1 00:00:00,089 --> 00:00:04,980 This video is part two of an exploration on why Sony’s Betamax video recording format 2 00:00:04,980 --> 00:00:07,790 lost to the more ubiquitous VHS. 3 00:00:07,790 --> 00:00:12,040 We were comparing these two machines, and we saw how Sony had introduced BetaScan, but 4 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:13,840 they had overlooked something. 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,049 Here comes a link to get to part one. 6 00:00:16,049 --> 00:00:19,750 We left off with me saying that this machine falls flat on its face. 7 00:00:19,750 --> 00:00:21,685 What’s most important to consumers is 8 00:00:21,685 --> 00:00:24,039 the machine’s flexibility at recording shows. 9 00:00:24,039 --> 00:00:27,350 And here’s where the Sony machine falls flat on its face. 10 00:00:27,350 --> 00:00:29,320 See, that’s where we left off. 11 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:30,320 Now, 12 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,870 In addition to spending time and resources making new features that the buyer didn’t 13 00:00:33,870 --> 00:00:37,760 know they needed, Sony also seemed to just keep flailing their arms about and making 14 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:42,200 stupid decisions about other basic necessities, and it shows in this model. 15 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:47,330 Initially, they thought things like timers were silly features to include in their machines. 16 00:00:47,330 --> 00:00:51,771 As Marc Wielage and Rod Woodcock recall in their piece The Rise and Fall of Beta, one 17 00:00:51,771 --> 00:00:55,829 Sony executive, when asked why his machines didn’t include a timer when the competition 18 00:00:55,829 --> 00:01:00,710 did, explained that “Having separate timer allows the consumer to use it for other purposes. 19 00:01:00,710 --> 00:01:02,350 And not everyone needs timer. 20 00:01:02,350 --> 00:01:04,790 We do not force you to buy one.” 21 00:01:04,790 --> 00:01:06,520 Yeah, no. 22 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:12,020 While it sounds noble, the whole damn point of a VCR is to time-shift, recording things 23 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:13,560 when you’re gone. 24 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:15,659 That’s not possible without a timer. 25 00:01:15,659 --> 00:01:19,049 So selling it as an add-on is only going to piss people off and look like a money-grab. 26 00:01:19,049 --> 00:01:21,369 Great job, guys. 27 00:01:21,369 --> 00:01:25,939 While they did come around and include a timer in most of the models, the timer wasn’t 28 00:01:25,939 --> 00:01:28,560 nearly advanced as what the competition offered. 29 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,430 The Sony unit has a 3 day, 1 event timer. 30 00:01:31,430 --> 00:01:35,910 Take a look, programming is pretty simple, you just hold down the program button and pick 31 00:01:35,910 --> 00:01:36,979 a time. 32 00:01:36,979 --> 00:01:41,000 Then you select what day, either today--tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. 33 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,409 And lastly you choose how long you want it to record for. 34 00:01:43,409 --> 00:01:47,509 Once you’ve punched that in, you select the channel you want it to record, hold down 35 00:01:47,509 --> 00:01:50,889 the record button, and move the power switch to timer. 36 00:01:50,889 --> 00:01:53,219 Not too difficult, but also not too impressive. 37 00:01:53,219 --> 00:01:56,359 Let’s hope you’re not gone longer than just a weekend. 38 00:01:56,359 --> 00:01:59,289 And let’s hope there’s only one program you want to record. 39 00:01:59,289 --> 00:02:02,729 The RCA model, meanwhile, has a 4 event, 7 day timer. 40 00:02:02,729 --> 00:02:06,340 And it’s actually less frustrating to program, as you don’t have to hold a button down 41 00:02:06,340 --> 00:02:09,049 while making adjustments at the same time. 42 00:02:09,049 --> 00:02:13,819 Turn the selector from manual to program, then select which program, a, b, c, or d, 43 00:02:13,819 --> 00:02:14,819 you want to input. 44 00:02:14,819 --> 00:02:15,989 First, you pick the day. 45 00:02:15,989 --> 00:02:20,640 0 is today, 1 tomorrow, 2 the day after tomorrow, etc. 46 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:24,690 I’ll admit, that’s not as easy to work out as Sony’s in-your-face wording. 