Steve,
You can find a lengthy discussion of VHS vs. Beta in Stan Leibowitz
and Steve Margolis's book, Winners, Losers, & Microsoft. Contrary to
popular belief, Beta did not have a better picture (LM cite several
experts and Consumer Reports which found *VHS* to have a superior
picture quality in two reviews, Beta to be superior in one review and no
difference in a fourth review.) What killed Beta was that Sony thought
a small tape-size was desirable and so the initial Beta machines were
limited to one-hour recording - this meant of course that you could not
tape a full-length movie or watch one without two tapes. VHS had a
large tape size that was capable of recording for up to two hours. This
made the difference and is the prime reason why VHS was able to overcome
Beta's lead and dominate the market.
Alex
P.S. My Institute (www.independent.org) publishes WLM so I may be
biased but Liebowitz and Margolis are the acknowledged experts on this
subject.
--
Dr. Alexander Tabarrok
Vice President and Director of Research
The Independent Institute
100 Swan Way
Oakland, CA, 94621-1428
Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
