From owner-freebsd-chat Sun Nov 21 0:48:28 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from lariat.lariat.org (lariat.lariat.org [206.100.185.2]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1335314D25 for ; Sun, 21 Nov 1999 00:48:25 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from brett@lariat.org) Received: from mustang (IDENT:ppp0.lariat.org@lariat.lariat.org [206.100.185.2]) by lariat.lariat.org (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id BAA21388; Sun, 21 Nov 1999 01:48:11 -0700 (MST) Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.19991120204027.0452b630@localhost> X-Sender: brett@localhost X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.0.58 Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 22:04:49 -0700 To: crh@outpost.co.nz From: Brett Glass Subject: Re: Video Stupidity Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG In-Reply-To: <19991117060702.DEB511527A@hub.freebsd.org> References: <000001bf30b5$b82c5470$021d85d1@youwant.to> <199911170254.TAA05982@usr08.primenet.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org At 07:06 PM 11/17/1999 +1200, Craig Harding wrote: >PS I don't have the technical specs of Betamax and VHS to hand to >compare them, so I'm not going to argue on technical performance, >but everything I've read suggests VHS won because of (relatively) >free and open licensing vs Sony's desire to control and own >everything that was Betamax. Unfortunately Sony's tactics have been >much more successful in the broadcast arena. Sony did try to charge rival content producers royalties to get their films onto Betamax, which did indeed get said rivals quite steamed. But those producers turned the tables. First, they initiated legal action against Sony. When that began to look as if it wouldn't succeed, they adopted other tactics. They refused to let their content be produced on Beta and then subsidized the marketing efforts of VHS manufacturers. By chilling the market with a lawsuit, marketing the heck out of VHS and restricting access to key content (such as Disney movies), Sony's rivals won. So, in the end, technology had nothing to do with how things turned out. Beta actually *was* superior, but things would have played out the same whether it was or not. Incidentally, Sony is now trying to introduce a proprietary flash memory format. Why another format? Partially so they can own it, but primarily because it has COPY PROTECTION. (Yes, that's right; each Memory Stick incorporates SCMS.) Now that Sony itself has a large content empire (which it began to bulk up shortly after it realized that content lost it the VHS vs. Beta battle), it wants to prevent its content from being copied -- at all costs. Likewise, have you ever noticed that there are no Walkmen that record? Again, this is an attempt to protect content from copying. Funny how everything is interconnected. Sony sometimes does produce decent products, but it's always important to watch for ulterior motives. (Side note: I'm also rather bummed that Sony's Vaio F390, a very good-looking and fast laptop, has a "lobotomodem" chip permanently soldered onto the motherboard, making the modem useless unless you're running Windows. You can't buy the machine without Windows, either. Sony supports alternative OSes in Japan, I hear, but clearly wants to lock users into Microsoft products in the States. Like many vendors, they may HAVE to do this to be able to buy Windows from Microsoft. I hear that Microsoft charges more to license Windows if a vendor doesn't put Windows-specific hardware in a system; this is one of their "marketing" programs.) --Brett To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message