47 00:02:24,690 --> 00:02:29,689 But it’s way more capable--Also, A means it will record every day. 48 00:02:29,689 --> 00:02:33,670 That means one program can actually create multiple daily recordings, which is pretty 49 00:02:33,670 --> 00:02:34,690 neat. 50 00:02:34,690 --> 00:02:38,540 This lever switches between the start time, and how long you want it to record. 51 00:02:38,540 --> 00:02:42,459 So, say I want to start at 4 PM, and record for an hour and a half. 52 00:02:42,459 --> 00:02:47,540 Set the time to 4, turn this to select the length, and then 1 hour thirty minutes. 53 00:02:47,540 --> 00:02:51,140 This is more versatile than the Sony, as you might want it to start recording a minute 54 00:02:51,140 --> 00:02:54,959 before your show starts and stop a minute afterwards to make sure nothing is missed. 55 00:02:54,959 --> 00:02:59,239 You’re not limited to thirty minute increments like here on the Sony. 56 00:02:59,239 --> 00:03:03,560 But the most important way this machine kicks the pants off the Sony is here. 57 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,270 Notice how the channel is flashing. 58 00:03:05,270 --> 00:03:07,170 It wants you to select it. 59 00:03:07,170 --> 00:03:10,799 That’s right, the RCA machine will change channels for you. 60 00:03:10,799 --> 00:03:16,659 So, the Sony has BetaScan, but the RCA can record for 6 hours, on 4 different programs 61 00:03:16,659 --> 00:03:19,629 over a week, and even change channels for you. 62 00:03:19,629 --> 00:03:21,269 Which one would you buy? 63 00:03:21,269 --> 00:03:23,609 Sony just didn’t seem to get it. 64 00:03:23,609 --> 00:03:27,319 They released this device with virtually no regard to how their buyers would actually 65 00:03:27,319 --> 00:03:28,390 use it. 66 00:03:28,390 --> 00:03:31,829 The reason people flocked to recording time wasn’t simply that they wanted the machine 67 00:03:31,829 --> 00:03:36,330 to be able to record a very long program like a football game, it was also that they wanted 68 00:03:36,330 --> 00:03:40,230 it to be able to record a lot of different programs. 69 00:03:40,230 --> 00:03:45,450 A six hour recording time means 3 one hour shows and an entire weekday lineup of half-hour 70 00:03:45,450 --> 00:03:49,930 daily programming could be recorded on a single tape with room to spare. 71 00:03:49,930 --> 00:03:54,840 But to do that automatically, you need a timer that can start more than just one recording. 72 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:59,879 So while Sony caved and produced the Beta 3 speed, it was rather obtuse to not also 73 00:03:59,879 --> 00:04:03,689 add a complicated timer that can manage more than one program. 74 00:04:03,689 --> 00:04:08,190 Now to be fair, this RCA machine was probably a little more expensive than the Sony. 75 00:04:08,190 --> 00:04:12,660 Poking around online shows that the Sony retailed for, are you sitting down? 76 00:04:12,660 --> 00:04:17,110 One thousand 2 hundred fifty dollars, eek, and although I don’t have a firm price for 77 00:04:17,110 --> 00:04:23,039 the RCA model, this price chart from Popular Mechanics shows the Panasonic PV-1600, probably 78 00:04:23,039 --> 00:04:27,520 the exact same machine internally as this one given its features, at $1295. 79 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:32,500 But, this is for the absolute whiz-bang most complicated VCR on the market. 80 00:04:32,500 --> 00:04:36,430 As their ads proclaimed, nobody gives you more VCR than RCA. 81 00:04:36,430 --> 00:04:37,870 But what about lesser-models? 82 00:04:37,870 --> 00:04:42,919 Remember, I said that jumbled mess of how this machine came to be made was important. 83 00:04:42,919 --> 00:04:47,860 That’s because JVC was super-OK with other companies paying them a licensing fee to make 84 00:04:47,860 --> 00:04:53,220 their own VHS machines, and tons of companies offered VCRs from the most basic machines 85 00:04:53,220 --> 00:04:57,240 with a mechanical clock-timer to the crazy advanced ones like these. 86 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,870 This meant there was a lot of competition between manufacturers, and prices for VHS 87 00:05:01,870 --> 00:05:04,900 machines tended to stay lower than their Beta counterparts. 