RE: Microsoft thwarted again

midrange-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

>   1. RE: Microsoft thwarted again (Joe Pluta)
>
>> >research Betamax. Windows is the VHS of operating systems.
>>
>> Ooooo, I love this! Perhaps what you say is true, but have you bought
>a
>> Betamax tape recently? You're that Betamax guy screaming from the
>rooftops
>> about the technical superiority of your format, not noticing that the
>> world has decided that VHS is the way to go!
>
>The world only went that way because people kept lying to them, saying
>that VHS is better.  Proof positive that a technologically inferior
>solution can be foisted on the public by self-serving, unethical sales
>folks.

Not sure _exactly_ how much this point matters, but (IIRC) it wasn't exactly a 
"lie". For what the _public market_ wanted, VHS was indeed better.

Again IIRC, there was a significant dispute over Betamax licensing that 
involved the... ummm... 'adult entertainment' industry. VHS licensing was 
granted easily where Betamax was withheld or restricted and/or expensive for 
this purpose. One standard took off and the other faded away. Not necessarily 
the most publicized issue, but perhaps the most significant if it actually 
affected the market that way.

I suspect the dramatic rise in internet popularity was partially fueled in a 
manner similar to the popularity of VHS.

(In order to stay clearly OT) There could be warped parallels here if 
development tools and environments are cheap and easy to obtain in one case, 
but more expensive and harder to obtain in the other.

Tom Liotta

-- 
Tom Liotta
The PowerTech Group, Inc.
19426 68th Avenue South
Kent, WA 98032
Phone  253-872-7788 x313
Fax    253-872-7904
http://www.powertech.com



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