Why VHS won

Be kind, rewind, and destroy your Betamax enemies. Reaction: / 81909853
More info and sources at bottom.
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KZbin Vids!
• Comparing Beta & VHS o...
I saw this and was like, alright, a test literally can’t be done better than this. This is insanely rigorous.
I think this video is kinda ludicrous, but here it is for those who want an engineering perspective.
• How Sony's Betamax los...
www.jstor.org/...
I tried really hard to make this clear in the video, but this video is a huge adaptation of this paper. Sometimes papers are good, sometimes they are OK, sometimes they suck. This one is incredi QJbly rigorous in proving every contention and really going through possible objections. Finding it convinced me this video was worth doing, especially since it runs counter to so much existing info on the “content” web (this is my new pejorative for poorly researched stuff).
amzn.to/3oyyDlC
Here’s an affiliate link to Fast Forward, the book I read. It’s good! It focuses a bit more on the Hollywood business stuff (which is just as interesting). Lotsa quotes and gossip in there. Good book. I think the author is distantly related to Ring Lardner (for real).
EVERY SINGLE VIDEOPHILE. Bask in its glory.
magazines.lddb...
• First Betamax - Salesm...
I think I actually found this Betamax training video on Archive.org, but here it is on YT.
www.jstor.org/...
That Law office article. I just wanted to show some contemporary proof of this (somewhat obvious) decision.
www.jstor.org/...
Some mathier proof that Network Effects doomed Beta.
Rest of the pics come from Archive.org brochures and stuff like that, I believe. Maybe an Ad or two from Flickr and/or eBay. Lemme know if you need anything in particular.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

Any requests or ideas for Why (INSERT COMPANY OR PRODUCT) Won?

[@Steakkiller]

Why Nintendo won. Both against Atari and Sega. "Blaming" only Nintendo is probably oversimplified but whatever.

[@matt45540]

Blu ray would be a natural progression, seems like Sony won that

[@haweater1555]

​@@Steakkiller The old video game systems companies got nailed by the Great Video Game Crash of 1983, when massive amounts of junk games flooded the market, and the hardware companies tried to add "home computer" functionality to legitimize them. After that, Nintendo intro their system to USA, with sanctioned quality games only available, and no pre-tenses to being a computer (despite being a very popular home computer platform in Japan).

[@feuby8480]

I'd be interested into why Steam (video game platform) won through physical sales and second hand market. Especially since at start I did not want it, and now, I'm all aboard...

[@RaymondHng]

Blu-ray Disc versus HD DVD. CompactFlash vs. Memory Stick vs. MultiMediaCard (MMC) vs. Secure Digital card (SD) vs. SmartMedia vs. Miniature Card.

[@throttleblip1]

Phil is an OG and no one else can keep up with his style of video.

[@dylanlastname6784]

He was here before us, and he’ll be here after us

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

lol we'll see

[@ow4744]

Pretty sure Jake Lafontrelle has a stronger mustache game though.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

@@ow4744 damn it, bested by lafontrelle once again!

[@headphoneboy]

@@PhilEdwardsInc Love this topic. Please considering covering other format wars: - DVD vs Laserdisc - Blu-ray vs HD-DVD - Minidisc vs CD Also, a retrospective of all of Sony’s failed attempts at launching new formats or standards would be 🔥

[@vincent412l7]

When I first bought a machine, I researched and read reviews, and Beta was my obvious choice. I made one final stop to check the selections at Blockbusters. They had one whole wall of Beta, and five walls of VHS. So I immediately disregarded five months of research and reading reviews and went with VHS. (Remember the blank VHS tapes used to be $60 each?)

[@mookiecookie44]

Appreciate the Technology Connections shoutout. Was the first thing I thought of when I saw this video.

[@TimurTripp2]

His videos are way more in-depth than this one when it comes to the technical reasons. Honestly the record time theory is very plausible as the demise of Betamax.

[@headphoneboy]

Love this topic. Please considering covering other format wars: - DVD vs Laserdisc - Blu-ray vs HD-DVD - Minidisc vs CD Also, a retrospective of all of Sony’s failed attempts at launching new formats or standards would be 🔥

[@vylbird8014]

Laserdisc was 1978-2001, DVD was 1996 onwards. By the time DVD came out, the failure of Laserdisc to displace videotape was already apparent. Minidisc vs CD is... complicated. You'd have to also include the connections with DAT and DCC, and the music industries crippling fear of any recordable digital medium. HD-DVD vs Bluray though, that's a straight-up format war: Released at almost the same time, coexisting for a period in competition until one achieved dominance.

