Betamax

And yeah, you know, the best technology does not always win.

You know, if you think of, you know, video standards, so VHS tapes, you know, they were worse than Betamax that you had at the time, but they won at the market.

But that's the classic example.

I think there's another counter example that happened later with HD DVD and Blu-ray, where you can argue that HD DVD, yes, it was better because it was compatible with older devices, but Blu-ray had more storage.

But I really have to ask you about zero radiography.

When I was looking through the history, it felt exactly like the Betamax of dental imaging.

That is a perfect analogy.

I wouldn't even just call it Betamax.

I'd call it an evolutionary dead end that was brilliant for a brief moment.

What made it so unique?

There's a lot of experimentation, a lot of different things.

It feels a bit more like for those old enough to remember videotapes, the time where you had Betamax and Video 2000 and VHS.

We'll see which one will prevail.

Let's take these two examples.

There's a lot of experimentation, a lot of different things.

It feels a bit more like for those old enough to remember videotapes, the time where you had Betamax and Video 2000 and VHS.

We'll see which one will prevail.

Let's take these two examples.

Oh, yes.

So yesterday I went to Beacon Video in Burbank and I went to go compare VHS and Betamax tapes.

Yesterday on the air,

I was talking about how Beta were smaller than VHS tapes.

Would you like to see Johnny's? Did you send...

I believe the tapes, yes.

But when you went to the video store, what we're talking about, and you went to go rent a video, the Betamax boxes were way bigger.

Nobody was talking about the boxes.

Oh, yes.

So yesterday I went to Beacon Video in Burbank and I went to go compare VHS and Betamax tapes.

Yesterday on the

air, I was talking about how Beta were smaller than VHS tapes.

Would you like to see Johnny's? Great.

I believe the tapes, yes.

But when you went to the video store, what we're talking about, and you went to go rent a video, the Betamax boxes were way bigger.

Nobody was talking about the boxes.

I don't even know, was it on YouTube or any parts of it, or it just fell off the face of the earth?

There were pieces of it that got, I think, probably from people who would have VHSed it, they would have recorded it on Betamax or whatever they had back in the day.

There were probably some of those things kicking around in those early days, but the clip of him singing...

I'm an idiot? Was that there? Yes.

absolutely.

Well, this one's Betamax, but it's a collection I started when I was a teenager.

So it's a lot of tapes that I got in England when I was a teenager.

I used to collect VHS also, but in Indonesia back then we didn't have VHS.