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From: moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer)
Newsgroups: net.video
Subject: Re: VHS vs. Beta
Message-ID: <1334@vax2.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 14-Sep-84 11:23:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax2.1334
Posted: Fri Sep 14 11:23:15 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 02:00:51 EDT
References: <471@rdin.UUCP>
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Everett, WA
Lines: 49

As I'm leaving in five minutes, I don't have the time to list every one of
the errors that were printed in this article (there were so MANY!).  But
before placing corrections, let me say this:  I am not saying that VHS is
junk and Beta perfection... I am just saying there are reasons why I picked
Beta over VHS, and then listing said reasons.  I notice that after one buys
one or the other format of VHS, one tends to root for it... after all, if
it's Hi-Fi, you've put ~$1K into it. However, this article had so many
mistakes in it that I think I should point some of them out.  Remember,
this is net.video, not net.flame!  We're trying to pass information and
opinions here, not rah-rah.

>Every aspect of Beta makes
>it obvious to me that Sony was just trying to push something
>out the door before VHS got to market.

Please read the case histories.  This can be done in numerous articles
published by consumer magazines and the like (VIDEO comes to mind).  VHS was
built after Beta had been out on the market for about a year (different
articles vary the time... I can't remember back that far :-) ).  The
companies that designed the VHS VCRs had to get around the patent rights
placed by Sony.  As to the superiority of the Beta engineering system over
the VHS, well, that's an opinion, but before buying it, I talked to a lot of
engineers and read a lot of the aforementioned articles, and most (not all,
but most) thought the Beta was engineered better.  What varied most was the
degree of improvement.

>More: All Beta cassettes are CHROME.  VHS gets the same quality
>from Normal tape.  All Beta's use Dolby.

Both blatently false.  I have a non-Dolby Beta system at home that does not
use Chrome tapes.

>Is it any wonder that more movies are available in VHS format?
>The Sony Betamax sells for the same reason that the IBM PC sells--some
>people don't look any further than the name plate.

This is what annoyed me most about the article.  Please, from now on,
restrain the insults; they do no one any good, and lower other people's
opinion of you as an objective observer.

		"Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge, Know-what-I-mean, Know-what-I-mean?"

					Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
					John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
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