[@senorverde09]

DVD was the next evolution in digital home disc media. Comparing that to Laserdisc is like comparing a horse to a car. Now CED and Laserdisc would be a more fair and contemporary discussion.

[@I_WANT_MY_SLAW]

Streaming killed all of them. Not that I'm shedding any tears. Walmart killed all the mom and pop stores. But now suddenly we're all supposed to be crying that Amazon is killing Walmart? No.

[@jordanmcgrory2171]

"How PlayStations changed everything", a Phil Edwards documentary.

[@susilgunaratne4267]

​​​​​@@senorverde09 Dat itself had two varieties: R-DAT & S-DAT. Digital Compat Cassette wasn't popular in consumer markets. Lossy format - reduced data systems all have gone with time except the CD & DVD.

[@JaykPuten]

Wow you managed to not bring up pornography which is what I'd heard won the format war Very classy to read a whole newsletter/zine about the topic, and to avoid the classically cited pornography (I think it's even mentioned in tropic thunder as the reason why)

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

yeah i am classy but i also just couldn't find any good proof!

[@JaykPuten]

@@PhilEdwardsInc (conspiracy voice) the lack of proof is the proof man And it sounds like something Jake Lafrontrelle would say Completely unsubstantiated, or he'd cite 200Xs tropic thunder as a source

[@seanwebb605]

@@PhilEdwardsInc Follow up with the Porno Wars.

[@NighttimeNubbs]

This was the myth I regularly heard for past couple decades in regards to the format war but higher production output makes more sense just not as clickbaity.

[@ChrisCooling]

It indeed drove the adoption of all home video formats. In the 1970s, the vast majority of titles available at rental stores were all pirated anyway. There was plenty of pornography on whatever you wanted. Cartrivision, VHS, Beta, U-matic....dubbing off copies of movies was one of the first things you learned how to do when you opened a rental store

[@pummisher1186]

I remember VHS video quality being pretty good. Then on KZbin, people started using the nostalgia VHS filter to make their videos look like an old tape that's been played a thousand times and was damaged. To me, that is a false nostalgia making younger people think VHS format looked like complete garbage and we put up with it. Videos only really looked like garbage when you tried to copy them. The Macrovision copy protection which messed with the gain control causing the brightness to go all over the place. Also, the copy will look worse regardless.

[@bubbythebear6891]

Old crappily transferred public domain cartoons had that really bad look that people think of VHS now. The camcorder my family had was pretty terrible, even for the time. It reminds me a bit of the faux VHS look. Hell, footage from my mom's childhood looks better than mine. For some reason we used that camcorder until 2015 when I was 12! I don't know why we put up with it for so long. Of course we got rid of it right before it became trendy, go figure!

[@acrouzet]

Not to mention bad deinterlacing when digitizing which can halve the vertical resolution

[@robertromero8692]

“I remember VHS video quality being pretty good.” It looked ok compared to NTSC broadcasts on the typical 25 inch TVs of the time, but it’s VASTLY inferior to today’s digital formats, especially 1080p and 2160p. It would look godawful played on a 65 inch OLED or a 100+ inch projector screen. “Then on KZbin, people started using the nostalgia VHS filter to make their videos look like an old tape that's been played a thousand times and was damaged. To me, that is a false nostalgia making younger people think VHS format looked like complete garbage and we put up with it.” I think the false nostalgia is thinking that a paltry resolution of 333 x 480 (and 40 x 480 chroma resolution) is remotely as good as 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160.

[@Mr_Kenneth]

VHS was just fine. Plus It certainly made a big quality difference if you played it in a decent VHS player and telly. I remember loaning out tapes to friends and the quality was shocking when the returned them . Dirty in fact

[@Mr_Kenneth]

Contrary to popular belief, when you played back NTSC VHS. On a PAL TV, the quality despite being 100 lines less (525), looked fine. It compensated for the loss by centering the image with a little border top and bottom. I used to import the latest VHS movie released before they were on UK cinemas

[@therocknrollmillennial535]

I loved this video. A personal anecdote: I was born in the mid-90’s and, as my mom has never been the type to spend money unless she absolutely has to, I only knew VHS until I was about 10-11. The first DVD player we got was a portable one for road trips. Regarding your “be kind, rewind” throwaway line, I was blown away that you didn’t have to “rewind” a DVD, which, looking back, makes me laugh.

