Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 (Tek) 9/26/83; site shark.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!orca!shark!davew From: davew@shark.UUCP (Dave Williams) Newsgroups: net.audio Subject: Re: Record speeds Message-ID: <1092@shark.UUCP> Date: Wed, 3-Oct-84 11:37:39 EDT Article-I.D.: shark.1092 Posted: Wed Oct 3 11:37:39 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 5-Oct-84 05:46:49 EDT References: <1698@inmet.UUCP> Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR Lines: 29 >> RCA came out with 45 rpm just to be difficult. >Then they came out with a needle-played video disc system just >to be difficult again. -- Mark Lutton No company comes out with a product just to be difficult, but to make money. RCA and CBS brought out their competing record formats in the late forties. Both had good and bad points. The RCA 45 rpm format actually had better fidelity than the CBS 33 1/3 format. The main problem was you could not get a full album on one RCA disc, even in the EP (extended play format). The industry finally chose the 45 for singles and the 33 for albums. The fidelity problems with the 33 1/3 format have been solved for a long time. The main problems in disc reproduction now are in the mastering, not the disc. This is what digital mastering is attempting to deal with. As for the RCA CED video disc. They were trying to provide a cheap system for the masses. It was a marketing decision that failed. The cost of LaserDisc units came down and people were willing to pay more for the superior quality of the laser unit. Worse yet, most people wanted a medium they could record on so the VCR market took off and left the video disc market in the dust.