Although it's still a bit too soon to tell who may eventually win the high-def DVD format wars (assuming, arguably, that there is a single winner), even as product from both opposing camps are about to hit retailers. But at least one respected publication says we might at least know when the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD is over: When the losing side begins to take out ads telling everyone that it's still in the game.
According to The Wall Street Journal, that's exactly what occurred in 1984 during the Beta vs. VHS wars. The journal also points out that much of what some people remember about that episode in tech warfare was wrong -- namely, that although Beta was seen to possess a "superior product," it lost anyway. Columnist Lee Gomes argues that although VHS from JVC boasted a slightly larger cassette (something that Sony wrongly assumed consumers would find as negative), the larger VHS cassette did record more programming.
When the Beta cassette was first introduced, it could only record about one hour's worth, not even a full motion picture (and although its recording time eventually increased, it was already too late). VHS, inelegant as its cassette may have looked, could record two hours or twice as much as Beta. Thus, even though Beta came to market first, consumers sided with the technology that afforded them longer recording options -- and Gomes said any perceived technical superiority on the part of Beta was lost on average consumers who found VHS simply more suited to their own needs.
When Sony eventually threw in the towel on Beta, VHS was capturing nearly 98 percent of the VCR market. This time around, Sony's Blu-ray disc holds more content than Toshiba's HD DVD disc, so Sony is hoping that in this regard, history repeats itself. The only certainty seems to be that one way or the other, a Japanese proponent will win the war.
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