30-08-2023, 08:44 PM
(This post was last modified: 30-08-2023, 08:48 PM by Mike Watterson.)
Elcaset was about 20 years too late. Actually RCA had a 1/4" cartridge in 1958. The Lear Jet Audio 8 track (1964) came after the compact cassette (1962) and because of the endless loop: no fast forward, rewind impossible, high tape wear and the S/N & frequency response theoretical advantages miniscule in the car. Penetration in USA purely due to Ford and GM including them.
Sony (despite the pocket Journalist cassette before walkman) forgot that part of compact cassette success was the size. High end compact cassette machines were good enough by the time the Elcaset came. The Elcaset portable was only a competitor to Uher and similar. Not for public transport, cycling, jogging etc.
The cartridge (from Wikipedia).
It wasn't obvious that VHS would beat Betamax, however one of them had to "win". The N1700 was doomed when they came out. The Philips V2000 looked like a possible, but as literally years dragged on (was it manafacturing issues of the piezo mounted moving heads?) it was thought to be already doomed when it did reach the shops.
VHS-C (or whatever it was called) big selling point was an adaptor for a VHS. But size and play time meant it was doomed to lose to 8mm. S-VHS was the last gasp for home tape. Then home recordable CD Video (VCD) and home recordable DVD and Digital 8mm meant Digital VHS was doomed. Digital VHS did exist, but I never saw one.
Mini-disc was crippled by Sony DRM. Too late they brought out a higher quality DRM free version.
Then Flash made Digital 8 obsolete.
I'd think good luck on finding a 1/4 open reel Akai colour video recorder. I saw one once in the BBC. It had been bought out of curiosity. It was terrible. The Super 8 film is better.
The Philips Digital Compact Cassette was amazing but never had even the limited success of minidisc. The head was very innovative and could have led to video tape system without a helical drum. Being able to play ordinary cassettes wasn't good enough, given cost.
Sony (despite the pocket Journalist cassette before walkman) forgot that part of compact cassette success was the size. High end compact cassette machines were good enough by the time the Elcaset came. The Elcaset portable was only a competitor to Uher and similar. Not for public transport, cycling, jogging etc.
The cartridge (from Wikipedia).
It wasn't obvious that VHS would beat Betamax, however one of them had to "win". The N1700 was doomed when they came out. The Philips V2000 looked like a possible, but as literally years dragged on (was it manafacturing issues of the piezo mounted moving heads?) it was thought to be already doomed when it did reach the shops.
VHS-C (or whatever it was called) big selling point was an adaptor for a VHS. But size and play time meant it was doomed to lose to 8mm. S-VHS was the last gasp for home tape. Then home recordable CD Video (VCD) and home recordable DVD and Digital 8mm meant Digital VHS was doomed. Digital VHS did exist, but I never saw one.
Mini-disc was crippled by Sony DRM. Too late they brought out a higher quality DRM free version.
Then Flash made Digital 8 obsolete.
I'd think good luck on finding a 1/4 open reel Akai colour video recorder. I saw one once in the BBC. It had been bought out of curiosity. It was terrible. The Super 8 film is better.
The Philips Digital Compact Cassette was amazing but never had even the limited success of minidisc. The head was very innovative and could have led to video tape system without a helical drum. Being able to play ordinary cassettes wasn't good enough, given cost.
