I know that this won't reach a majority of the people who read OSC's latest review column, but I would like to make a factual correction.
In his column "Dead Restaurants, Glory Road, Dakota, tape, games, Dickens", OSC compares the battle between "first-rate" Mexican fast food and "wad-o'-food burrito restaurants" to the battle between VHS and Beta in the 1980s. He subscribes to the popular belief that Beta was a superior format but was pushed out of the market by longer, cheaper VHS tapes.
Whether or not this is really true or just the lore of an America that feels cheated out of the really good stuff they could have had "if only," he makes a factually misleading statement, probably out of ignorance.
To support his claim that Beta was really the superior format, he points out that "in the film industry itself, where quality matters, Beta remains the only viable tape format".
He is half right, but wrong in the most important sense. The full name of the consumer video tape format that was called simply "Beta" by most people was actually "BetaMax". The format widely used in the professional video industry is "BetaCam". Other that both being Sony products, the two video formats have almost nothing in common. Additionally, although BetaCam is the most popular analog video format in the industry, Super VHS (or SVHS) is fairly popular as well.
Posted by starter (Member # 9073) on :
VHS only won the format wars because the porn industry adopted it.
Here's my prediction for the upcoming Bluray vs HD-DVD format wars: whoever is cheaper and more accessible will win. This is why the VHS beat the BetaMax and DVD succeeded the VHS. I predict HD-DVD to win this because as far as I know it costs a hell of a lot less to burn HD-DVDs as opposed to Bluray discs, although this could be because BD haven't actually achieved 'economy of scale' yet.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
Personally, I don't think that either HD-DVD or Bluray will beat out normal DVD's. Unless you have a really really good tv, there's just no advantage to buying movies in a new format.
Posted by xtownaga (Member # 7187) on :
I'd bet one or the other will win out eventually, but it'll be five or ten years yet probably. Just like DVDs were available for years before they became widespread, common and cheep enough to largly replace VCRs (for movie viewing at least, not so much with recording things at home). On that note, you'd be able to record a pretty substantial ammount of SD video on an HD-DVD or Bluray disk, which might make them very attractive once burners come into an afordable price range.
Posted by camus (Member # 8052) on :
I do think normal DVD's will eventually fade away as prices decrease for the new formats enabling consumers to store more and more information at a relatively cheap price. I think people will buy the higher capacity DVD movies for the better quality and additional features.
However, I don't necessarily think that one format has to "win" over the other. Much like DVD+ and DVD- both coexist with relative ease, I think Blu-Ray and HD-DVD can both coexist as well. And correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the different game consoles use different formats - Xbox (HD-DVD) and PS3(Blu-Ray)? If so, then I'm guessing that both formats will be here to stay.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
I just like the fact that current dvds are supposed to be playable on both new units.
Posted by DarkKnight (Member # 7536) on :
Renderhead, I think your post would have been a lot better if hadn't included the "probably out of ignorance" statement. I could be nitpicking but that kind of wrecked an otherwise good post and wasn't necessary at all.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Those really, really good tvs are becoming more accessible all the time. And once you've seen their full potential, it's hard not to want it all the time. I am really looking forward to high def DVDs.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
My son just had to do a presentation/paper in his University class on this very subject (BluRay vs. HD-DVD). It will certainly be interesting to see how it all plays out in the end.
Going to be 1) who jumps into the market first 2)most reasonably priced. 3) most storage.
Of course, I think with the PS3's coming out with BluRay capability, they are going to get the jump.
FG
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
jeniwren, I don't know if they really are becoming accessible, or if society is changing its definition of accessible (and to what extent this reflects our love affair with TV).
I consider a couple thousand for any TV--or even one thousand--to be pretty much an outrage, but it seems you can spend a couple thousand on a plasma screen and have gotten a comparatively good deal.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
quote:Originally posted by DarkKnight: Renderhead, I think your post would have been a lot better if hadn't included the "probably out of ignorance" statement. I could be nitpicking but that kind of wrecked an otherwise good post and wasn't necessary at all.
You'd rather he implied Card mis-stated out of a malicious desire to slander VHS?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Renderhead, I think your post would have been a lot better if hadn't included the "probably out of ignorance" statement.
Ignorance is merely the opposite of knowledgable. Everybody is ignorant about a great many things.
Saying that OSC's error was done in ignorance just means that he made a mistake.
To say that it wasn't done in ignorance is to say that he lied.
Thank you, Renderhead, for giving OSC the benefit of the doubt and saying that it was probably done out of ignorance.
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