It's the final nail on Betamax's coffin.

[markw]

"Sony announces end of production of Betamax cassettes for March next year, 40 years after its introduction and 28 years after losing format war to VHS."

http://freepatriotpost.com/betamax-is-dead-long-live-vhs/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

 

[Seth=L]

I like how the article completely ignores the commercial use of Betamax, as if Sony has been pointlessly producing them since the 80s for no logical reason.

 

[KEW]

I like how the article completely ignores the commercial use of Betamax, as if Sony has been pointlessly producing them since the 80s for no logical reason.

Thanks, you just answered a whole lot of questions I had!

 

[markw]

I like how the article completely ignores the commercial use of Betamax, as if Sony has been pointlessly producing them since the 80s for no logical reason.

Since they continued to product tapes for 28 years after they stopped hardware production, I'm sure there was a niche market but apparently it didn't generate enough revenue to justify it's continued production.

 

[Seth=L]

Since they continued to product tapes for 28 years after they stopped hardware production, I'm sure there was a niche market but apparently it didn't generate enough revenue to justify it's continued production.

The eve of digital has all but decimated analogous formats. There's little commercial use for Betamax and variants this late in the game, although to my understanding it was in regular use up until the early to mid 2000's in commercial markets (video editing and transfers). The digital film industry gained traction very quickly once the gains from it were appreciably better and more cost effective.

The production of VHS could continue for next decade or two, but that's solely depedant on the the consumer market. The last generation of hold outs will be forced to accept new alternatives or go without.

 

[j_garcia]

holdouts lol. Those are called hoarders

 

[Seth=L]

holdouts lol. Those are called hoarders

AKA Senior citizens who refer to DVDs as "DVD tapes" when making commentary on how they're not interested in that newfangled technology that does the same thing their VHS tapes do.

 

[j_garcia]

I moved to DVD right away despite having a ton of VHS because I saw one additional big benefit besides better video and audio: they took up a LOT less shelf space lol.

 

[slipperybidness]

I moved to DVD right away despite having a ton of VHS because I saw one additional big benefit besides better video and audio: they took up a LOT less shelf space lol.

I, for one, was quiet pleased at the death of magnetic tape storage media! It's just such a hassle.

Granted, I am too young to really remember the reel-to-reel days, but I completely hate cassette tapes and VHS falls into that category by default. And, of course I hated 8 tracks, but cassettes did improve upon that.

I know that magnetic tape is still used for archiving purposes, and it seems to be quite useful for that.