Sony produced it's last consumer Beta VCRs in December of 2002. If your visiting this Site then you surely feel that, for some people at least, Beta still holds a lot of interest. Let's take a moment and examine why the latent enthusiasm and what may happen in the future with our beloved format.
Unlike most of the transitions that have occurred over the years in the entertainment industry the video recorder changed the way the world could view and transform images. If television was the window to the world, then the video recorder was the way for you to capture what you saw in that window. It seems doubtful now that Sony could have seen the transformation that was going to take place once they presented the public with the first practical machine (to tape record video images at home). They fought hard for their ideas, like an artist does for his passion to paint. They made their product better, more attractive and more innovative. They didn't fail the medium, just failed to win the public's embrace for their design. They ended up chasing after an ever decreasing specialty market. One of consumers that examined and recognized the superiority of their product. One of consumers that were determined to stand their ground against a torrent of negative opposition. Being the best had worked so well in the past for Sony, why was it not working now?
To the masses the Betamax seemed expensive, aloof and too technical. The buying public voted with their dollars for a simpler, cheaper and more universally accepted format. But in the wake of what happened over those twenty-seven years of existance, Beta left us with what can only be described as art in an electronic gallery.
To examine the overall design and character leaves one with a perspective that shows how forceful it was in impact from, as an example, the eight-track tape. Here you had a transitional audio media that lead to simpler and better performing systems. Beta was different. Developed by a manufacturer recognized as a world leader in cutting edge electronics Beta opened up a whole new genre and removed the constraints of real time video. Sony was driven to perfection by a fervent desire to be better than what the competition had to offer and they viewed it as fighting for their very image in the marketplace. It will always be remembered as one of history's great marketing mysteries. Beta machines upon close examination are formidable and nothing in the future is ever likely to repeat what took place when the world was ushered into the video revolution. The computer and the internet may surpass its impact but they will never duplicate this chapter in history known as the great format war.
Examine the various models. If possible get hands-on and feel the way they respond and the ease at which they allow you to shuttle though to play, rewind, stop and fast forward so you can edit and work with the images you have laid down. The high end models are especially adroit at seducing you, gaining your admiration and firing your enthusiasm with their functionality.
The future looks good for interest in Beta. You can collect them all because the number of models produced is now a definitive number, sadly no more will be produced. Some of the best examples are still very affordable. Generally unaffected by anti-copy schemes, praised for superior image quality, famous for unsurpassedBetaHi-Fi stereo recording and loved for its user friendly tape handling characteristics the Betamax just may be in demand for some time to come by the true videophile.
Unlike most of the transitions that have occurred over the years in the entertainment industry the video recorder changed the way the world could view and transform images. If television was the window to the world, then the video recorder was the way for you to capture what you saw in that window. It seems doubtful now that Sony could have seen the transformation that was going to take place once they presented the public with the first practical machine (to tape record video images at home). They fought hard for their ideas, like an artist does for his passion to paint. They made their product better, more attractive and more innovative. They didn't fail the medium, just failed to win the public's embrace for their design. They ended up chasing after an ever decreasing specialty market. One of consumers that examined and recognized the superiority of their product. One of consumers that were determined to stand their ground against a torrent of negative opposition. Being the best had worked so well in the past for Sony, why was it not working now?
To the masses the Betamax seemed expensive, aloof and too technical. The buying public voted with their dollars for a simpler, cheaper and more universally accepted format. But in the wake of what happened over those twenty-seven years of existance, Beta left us with what can only be described as art in an electronic gallery.
To examine the overall design and character leaves one with a perspective that shows how forceful it was in impact from, as an example, the eight-track tape. Here you had a transitional audio media that lead to simpler and better performing systems. Beta was different. Developed by a manufacturer recognized as a world leader in cutting edge electronics Beta opened up a whole new genre and removed the constraints of real time video. Sony was driven to perfection by a fervent desire to be better than what the competition had to offer and they viewed it as fighting for their very image in the marketplace. It will always be remembered as one of history's great marketing mysteries. Beta machines upon close examination are formidable and nothing in the future is ever likely to repeat what took place when the world was ushered into the video revolution. The computer and the internet may surpass its impact but they will never duplicate this chapter in history known as the great format war.
Examine the various models. If possible get hands-on and feel the way they respond and the ease at which they allow you to shuttle though to play, rewind, stop and fast forward so you can edit and work with the images you have laid down. The high end models are especially adroit at seducing you, gaining your admiration and firing your enthusiasm with their functionality.
The future looks good for interest in Beta. You can collect them all because the number of models produced is now a definitive number, sadly no more will be produced. Some of the best examples are still very affordable. Generally unaffected by anti-copy schemes, praised for superior image quality, famous for unsurpassed
