Saturday, February 14, 2004
THE PAST IS ALIVE! ON BETA! Oooookay, a lot of you know my long-time fascination with Betamax and other now-obsolete A/V technology. Well, the guy who runs the Ultimate Betamax Information Guide has just posted scans of what is probably the first consumer-level video magazine, the Videophile's Newsletter. Read about the industry as it was unfolding in 1976-77, when a 60 minute blank tape cost $13.50. Some of the speculation about the future is pretty wild, too:
"I fully expect that when the MCA-Phillips Video Disk comes on the market the desire for most movies will be satisfied in that format and that TV tape will be useful primarily for preserving TV shows themselves as well as obscure films like 'She Demons' that no repsectable video disk maker is ever likely to produce."
I have to laugh, not at the first half of the prediction, but the bizarre concept that there are films no company is willing to try and sell. If you've seen the ads for The Underground Comedy Movie, you know what I mean.
"I fully expect that when the MCA-Phillips Video Disk comes on the market the desire for most movies will be satisfied in that format and that TV tape will be useful primarily for preserving TV shows themselves as well as obscure films like 'She Demons' that no repsectable video disk maker is ever likely to produce."
I have to laugh, not at the first half of the prediction, but the bizarre concept that there are films no company is willing to try and sell. If you've seen the ads for The Underground Comedy Movie, you know what I mean.
|| Eric 7:36 PM#
