Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: notesfiles - hp internal release 1.2; site hp-pcd.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!zehntel!hplabs!hp-pcd!raan From: raan@hp-pcd.UUCP Newsgroups: net.video Subject: Re: video disc players Message-ID: <20600001@hp-pcd.UUCP> Date: Wed, 13-Jun-84 17:46:00 EDT Article-I.D.: hp-pcd.20600001 Posted: Wed Jun 13 17:46:00 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 22-Jun-84 20:51:59 EDT References: <689@ut-ngp.UUCP> Organization: Hewlett-Packard Portable Computer Division - Corvallis, OR Lines: 33 Nf-ID: #R:ut-ngp:-68900:hpcvry:20600001:000:1766 Nf-From: hpcvry!raan Jun 18 13:46:00 1984 >>Are they going to be around? I've heard some companies are no longer >>making them since they aren't selling (which seems amazing since the >>picture is better and after 10 or 15 years a tape will be awful, plus >>buying tapes of movies cost more than buying discs). Is RCA committed >>to them at least? If I buy one, will I be able to buy movies in 10 >>years or will they discontinue making the discs when they discontinue >>making the players? There are (were) two types of video discs (laser - Pioneer, capacitive - RCA) RCA has just recently announced that they are dropping their disc line. Furthermore, several of the capacitive disc producers are dropping their production. This leaves only the laser disc as a living disc format. >>Is the current video disc going to be the form of the media for a long >>time to come? I've heard there's so much information they can put on >>those new audio-laser-discs that the could probably put a movie on them >>and they're a lot smaller, is there a chance that they'd go to something >>smaller, rendering the current stuff obsolete? The laser video disc may be around for a long time, it has many advantages that the capacitive type did not have. The audio discs do not have the storage capacity necessary for full length movies, so I would not excpect the video discs to switch to that size. Personally, I like the tape format much more than disc because of the fact that I can record my own material, use it for time shifting tv, and so on. (Time shifting and commercial skipping have become so useful that I almost NEVER watch "live" tv anymore, even if I am home and doing nothing else.) I suspect that this flexability is why video disc has not caught on more than it has. Raan Young (hp-pcd!raan)