Monday, 11 May 2015

40 years ago, Sony introduced Betamax - 'The Next Thing'

The ability to record TV shows and play back later is like just another feature in modern day world where almost all set-top box providers offer the facility for just a little extra. But, did you know that the first home video recorder was introduced by Sony forty years ago?
On May 10, 1975, Sony launched its revolutionary product, 'The Next Thing: Betamax,' which was the first home video recorder to hit the market at its time of launch.
The recorder used tapes that recorded one-hour programs and could be reused again and againHowever, as Gizmodo notes, soon after Betamax, JVC released a recorder that used VHS that proved a tough competition as Sony's recorder used clunkier and expensive tapes that could only hold a one-hour movie, while VHS could record up to two hours.
Sony's full-page newspaper ads boasts how the 'Betamax Video -tape deck lets you see shows you would have missed-' a tiny feature, which in today's Internet world seems just a tap away but, back then, meant a lot of 'progress.'

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