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Beta is actually a superior format to VHS. The reason VHS caught on is that Matsushita (the parent company of Panasonic, which developed the VHS format) licensed the hell out of it and propagated like a virus through electronics stores. More availablitiy means more purchasers, means more VHS taped in video rentals. Beta died because it was marketed poorly by Sony.

I work with PCs at the office and Macs at home. I do the same work on both machines. My work is easier, faster, and more enjoyable on my Mac. The equipment and software are made for people who want to use it, not for people who want to keep fiddling with the guts of their tools.

Stockpirate, drop the PC arrogance over the relative numbers. More people drive cheap and widely available pieces of junk than drive well-made, well-functioning cars that make the driving experience enjoyable. The same goes for computers. This thread started as a communique to people interested in an update to the Mac OS. Why do you feel compelled to attack with the same faulty info every time the subject comes up?

You are correct about the Beta format but the reason it failed was because they thought that the better product wuld out sell the 6 hour play and record format, and it didn't.

But that does not equate to the PC vs Mac situation. Mac's are no better and no worse than PC's.

SHEEESH! (Shaking head in disbelief)

really, guys, all I wanted to know was where to look at/possibly buy one....really, it's not that big a deal...

(...one would think it's an evo/create debate or something...)

My work is easier, faster, and more enjoyable on my Mac. The equipment and software are made for people who want to use it, not for people who want to keep fiddling with the guts of their tools.

That's it - in a nutshell. My Mac makes me happy.

Cheers! CC :)

P.S. Gotta love these threads and the comments they draw.

I don't completely buy the "Betamax was superior" line for two reasons. The first and most obvious one to VCR users was that Betamax didn't hold as much as VHS, thus making VHS superior in a fairly important way, especially when tapes cost $20 and the best VHS recording speed was 2 hours. But even if you just look at quality, the Betamax machine moves the tape, in a serpentine way, past the heads (in a sort of "B" shape without the back bar, thus the name). The problem with that is tape wear. If you've ever seen old Betamax tapes, they'd get sparkly drop-outs where the magnetic material flaked off of the tape because of how it was being wound through the heads. So perhaps with a pristine tape and a short program, Betamax was superior but people wanted longer recording times and there were certainly some quality issues, at least with the tapes of that day, in the long haul.

Damn stragiht. Recall that the first digital recording devices for the music industry used VHS and Beta. Tascam's DA88 was more expensive, but it was superior in quality to Alesis' ADAT.

I love my Mac...in spite of Steve Jobs.