[@luigivincenz3843]

i remembered the "rewind policy" at Blockbuster. BB eventually removed it because a majority of returns were NOT rewound. I know because I had family who worked for BB. They ALWAYS had a tape rewinder beside them that was working the entire shift because of late returns. I miss Blockbuster. Saturday nights BEFORE CLOSING, you'll see lots of people loitering around just waiting for that hot movie people want to watch, every time a tape is returned thru the bin LOL

[@akira5506]

yo dude just wanted to say i really appreciate your vids and love coming back to them , you’ve introduced me to topics I’ve probably never look at myself and for that thank u

[@soodalhandle]

lol your acting skills are sketches are getting so better. Good content as always

[@michaelparks3106]

As someone who sold VCRs in the early days (the first Betamax was only available in a console with a 19" Trinitron TV for $2,000.) you pretty much nailed the reason VHS won, but overlooked why so many other manufacturers adopted VHS. Sony, like Apple, wanted total control of the format and actually resisted having other manufacturers make Beta machines. JVC by comparison licensed the technology to anybody and everybody who wanted to make a machine. Flooding the market this way created the snowball effect you mentioned: more people owned VHS, so movie companies released their movies primarily on VHS. Video rental stores mainly had VHS tapes, so more people bought VHS machines. Classic chicken-and-egg feeding each other. As for picture quality, testing resulted in slightly better numbers for Beta, but in a side-by-side in-store comparison, most people couldn't see any difference. Combine a lower price and longer recording time (in the early days) and VHS just steamrolled over Beta.

[@seahawk124]

Jake Lafontrelle needs to be a recurring character with his own story arc, Phil!

[@Nickyy64]

Next on why blank won: Protestantism

[@aiadreamloss]

wow. found this video on a total whim and it’s really well done & researched. good stuff

[@Skittenmeow]

I know my national broadcaster ABC (Australia) required betamax format for any media submissions up until a few years ago. Unsure if that is still the case, but if you wanted anything featured on ABC you needed to submit it on Betamax cassette. Particularly for anyone wanting to submit their own dodgy home-made content (i.e. myself) to the music video programme "Rage" - meant there was a small but steady industry around converting VHS to Betamax for a long time in Australia.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

interesting!

[@uzetaab]

I think there may be another piece of the puzzle in that RCA was an American behemoth at the time. Not just the sheer power that a large company wields, but there was probably also a lot of America vs Japan sentiment at the time, and a lot of people still around that remembered WWII.

[@zamiadams4343]

Great video sir! I'm obsessed with VHS and Betamax.

[@tumslucks9781]

I used to be like you. Then I got myself a girlfriend.

[@robdavlin]

Great attention to detail. Thanks for reminder that the user experience goes way beyond the technology, what is available in the complete ecosystem matters.

[@Vicky-dq3qg]

In Indonesia, the dominant video format for home consumers at that time was Betamax rather than VHS. As an entertainment alternative besides the only television channel at that time, there was only TVRI or cinema. But it still didn't reach the lower economic class at that time, only the middle class and above could have Betamax, as a video player for movies and TV recording. Camcorders at that time were only owned by the high-class economy and video production companies. And then it was replaced by a laserdisc for a while and finally that format died and was replaced by VCD. And DVD still didn't become a popular format in Indonesia until it was replaced by streaming such as KZbin and social media.

[@RabbitEarsCh]

Wow, I had no idea my country (Venezuela) was not the only Betamax-favored country. We had very few VHS as well.

[@Vicky-dq3qg]

@@RabbitEarsCh Even though he used Laserdisc at that time, he used the NTSC format, while Indonesia used the PAL format. Not all television devices are compatible with NTSC signals, so it took several years for multisystem devices to exist. Even though the Laserdisc at that time was considered a luxury item, only the middle class and above could own it. At the time of the VCD era, it was still based on Betamax as camcorder media recording as master video in the era of the introduction of non-linear video editing (computers). Actually Betamax video quality can be better than VCD, Betamax framerate is higher. Unfortunately, poor documentation storage media has caused lost media in the past, until now if media storage methods are not used properly. Many video or music publishing companies have died, there are no available archives, so works can be lost.

