Beta better but nobody cared

by Chris Riley     After our story about TDK audio tapes, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about Beta video cassette recorders...

by Chris Riley

   

After our story about TDK audio tapes, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about Beta video cassette recorders. I still recall the time when VCRs were introduced in the late 70s, or was it the early 1980s, and I can also remember the intense debate over the virtues of the two competing formats - Beta and VH-S. Beta was clearly, technically, the superior system and the same format they used in the television industry -- but the market spoke and VH-S eventually became the dominant format. We, of course, bought a Sanyo Betacord VCR. The recordings were better and it came with a wireless remote. Don't laugh. Some early devices like the one our friends bought included a corded remote control with a wire that trailed across the lounge room floor. Sony pioneered the Beta system believing that better quality recordings were the key to success and that consumers would be willing to pay a higher retail price for better quality. It soon became clear, however, that consumers were more interested in longer recording times, lower retail prices and compatibility with other machines -- so they could share tapes with friends. Our video shows well known Aussie actor Michael Pate, best known for the police show Matlock, advertising the virtues of Sanyo Beta VCRs in 1980. And, it was all good in the Riley household until the Beta tapes started to disappear from the shelves of our local video store. I don't remember what happened to that recorder, but I do remember the schmick looking NEC machine we bought as a replacement from Brashs - remember them? It was (cough), a VH-S recorder, but at least the kids were happy. Then DVD players arrived and our viewing experience was transformed, literally, with crystal clear movies that were better than those you watched at the cinema. I collected DVDs for a while, even sold a few on eBay and have about 1000 of them taking up space in various shelves around the house. That was then, this is now, because I can't remember the last time I bought a DVD. These days it's all about storing and streaming movies, using services like Netflix. The collector in me is however is attracted by the idea of building a Plex or Kodi media server . . . but that's another story. 

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