In the knock-down, drag out battle between the Beta Max and VHS format's, Beta did not finish in the alpha position.
VHS was the conquering hero of the format war. Thus, my basement is cluttered by Video Cassettes, rather than Beta Max tapes of entertainment essentials such as, "The Princess Bride" movie, reruns of "Seinfeld," oh, and yes, the video of my wedding.
What would happened if VHS would have went obsolete, instead the Beta Max? No one can be certain, of course. However, the Beta Max format only allowed one hour of recording time compared to the 4-6 hours provided by VHS. So, movies, TV shows, even weddings would have had to be completed in a much faster time frame, if Beta Max was the format of choice. Not necessarily a bad thing if you could end the misery that was "Look Who's Talking," or "Three Men and a Baby," in as fast as 60 minutes. I am just saying.
Don't shed too many tears for Sony in this stinging defeat of the late 70's. They have just won the newest version of this war as their Blu Ray Disc has soundly defeated the HD DVD format. The victory officially occurred when the Warner Brothers studio announced that they were dumping the HD DVD format and sticking with the Blu Ray format only. Other Hollywood studios followed Warner Brother's lead after their announcement.
Even when its late arriving, victory is always sweet. "Sayonara Beta Max" (and HD DVD for that matter).
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