88 00:05:04,900 --> 00:05:09,860 A VHS model sporting a 3 day, one event timer like this Beta model may have cost a few hundred 89 00:05:09,860 --> 00:05:14,990 less, in fact this chart shows a Panasonic unit available for 995, although it can’t 90 00:05:14,990 --> 00:05:20,610 record at the SLP speed (not that it mattered all that much as a T-160 at LP was still more 91 00:05:20,610 --> 00:05:24,330 recording time than an L-810 at Beta 3). 92 00:05:24,330 --> 00:05:28,750 Now, sony did eventually come around and produce Beta machines for others, for example Sony 93 00:05:28,750 --> 00:05:32,759 produced some machines under the Zenith name, and they didn’t all out refuse to allow 94 00:05:32,759 --> 00:05:38,270 licensing--Sanyo and Toshiba both made Beta machines later on, as well as others. 95 00:05:38,270 --> 00:05:43,539 But the menagerie of VHS VCRs to choose from kept manufacturers in a price war with each 96 00:05:43,539 --> 00:05:49,440 other, and thus it was very common for a similarly-specced VHS machine to cost hundreds of dollars less 97 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:50,860 than a Beta model. 98 00:05:50,860 --> 00:05:53,670 Was sony completely wrong to avoid licensing? 99 00:05:53,670 --> 00:05:54,850 Perhaps not. 100 00:05:54,850 --> 00:05:59,310 The price war amongst VHS manufacturers meant they had to cut costs to compete with each 101 00:05:59,310 --> 00:06:04,409 other, and thus the machines tended to be less well made than Beta machines, with some 102 00:06:04,409 --> 00:06:05,680 cut corners. 103 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:10,169 But usually they were just as reliable as Sony’s machines, and details like a dampened 104 00:06:10,169 --> 00:06:14,630 cassette drawer and soft-touch buttons don’t mean much to the shopper if you can save a 105 00:06:14,630 --> 00:06:16,669 few hundred bucks by avoiding them. 106 00:06:16,669 --> 00:06:21,150 Plus, the intense competition between VHS manufacturers meant they had to compete with 107 00:06:21,150 --> 00:06:25,740 each other on features as well, so these companies were quickly learning what features mattered 108 00:06:25,740 --> 00:06:30,879 most to consumers, like decent timers, whereas Sony just kept chugging along doing their 109 00:06:30,879 --> 00:06:35,120 thing without stopping to ask what the consumer actually desired. 110 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,180 So again, which one of these would you buy? 111 00:06:38,180 --> 00:06:43,629 This RCA unit, with its extremely versatile timer and 6 hour recording time, or this Sony, 112 00:06:43,629 --> 00:06:48,860 with its one event timer, 4.5 hours recording time, and nice eject mechanism? 113 00:06:48,860 --> 00:06:51,350 Oh, and don’t forget BetaScan! 114 00:06:51,350 --> 00:06:56,740 But my favorite detail about this machine in particular is the recording speed selector. 115 00:06:56,740 --> 00:07:00,520 Notice how it chooses between Beta 2 and 3. 116 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:01,939 Where's 1? 117 00:07:01,939 --> 00:07:07,860 Sony basically admitted, in 1979, mind you, they effed up by proclaiming, well we know 118 00:07:07,860 --> 00:07:11,419 beta 1 is useless, so let’s just not let you use it anymore. 119 00:07:11,419 --> 00:07:15,960 This was only 4 years after the entire format was released! 120 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:20,520 This model has a switch to let you use Beta 1, but it’s located on the back under this 121 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,870 cover cause they really just don’t want you to think about it anymore. 122 00:07:23,870 --> 00:07:27,379 This is particularly hilarious because the Beta 1 speed offered a slightly better picture 123 00:07:27,379 --> 00:07:32,840 quality than VHS SP, which led many people to sing praises about Beta’s better picture, 124 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:38,320 but since Beta 2 became the standard it was essentially like recording on VHS LP all the 125 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,080 time, so the quality became pretty similar, in fact 126 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,260 you could say Beta 2 looks--and sounds, given the slower linear 127 00:07:44,260 --> 00:07:48,780 tape speed on non-hifi machines) slightly worse than VHS SP. 128 00:07:48,860 --> 00:07:51,442 We interrupt this program for a quick message: 129 00:07:51,442 --> 00:07:53,800 OK, you can’t say things like that without 130 00:07:53,819 --> 00:07:55,639 some people losing their minds in the comments. 131 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:59,780 Here’s some footage recorded on a VHS VCR at the SP speed. 