[@seancuthbert4587]

In the UK In the 70s and 80s, VCR's were too expensive for most people so they rented. The company I worked for decided to rent VHS machines as they were easier to repair.

[@andrewrossy]

Great video … my only question is why is there not 500k views on this video ? Completely underrated.

[@PauldeSwardt]

Back in 1978-80 I worked as a Barman/Bar Manager and thus missed most TV shows aired in the evening and so purchased a JVC VHS for about 600 GB pounds ($4000 in todays money) and the thing is I was the first person I knew to have a VCR, nobody else at work or amonst my friends or in my extended family of cousins etc.,. In the store where I bought the machine there were NO movies available only a VHS tape of Rod Stewart & Tina Turner in concert! There was one customer in the bar who had a video machine but it was a pre VHS a Philips N1500 video recorder and I believe he worked in the film(movie) industry! 😎

[@dwarftoad]

The tech specs would have mattered more at the beginning, when it was a cool new technology for early adopters or even a luxury product. (But then price not as much a factor) but once it entered mass adoption then yes, the network effects of movie availability, availability in electronics stores (and which system the stores decided to promote or recommend), what your friends had, etc. would have been the main thing.

[@Hispandinavian]

The last time I saw a BETA being used, was when I visited relatives in Panama back in 1990. It was the Post Noriega era, and the country was still years behind the US in a lot of things.

[@thenewnostalgia]

Consistently, your content and delivery far outshine the competition.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

thanks!!

[@bloqk16]

When I see the bulk and expense it was to record video in the early years, it is nearly unfathomable to see nowadays what can be recorded in high-def video with small devices [DVRs] for over-the-air broadcasts, at prices less than $50.

[@megan_alnico]

You gotta cover the DVD takeover. It happened super quickly and a significant amount of that momentum was caused by one company deciding to sell at a loss. That company went out of business and the CEO got in trouble. They lost incredible amount of money. I wish I could remember all the details but it was quite a thing.

[@valley_robot]

There were many different versions of cassette recordable audio tape as well before the one we all know became the standard

[@toddsmitts]

Just imagine… If things had gone differently, there might be a Simpsons episode where Snake says “Oh no! VHS!”

[@davecerv]

Wonderful video! I never even knew about Beta growing up until my late teens. I’ve never watched a beta format video.

[@esgee3829]

phil has upped his sound design game. and we notice phil. sound design + great copy + some goofiness = big views

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

thanks! it's a journey...

[@kirasinclair1061]

My parents still have a Beta machine. All our home movies were on Beta.

[@TheSonOfSammyTerry]

VHS had more manufacturers with varied pricing. The licensing for vhs was cheaper. The tapes were cheaper to purchase in wholesale. VHS had longer recording times, earlier.

[@ZipplyZane]

Technology Connections has recently released a video that makes a stronger case for the length issue being the big thing that caused the problem. That all of the stuff you cite came from the initial decision to require those smaller tapes that limited their capacity, along with Sony being unwilling to license out its product in an economical way.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

RCA was the first to implement slower recording speeds which helped VHS at the time. Slower recording = more recording length.

[@edgyman-fk]

Neat! I'd been led to believe for years that it was really just the adult content industry choosing VHS. And that the same thing happened with Bluray vs HDDVD

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

Yeah I ultimately just couldn't find the evidence.

[@SomePotato]

It's also a myth for the HD format wars. It pretty much also came down to just shipping units and when the PS3 entered the market, Blu-ray just sprinted ahead. In reality though, DVD still outsells Blu-ray. The public is shifting from DVD to streaming, and only enthusiasts buy physical.

[@robk7266]

It's just an urban legend. It doesn't even make sense if you think about it. Video tales weren't used for home video at first. That didn't become a thing until the mid 80s. Takes were strictly used for recording tv shows to watch later.

