rivers@seismo.UUCP (Wilmer Rivers) (04/06/84)
<do not remove this line under penality of law>
Quoting the Washington Post (without permission) :
RCA Gets Out Of Videodisc Player Venture
NEW YORK, April 4 - After $580 million in losses, RCA Corp. today
announced plans to abandon the videodisc player business, ending a
three-year effort and probably dooming the videodisc as a mass-market
consumer item.
"The evidence is clear as of right now that the time has come" to
get out of the videodisc manufacturing and marketing business, said
RCA Chairman Thornton F. Bradshaw. The company will continue to make
and distribute videodiscs "for a period of time - we anticipate
probably three years or so," Bradshaw said.
Well, folks, this is clearly a red-letter day in the history of home
video. I doubt that many out in net.video-land own CED format video-
disc players, since they have been aimed primarily at those who are
either naive about or are downright afraid of high technology, but this
decision will undoubtedly have major ramifications for those of us
who are fans of the LV format. Either the laser manufacturers will
conclude : "Hey ! If RCA, who outsells us 3-for-1, can't make a go
of it, then we're really doomed", or else they will see the demise of
the competition as their big break & will start marketing the LV format
like gangbusters. Let's all hope it's the latter. As for JVC's VHD
format, I suppose that remains Very Highly Doubtful, as skeptics have
been saying for the last couple of years. If there's anything to be
learned from RCA's 580 megabuck debacle, it's that you can't fool
all of the people all of the time, even if you use Gene Kelly to try.
Let's just hope that this doesn't start a panic in the video industry,
mainly among retailers, which brings down Laservision along with it.
Good-bye, Needlevision, and good riddance !rakrieger@watcgl.UUCP (Rob Krieger) (04/06/84)
I hope that the fall of CED (Constantly Eroding Disc) doesn't wreck LV as it is entering one of its most interesting phases of technical innovation. Stephen Trutiak (posting courtesy of R. Krieger)
wmartin@brl-vgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (04/10/84)
Regarding the announcement and the news coverage of it that day: Did anyone else see and be irked by the McNeil/Lehrer News Hour coverage of this item? They had an interview with one of the staff of the trade magazine Consumer Electronics, and spent 10 minutes or so on the subject without ONCE mentioning the laser disc, the format competition between disc types, or the issue of the essential technical differences between disc formats! It is obvious to me that RCA's attempt to make a cheap (relatively) video disc system, using technology that causes mechanical wear on the components (as opposed to the non-contact laser method) was simply idiotic and doomed from the start. A few hundred dollars of price difference means nothing for this sort of expensive electronic toy; freedom from maintenance and future hassle is, however, a MAJOR consideration. The versatility (single frame playback, addressibility, computer control, etc.) of the laser format makes it an order of magnitude better than the RCA technology. I wouldn't dream of getting the latter, unless it was SO cheap (garage sale price level) that I would consider it disposable. Ignoring all this made that interview completely worthless, as far as I could judge... Will
rivers@seismo.UUCP (Wilmer Rivers) (04/11/84)
I didn't see McNeil /Lehrer, but I did see some coverage of the story by the morning business show on the ESPN cable channel. They featured an interview with the head of Pioneer Video division, who reported that they had finally made a profit starting in October 1983 and consider the prospects for the future good if the video game and computer inter- face capabilities of LV videodiscs catch on with the home video market. I was glad to see that interview, since every other news item I have seen on the story has failed to mentioned the LV format and has reported that "videodiscs" (generically) are dead. I just hope this confusion doesn't lead to exactly that happening. Pioneer will have to be more agressive in getting their message across. Maybe it will improve when Sony comes out with their home videodisc players in the LV format.