132 00:08:07,940 --> 00:08:11,180 OK, now here’s the same footage on Beta at Beta 2. 133 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:21,380 Now here they are side by side. 134 00:08:21,380 --> 00:08:25,420 I will admit that this is using a newer VHS machine than the Beta one, 135 00:08:25,420 --> 00:08:29,560 not that this is a huge surprise given VHS machines were made long after Beta machines 136 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,020 and the Beta machine isn’t in perfect shape. 137 00:08:32,060 --> 00:08:33,690 But it still looks pretty similar. 138 00:08:33,690 --> 00:08:34,790 Oh, and sound. 139 00:08:34,790 --> 00:08:36,560 Here’s a clip from VHS SP. 140 00:08:45,220 --> 00:08:46,380 Now Beta 2. 141 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:55,840 So, decide for yourself. 142 00:08:55,850 --> 00:08:59,810 I’ll upload another video with all of this footage and details on my methodology. 143 00:08:59,810 --> 00:09:02,680 And a little card will be appear right about now if it’s ready. 144 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:06,852 Personally I don’t see a difference, and technical data is remarkably similar between 145 00:09:06,852 --> 00:09:07,852 the two. 146 00:09:07,852 --> 00:09:11,230 But I’ll stay out of this, go ahead and argue amongst yourselves, if you please. 147 00:09:11,230 --> 00:09:16,840 So, in 1979, just 4 years after its release, Beta was struggling to justify its existence. 148 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,820 Now you might think that Sony would try and find a way to differentiate beta from VHS 149 00:09:20,820 --> 00:09:23,820 to give a concrete reason to buy a beta machine. 150 00:09:23,820 --> 00:09:25,090 And try they did. 151 00:09:25,090 --> 00:09:28,430 But every time they offered a new feature, either they went about it in the complete 152 00:09:28,430 --> 00:09:34,050 wrong way and shot themselves in the foot, or VHS just copied it. 153 00:09:34,050 --> 00:09:35,050 For example: 154 00:09:35,050 --> 00:09:38,180 In 1983, Sony released Beta HiFi. 155 00:09:38,180 --> 00:09:41,490 Look at us!, they said, CD-quality sound on videotape! 156 00:09:41,490 --> 00:09:43,460 VHS will never match that. 157 00:09:43,460 --> 00:09:44,900 Guess what. 158 00:09:44,900 --> 00:09:45,900 They did. 159 00:09:45,900 --> 00:09:46,900 In 1984. 160 00:09:46,900 --> 00:09:53,240 Then, in 1985 Sony released SuperBeta, a slightly-better picture quality standard boosting image quality 161 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,530 by shifting the Y carrier, whatever that means. 162 00:09:56,530 --> 00:09:58,690 VHS will never copy that! 163 00:09:58,690 --> 00:09:59,750 Guess what? 164 00:09:59,750 --> 00:10:03,120 They did, creating the VHS HQ standard. 165 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,170 To be fair this wasn’t nearly the improvement that SuperBeta was, particularly since many 166 00:10:07,170 --> 00:10:12,930 manufacturers resisted its implementation due to cost and JVC was forced to reduce the 167 00:10:12,930 --> 00:10:16,000 minumum specs for it, but still. 168 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:21,020 Interestingly VHS actually far and away leapfrogged SuperBeta with the introduction of SuperVHS 169 00:10:21,020 --> 00:10:25,750 (I wonder where they got the idea for that name), or S-VHS in 1987. 170 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:31,420 S-VHS was almost a 60% increase in resolution over standard VHS, much more than the 20% 171 00:10:31,420 --> 00:10:33,760 improvement achieved by SuperBeta. 172 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:38,020 Sony wouldn’t match that until the next year with Extended Definition-Beta, actually 173 00:10:38,020 --> 00:10:42,940 called ED-Beta, a fitting name given how difficult it seemed for Sony to produce a meaningful 174 00:10:42,940 --> 00:10:44,110 rise in sales. 175 00:10:44,110 --> 00:10:48,642 Really, though, both SuperVHS and ED-Beta weren’t ever all that relevant due to their 176 00:10:48,642 --> 00:10:51,690 high cost compared to their standard counterparts. 177 00:10:51,690 --> 00:10:56,990 But one of Sony’s ultimate missteps was their idea of a camcorder--Betamovie. 178 00:10:56,990 --> 00:11:00,600 Sony figured that the smaller cassette of Beta would work to their advantage, allowing 179 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,050 them to create a smaller all-in-one camera than the competition. 