[@MrZedblade]

I think the reason people think Beta was better quality was related to the recording time. Originally Beta only gave you only the higher quality recording speeds, whereas VHS let you record all the way down to what we called the "EP" speed. EP looked and sounded horrible, but you got 6 full hours on a tape and it was still at least watchable. Sony eventually gave in and added slower speeds to their Beta units, but initially I think this confusion caused many people to compare the top Beta speed to VHS's LP and EP speeds and that impression stuck.

[@hancocki]

My first birthday is recorded on Beta. And my first exposure to Rocky Horror Picture Show was on Beta. (the latter being c. 2002)

[@paleoph6168]

2:57 I had to do a double take as I thought you said "video file" lol

[@PSingletary]

Your posts are an excellent pairing with my CBS Sunday Morning watch.

[@mikeo5657]

I had always understood it had to do with which standard the adult film industry got behind. Same thing happened with HD vs BluRay.

[@bobdigi500]

It's funny how back in the day we just watched a video on a CRT TV and unless the tracking was out or it was a particularly bad copy, we just watched and enjoyed the film. Now we have HD and 4k we worry more about picture quality more than ever. Same goes for video games. We have the best ever picture yet are more fussy now, than we were with crappy (compared to today) quality!

[@kelownatechkid]

Blu-ray next please... Also, IDK how this might work but I'd love to hear your take on Blu-ray 3D. It's an awe-inspiring format.

[@VoyageOne1]

There's a lot of misinformation about Beta becoming the gold standard in broadcast. BetaCAM was the format adopted by TV stations in 1982 and was aimed solely at the professional market.

[@geraldsutherland3635]

I was an early adopter and went with a Beta machine. Sony came out with the VHS format first, but found it didn't stack up picture quality wise. It was also going to be difficult to add new technology. Sony sold the VHS format to JVC. Whenever Sony made an upgrade to the beta system I took months for VHS to match it. My reasoning was beta had the more lines of resolution or better picture quality than VHS. With new technology beta was eventually able to record 4.5 hours of programming at better lines of resolution than VHS 6 hour. Why beta lost the format wars. VHS was able to offer 6 hours of recording to beta's 4.5. The 6 hour recordings weren't as clear as the 2 hour. So you may have gotten more time recording, but it was at less lines of resolution. The second reason VHS won the format wars was Sony held the licence for the beta format. In order for a company to get beta licence Sony was greedy and required that company to purchase Sony's beta drive and not make their own. JVC sold a VHS licence to anyone who wanted to join that camp and allowed that company to come out with their own drive. If I remember right there were around 6 companies that adopted the Beta format and 20 companies went to the VHS format. When you have 20 companies marketing the VHS format that overpowers the 6. As most consumers tend to shop price instead of quality Beta lost. The price of blank beta tape 4.5 vs. 6 hours for VHS it makes more sense to go for VHS 6 hour format. Sony got out marketed.

[@CartoonPhreak]

Betamax could possibly make a major comeback as much as Laserdisc and VHS

[@paleoph6168]

VHS was so good that they made a rifle version of it in Croatia.

[@robinayers]

Loving this channel!

[@adventureswithmymother]

I think it was fun going down memory lane

[@JP-sw5ho]

Chademo is the video2000 of the EV fast charging formats in the USA

[@MikeTXBC]

As I recall, the video quality on Beta wasn't necessarily better, it just degraded a lot slower. Every time you played a videocassette (which includes recording), the image quality would degrade just a tiny bit. Now if you're playing a specific tape over and over and over, eventually you might see some noticeable degradation. It's in this very specific case that Beta presented a better picture than VHS. But most people didn't play their tapes repeatedly on a regular basis, so this was not a particularly important factor for home users. Now if someone or some company was repeatedly recording and re-recording over the previous recording it actually did matter, but the majority of people didn't do that and the relatively few industries that did didn't make a significant dent in the market.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

interesting

[@karenrich9092]

Who knows? Maybe there will be a video on the Apple vs. Windows platform some day. Thanks for this history lesson.

[@lobachevscki]

So it came down to what always came down to: content.

[@qwertyTRiG]

"Do notte buy Betamax." Agnes Nutter.

[@tomburke5311]

I think it was actually "...betamacks".🤩

[@qwertyTRiG]

@@tomburke5311 You may well be right.

