pyle@ut-ngp.UUCP (Keith Pyle) (01/24/84)
There is a very good article in the January 1984 issue of "Video" magazine on the current state of VHS vs. Beta and how it developed. (The article is "Zenith's Ultimate Video Switch," pg. 68, by Roderick Woodcock.) If you're interested in this topic, and I assume several net readers must be from the number of contributions lately, I recommend this article. The title of the article refers to the fact that Zenith, the first Beta licensee and only North American seller of Sony-built VCRs, is dropping Beta format products in favor of VHS ones. It is the author's opinion that this and the superior sales of VHS units is the result of one factor - marketing. While Beta has generally been technically superior, initially, to VHS, the Beta group has paid far less attention to the factors that SELL video recorders. The article gives an interesting history of the development of the VCRs starting with the introduction of the LV-1901 one hour Betamax in 1975 and points out the numerous events that led to current disparity in market for the two formats. (Woodcock states that less than 20 percent of current VCR sales go to Beta.) There is also a article of the coming introduction of VHS Hi-Fi in the same issue, "VHS Breaks the Sound Barrier." Keith Pyle . . .!ihnp4!ut-ngp!pyle