180 00:11:04,050 --> 00:11:05,290 Great. 181 00:11:05,290 --> 00:11:10,020 While their camera was pretty small for its time, they had to sacrifice a lot to make 182 00:11:10,020 --> 00:11:11,020 it work. 183 00:11:11,020 --> 00:11:14,750 Namely, the ability of the camera to play a tape back! 184 00:11:14,750 --> 00:11:18,720 They performed some weird technical magic to shrink the video transport down to where 185 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,790 it would record onto the tape in a completely strange fashion that would work fine once 186 00:11:22,790 --> 00:11:27,480 removed from the camera and placed in a normal VCR, but which could not be played back by 187 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:29,310 the very device that recorded it. 188 00:11:29,310 --> 00:11:32,250 I’m sorry, but how stupid is that? 189 00:11:32,250 --> 00:11:36,480 Since there was no ability to review what you recorded in-camera, Sony also decided 190 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:41,640 that an electronic viewfinder wasn’t necessary, and instead just gave you an optical one. 191 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:46,550 So, not only could you not be sure if the shot was in focus or if exposure was OK while 192 00:11:46,550 --> 00:11:50,540 recording, but you would have no way of reviewing your footage till you could get home and pop 193 00:11:50,540 --> 00:11:52,640 the tape in your VCR. 194 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,840 As you can imagine, sales weren’t great. 195 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:02,070 Meanwhile, JVC actually had a pretty clever idea and created the VHS-C format in 1982, 196 00:12:02,070 --> 00:12:06,750 which were small cassettes that only held a half hour of footage at SP speed (90 minutes, 197 00:12:06,750 --> 00:12:11,630 at SLP) but which contained honest-to-goodness VHS recordings on them. 198 00:12:11,630 --> 00:12:15,960 These cameras were smaller than Sony’s incredibly dumb Betamovie, and the machines could play 199 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:17,440 the tapes back! 200 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:22,050 Best of all, they simply go into an adapter for playback in a normal VCR. 201 00:12:22,050 --> 00:12:24,600 Sony wishes they thought of that, for sure. 202 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:29,020 Sony eventually released the Video8 and then Hi8 formats which were formidable competitors 203 00:12:29,020 --> 00:12:34,320 to VHS-C, but since no one in their right mind would purchase a dedicated Video8 VCR, 204 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,600 you’d have to watch your movies with the camcorder plugged into the TV or you’d have 205 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:43,940 to dub from the camcorder to a standard VCR, which reduced the quality of the second generation 206 00:12:43,940 --> 00:12:44,940 copies. 207 00:12:44,940 --> 00:12:50,200 I’ll tell you my family was on team VHS-C, and we have the bins of tapes to prove it. 208 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:54,940 Hi8 produced a much sharper picture than VHS, but again, unless you wanted to plug your 209 00:12:54,940 --> 00:12:59,690 camcorder into your TV every time you watch home movies, you have to dub it onto a normal 210 00:12:59,690 --> 00:13:00,730 tape anyway. 211 00:13:00,730 --> 00:13:06,050 In retrospect, it seems like Sony kept failing to put themselves in their customer’s shoes. 212 00:13:06,050 --> 00:13:09,040 Right from the start they were doomed because of their small cassette. 213 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:14,100 If they had done research to determine how people would actually use a VCR, they probably 214 00:13:14,100 --> 00:13:17,880 would have found that recording time was more important, and they probably would’ve taken 215 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,560 the effort to have a sophisticated timer. 216 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:24,670 So if the Beta cassette had been made with VHS-like capacity, it’s likely Beta would 217 00:13:24,670 --> 00:13:26,150 have won the war. 218 00:13:26,150 --> 00:13:28,220 After all, they had a year’s head start. 219 00:13:28,220 --> 00:13:32,240 But people flocked to VHS because it was simply more flexible. 