[@janmos5178]

Good video debunking some myths about Beta and VHS, great knowledge. Greetings

[@wilberforce95]

Jake Lafrontrelle is my favorite basic cable host by far

[@ruisantos4520]

And the best format was VCC from Phillips ... A cassete would have double time and two side recording... and when we did fast forward the VCC kept a clear pictures. VHS got lines .. I cannot understand how VHS was the winner.

[@robfriedrich2822]

Video 2000 wasn't available in the USA, so the format war was pretty easy. It seems, that Beta was very early available, VHS is more a real home system, not a low budget video solution for professional use, that was modified for consumer needs. By the way, S VHS was optimized for professional use, then came DV and it's more reliable professional sibling.

[@dhpbear2]

Very odd-looking VCRs pictured on the cover! (1:15)

[@djash7161]

I was there you’re right there was no difference in the picture but the tape structure had to effect manufacturing VHS was simple

[@herpderp297]

If you want to do a series on format wars then maybe you could do BluRay vs HDDVD and maybe the different audio video codecs/formats

[@michaelhannell4083]

I was always told, but don't know if its true the reason VHS won its format war was bc VHS adopted porn before betamax. Sony was about to repeat that loss in the blueray and hddvd format war. That's why blueray won that format war

[@haweater1555]

A major market for home video systems but nobody wants to admit it. The idea of watching in complete privacy of your home was revolutionary.

[@WXFD-Media]

Thanks Phil! ❤

[@AbraxasSteadicam]

Beta recorded three hours at the best speed, VHS only recorded two hours. VHS did 6 hours at the worst speed, but not until S-VHS hifi was realized was the 6-hour speed acceptable.

[@EmmanuelEytan]

About quality vs. capacity: Windows machines only run on x86 processors (with minor exceptions, like Alpha or Itanium that only very few people care about). Linux runs on pretty much anything. But Macs, Macs are made to run on one specific processor and which processor that is has changed. There have been four. First, the Macs ran on the Motorola 68000. It was dropped in favor of the Power PC CPU because the 68k was becoming less relevant. The Power PC was always an excellent processor, but Apple could not get enough of them. So they switched to the x86 architecture, which was less good, but plentiful. Now, they're moving away from the x86 and towards ARM, which is even easier to produce. (Although the way Apple uses ARM is also very powerful, unlike the way it's normally used.) When it came to dropping the Power PC, it was less an issue of quality and more an issue of availability. There's no point in being the best if you can't be there. (By the way, I don't like either Windows or Mac. I'm Linux all the way.)

[@atomotron]

Short answer: because of Sony being Sony.

[@guessundheit6494]

View Techmoan's "format wars" video on 45s versus LPs. They were compatible on the same player, so both formats succeeded. But consumers had to pay a lot and choose with video. VHS succeeded for the same reason the Atari 2600 beat 2nd gen gaming systems, why Apple and Commodore won the early home computer market war. Selection and availability matter more than quality, and is why Tandy/Radio Shack stayed a close third in the early computer market.

[@MotownBatman]

Great Video! New Sub; Dryden, MI Atari vs Magnavox... Suggestion, but Imma go see what all you've done. Great Job Again!

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

never encountered the magnavox story before - pretty interesting!!

[@BenvanBroekhuijsen]

The video stores had Betamax and VHS for a long time in the Netherlands. And there was of course even a technical more superior video system V2000. A cassette you could play on both sides. But that unfortunately did even worse than Betamax.

[@jonathandevries2828]

be kind rewind

[@smurfthumper]

I kept waiting for an explosion of the old the-lower-price-of-Top-Gun-on-VHS-was-the-final-nail-in-the-Beta-coffin myth, but it never came. (I honestly don't know if Top Gun cost more on Beta than the record-low VHS cassette cost, though I do know the cost of the VCR had, itself, lowered just before Top Gun was released to video, so it was one of the first tapes people owned instead of renting. Anyway, said myth probably traces back to the argument that the low price of Top Gun [along with a Pepsi cross-promotion] was a boon to the home industry. I don't know that it "saved" it as is sometimes claimed, but Top Gun's unheard-of-at-the-time sales figures likely did lead to an overall lowering of personal/home VHS cassette costs.)

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

this is a great anecdote! i think the deal was already done by then though. but that might be a good video too.

