> Yes this is correct. Betamax was the better format. VHS won out solely > from market pushing on Sony's part. Unlike the Betmax vs VHS issue, > there is far more at stake here then having to buy a new machine to play > videos. The future of our own data is at stake.
Betamax was Sony; VHS was JVC, but they allowed other companies to license the technology. Sony always creates some proprietary format that, although technically superior, loses. Anyone going to fathom a guess at what will happen with Blu-Ray? HD-DVD is easier, cheaper, and has been built by collaboration between several companies whose combined marketing power is far greater than Sony's. VHS vs. BetaMax is kind of the opposite of Word vs. WordPerfect. In the VHS case, they won because they were cheaper, due to better licensing terms getting more companies to choose VHS over BetaMax. More companies provide VHS, prices fall to compete with each other. Consumers choose cheaper solution. This has not been the case at all with word processors. The expensive, proprietary solution has won because market forces were trumped by monopolistic practices. Greg /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
