were/are standard features on Beta machines that are not available at all or only on much more expensive VHS machines. I remember when I bought my SLHF-300 at Circuit City and the salesidiot wanted me to buy a VHS with Dolby. I couldn’t believe someone selling VCRs could be that stupid. Dolby? You have got to be kidding me?
Example, I was cleaning and adjusting my Toshiba Beta machine earlier in the week. I put in some old tapes from the 80’s in to check it out and was just floored by the image quality. I didn’t know the $5 garage sale TV set in my shop could produce such a sharp image. This Beta VCR from 1984 is HiFi Stereo, 4 heads, instant scan/review (does your VHS do that?), and does 2x speed playback with sound. Can you even buy a VHS machine today with 2x speed with sound?
I never rented tapes anyway and bought out the local Incredible Universe’s Beta tape stock when it went out of business, so I’m set for a good long time.
I learn new stuff every day.
I have an old Beta C7 which would make a good anchor for my boat if it weight half as much as it does. The motor that moves the threading part does not work well but I can help it along manually and it will then play. The only reason I keep it is until I can transfer my tapes to MPG and then I’ll toss it. There’s no way I want to lose those tapes I shot with some of my girlfriends… if you know what I mean 