[@daniellastuart3145]

Basically Sony would not sale the rights to make Betamax video players to other companies but VHS players were made by everyone but Betamax was the better quality format so became betacam and was used in professional TV and edit suits and VHS become home use

[@Phoenix-J]

I thought I was cool and edgy for owning/knowing what a VHS is but I had no clue a "Betamax" even was before today, I don't even know what I would've Googled if I wanted to find out. This makes me think there are a lot of OG tech from the 90s 80s 70s that is lost to time in the public consciousness like a Betamax. I want answers to questions I dont even know now.

[@pokepress]

Several other videos have mentioned the disparity in format licensing, so you’re definitely not the first, but it is a strong argument.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

Yeah I was hesitant to use the term "licensing" because, to my understanding, the Japanese patent system is quite complicated (with the caveat that I didn't put it in the video because I don't know what I'm talking about, my understanding is that they had a patent pool so that a lot of companies could exploit similar IP - it was mainly a business case about getting partners to jump on one format or another).

[@nathanmeyer6743]

Now I feel I need Format Wars for real

[@kuukeli]

thank you for the video

[@juangerardo4379]

Same thing happen with 16 pin connectors, rca, hdmi and the usb they all changed no for the best but for company profits and making things non compatible

[@jordanmcgrory2171]

Huge relevance for how tech companies today can get away with worse products if their marketing and business management is better than that of companies with superior products. It's a thing to think about as we decarbonise/transition everything and new standards for electric cars etc. are set. Is an inferior product becoming the norm because the team behind it are slicker? What will that cost us down the line?

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

Yeah I agree. I must admit researching this made me feel a bit naaive - I probably had a more utopian view that "the best product will win out" before this vid.

[@joeybaseball7352]

That applies to everything, not just tech. The popular sneakers aren't the highest quality ones. They're just the ones that are marketed the best. Same with singers, actors, athletes. Look at Tim Tebow for example. Margot Robbie has been in nothing but flops, yet somehow at 32, she's the world's highest paid actress. Don't even get me started on Ice Spice and Cardi B. They are far from the most talented female rappers. But they are just heavily marketed. WAP is one of the worst songs ever made. Most people with more than 2 brain cells know the song is trash. Yet the song was praised by critics, and won grammys, all because the record label paid off everyone in the industry to praise it.

[@christopherbenigni4373]

Another great video!

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

glad you have something to watch. i'm still waiting for a miwaco upload

[@jamespusey7186]

great video as per, but we all know that vhs had militant backing to physically destroy other formats (a la regular show)

[@daveassanowicz186]

Until the digital conversion Television Stations all used Beta (BetaCam SP)

[@wariodude128]

I think a good follow-up video to this one is why Blu-Ray won. Some might say Sony had more movie studio support at the start in comparison to HD DVD. Me, I have an alternate theory: The Playstation 3. The system used Blu-Ray for its games. Meanwhile, HD DVD didn't have a game system which used the format. Yes, the XBox 360 did have an HD DVD drive you could attach to the system to make it play them, but the system didn't play the movies right out of the box. The Playstation 3 did, which was a huge advantage in the early days of the formats. Get a system that played new movies and games or a system that played games and movies but you needed an accessory? The answer was clear. My thoughts anyway.

[@deej9367]

We couldn't afford a vhs or beta, so we had to rent movie's and the vhs player in the early 80s

[@do9138]

I remember it well. VHS won because you couldn't MAKE recordings with Betamax. You couldn't tape what was on TV to watch later.

[@ryanortega1511]

"you couldn't MAKE recordings with Betamax" What?

[@weird-guy]

For the same reason windows phone died no content and less manufactors

[@GeoNeilUK]

VHS v Beta… with Video 2000 nowhere to be seen because it was only released in Europe and came third in a two horse race! Ah yes, Sony before they bought up media producers… it was all about the hardware! Also, the one thing I remember about the manuals for video recorders, they all had warnings about how recording TV could break copyright law (Sony v MGM never happened in the UK so Fair Use wasn’t a thing) British producers just never prosecuted anyone… and later had to rely on viewers submitting (illegal) video recordings to preserve lost episodes of their own content (again, never prosecuting the donator, because obviously) to this day, it’s still illegal to record music off the radio in the UK, but the BPI (Bri’ish RIAA) actually stated that while it was illegal, they would never actually prosecute anyone (this is why it’s far harder to record off the radio and streaming services today than it was back in the day)

[@happyundertaker6255]

We had Video2000…

[@Chorutowo]

Idk whats up with this title & thumbnail, or the segments but it gives me the netflix, serious doco but its about VCR's lmao

[@andreweck6235]

Wait what's a vcr? 😊

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

i did briefly feel bad for not explaining it!