220 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:36,350 Impressive trick features and niceties like the feather-lite buttons are of no use if 221 00:13:36,350 --> 00:13:38,950 the machine doesn’t do what you need it to do. 222 00:13:38,950 --> 00:13:44,250 By the mid 1980s, sales between Beta and VHS were pretty lopsided. 223 00:13:44,250 --> 00:13:47,440 Far more people owned VHS machines than Beta. 224 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,950 Naturally, when pre-recorded tapes with movies and what-not began to be sold under the brand 225 00:13:51,950 --> 00:13:58,580 new product called “Home Video”, sales of VHS copies were always stronger than Beta. 226 00:13:58,580 --> 00:14:03,370 This led economies of scale to rear its ugly head, and for movie studios, producing Beta 227 00:14:03,370 --> 00:14:07,120 copies of their latest home-release was more expensive than VHS. 228 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:12,290 So, either movie studios had to charge more for Beta, which was unpopular and only further 229 00:14:12,290 --> 00:14:17,420 annoyed Beta loyalists, or they simply made less profit on each Beta sale, which annoyed 230 00:14:17,420 --> 00:14:18,650 shareholders. 231 00:14:18,650 --> 00:14:22,790 By the late 1980s, most movie studios had decided to altogether stop releasing their 232 00:14:22,790 --> 00:14:24,480 films on Beta. 233 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:25,480 Not. 234 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:26,480 Good. 235 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:31,920 To many people, 1988 marked the end of Beta, as this was the year that Sony caved and started 236 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,120 marketing their own VHS machines. (Gasp) 237 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,240 The history of the videotape format war is 238 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,450 interesting, but in my view hilariously one-sided. 239 00:14:40,450 --> 00:14:44,050 Sure, Sony was first to market, but they just kept screwing up! 240 00:14:44,050 --> 00:14:48,860 It’s like watching a cartoon where the protagonist repeatedly slips on a banana peel. 241 00:14:48,860 --> 00:14:51,500 Is it fair to say it was all Sony’s fault? 242 00:14:51,500 --> 00:14:52,500 Not really. 243 00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:55,240 After all, VHS kept copying their developments. 244 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,010 But Sony trapped themselves with this cassette. 245 00:14:58,010 --> 00:15:00,350 4.5 hours isn’t enough. 246 00:15:00,350 --> 00:15:02,460 Even the name wasn’t a good idea. 247 00:15:02,460 --> 00:15:08,470 Beta kind of implies second, as in the second best, the fallback, the reserve, number two, 248 00:15:08,470 --> 00:15:09,490 the alternative option. 249 00:15:09,490 --> 00:15:11,660 Alpha might have been better. 250 00:15:11,660 --> 00:15:12,960 Hell, even Epsilon. 251 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,710 Anything but “not quite first”. 252 00:15:15,710 --> 00:15:20,090 And there were plenty of annoying little details that plagued Beta, like the one-sided cassette 253 00:15:20,090 --> 00:15:24,020 window, and their strange decision to label tapes based on actual physical length and 254 00:15:24,020 --> 00:15:26,090 not recording time. 255 00:15:26,090 --> 00:15:30,970 Sony famously did win their second big format war, back in 2006 when Blu-Ray was fighting 256 00:15:30,970 --> 00:15:32,450 HDDVD. 257 00:15:32,450 --> 00:15:35,980 So at least we can say with a fair bit of certainty that they did indeed learn from 258 00:15:35,980 --> 00:15:36,980 their mistakes. 259 00:15:36,980 --> 00:15:41,870 Oh, and their 1982 release of a new product co-developed with Philips went very well for 260 00:15:41,870 --> 00:15:43,560 them--that new product? 261 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,500 The compact disc, or CD. 262 00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:47,240 I hope you enjoyed this video! 263 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:52,020 If you did, I humbly ask that you hit the like button and subscribe to Technology Connections. 264 00:15:52,020 --> 00:15:54,920 I’m doing my best to keep videos like this headed your way. 265 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:55,880 I’ll see you next time!