[@pavihahn]

Gary Oldman?!?

[@khalifahjamaluddin]

As a consumer of both format, I would like to say that Beta format have a major technical gliches especially for me that living in PAL colour system world. Further to that reliability of Beta players is not as good VHS. In 2 years the Beta recorder broke twice compared to VHS that only broke down after 3 years of usage.

[@fireaza]

Surprised there was no mention of VHS having greater support for porn, even if this is sorta more urban legend. I mean, you're talking about VHS vs Betamax, you gotta cover the porn!

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

Yeah I just couldn't find any evidence.

[@robk7266]

That's just an urban legend. It doesn't even make sense if you think about it. Video tales weren't used for home video at first. That didn't become a thing until the mid 80s. Takes were strictly used for recording tv shows to watch later.

[@DGol2015]

How many people are estimated to have died because of the Format Wars?

[@PaulGraydon]

At least from an outsider perspective, Sony never seems to learn. Minidisc, Memory Stick, Digital Audio Tape, Universal Media Disc, Archival Disc etc. "If you build it, they will come" was only really ever true in "Field of Dreams". It's never enough to just build the better thing.

[@fireaza]

Blu-ray worked out pretty well for them, but that might just be a "even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut" type of situation.

[@bradarmstrong3952]

You left out the biggest example IMO: Trinitron.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

Yeah I definitely had minidisc in my head during this...

[@vylbird8014]

In some of those cases, it was sort of self-destructive. Sony isn't just a consumer electronics company. It's also a media company. They own hundreds of music labels, including ancient giants like RCA and Columbia. While Sony's engineers were happily inventing DAT and minidisc, the music label part was terrified of the potential implications for music piracy. Not internet piracy as we know it now - they had visions of people borrowing tapes from their friends, making copies and passing them on. Generation after generation of tape sharing, and not one bit of quality loss. A single tape enthusiast could turn their entire workplace in to non-buyers, while street sellers would be selling knock-off tapes for a dollar more than the cost of a blank cassette with quality identical to the official product. To avoid such a scenario, Sony crippled their own products. They required DAT decks use a frustrating form of copy-protection which rendered them next to useless for recording anything on consumer equipment, and ensured that decks without restrictions were kept priced high enough that only professionals would ever be able to afford them. Minidisc had the same restriction requirement. To make sure that these stayed enforced, Sony kept exclusive control over the technology - limiting availability and product range, and keeping prices high. Memory stick had something of a similar history. The reason Sony introduced it was because previous flash media formats didn't support a suitable form of DRM scheme. Sony, being part of the SDMI group, had visions of flash media as the future of music - protected, of course, with suitable technology to prevent copying. But for that technology to work, Sony needed to maintain control over the technology - it wouldn't work if some third party were to just start selling a memory stick player with a copy button.

[@fernandlehners7787]

nobody seems to know Video 2000 system ?? It is rarely mentioned.

[@bryanparkhurst17]

Sooooo.......next video on CD vs cassette?

[@seanwebb605]

Yes the technical is the most important aspect. Especially when we are talking about technology. But you should preface the entire video that you are only referring to consumer quality. Not the broadcast standards that the various Beta formats ruled for decades.

[@bazabal1]

Hey quick question was the porno industry a big factor in the VHS wars?

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

I couldn't find any real evidence (and only anecdotal evidence to the contrary). But I'm sure the dynamics eventually mirrored that of the movie studios.

[@urdnal]

The _real_ best format was Philips' Video 2000.

[@video99couk]

Did Beta fail? They sold millions of units. Furthemore domestic Betamax spawned studio formats Betacam, Digital Betacam, HDCAM. The VHS-derived studio formats such as MII and D9 all flunked. So Beta formats outlived VHS, and the studio machines cost 10s of thousands of (insert units here, £, €, $) at a time that VHS sold for almost nothing. Sony ended up almost certainly making more money from Beta than anyone ever did out of VHS. He who laughs last laughs loudest.