Why VHS Was Better Than Betamax

Vladimir Kornea writes "This article argues that 'when someone buys and uses a product, the technological aspects are a small and often uninteresting part of the decision' and that the when the 'whole product' (a term commonly used among marketing people) is considered, VHS was better than Betamax, and that the Wintel PC is better than the alternatives." Update: 01/29 04:26 GMT by T : Apologies for the dupe.

first post!

[yobbo]

oh wait... dupe

second post!

Why it was better....

[telstar]

Cause you could watch stuff over and over again in nice, compact, tape-form and not have to carry around an entire computer to see the same thing [slashdot.org] day after day.....

slashdot's new theme...

[Anonymous Coward]

news for amnesiacs, stuff that mattered

Beta will always be better for DUPLICATION....

[malakai]

know what i mean little timothy?

wink, wink, nudge nudge... say no more.

The real reason VHS was better than betamax..

[Anonymous Coward]

and all /. editors know this:

Better Copies.

The funny thing is...

[Repton]

...that there's all these duplicate comments complaining about how the story is a duplicate story...

Re:DUPE!

[Waffle Iron]

Didn't this story run like yesterday?

Just like a good movie on a VCR tape, this story worth rewinding and playing again and again.

I never get tired of VHS vs. Betamax flamewars. Nothing could be more compelling, relevant or engaging than debating the relative merits of these 20-year old tape formats a few more times.

Re:Duplicate

[MrLint]

When people post the same story over and over it means its a better "whole product" then an new original story.

history repeatimg

[chrismacmahon]

those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.

Suggested Reactions to dupes

[Wolfier]

Let's just go back to the previous story, copy and paste a random comment from there.

Re:The funny thing is...

[stefanlasiewski]

Yes, I hear the MPAA is going to fine Timothy for duplicating a story which mentions "VHS".

I mean, if the subject matter involves "Duplicate" and "VHS", you figure a law got broken somewhere.

Re:Perhaps this article can also explain

[dirkdidit]

Kuro5hin has more intellegant discussion, and fewer duplicated stories

Guess you don't post there, huh? :-)

Re:first post!

[ubugly2]

The best part of slashdot is that it is possible to get first post in the same story..TWICE

Ever see the movie....

[Anonymous Coward]

Groundhog Day?

Ever think you were in it?

Ever think the slashdot moderators were in it?

but this article is better

[Barbarian]

It doesn't matter that this was posted two days ago, and the articles are similar in functionality, this article is better as far as the whole product aspect.

Re:It didn't run here...

[MechaStreisand]

just the girl geeks

Pssh. Like they exist.

To illustrate

[KinkyClown]

This article was to illustrate that VHS was very good for making copies, hence the duplicate news.

congratulations

[joe_bruin]

today's dupe story submission winner is Vladimir Kornea [slashdot.org]
today's dupe loser is timothy [monkey.org]

thanks for playing, Vladimir, and timothy. good tteamwork!

would you like to know more about dupe posting? [slashdot.org]

Re:Model T Ford

[Phroggy]

Is McDonald's the best at burgers simply because they have the highest sales? The only thing that McDonald's really did right was by hitting a happy medium of price, quality, speed and convenience.

Seen on McDonald's french fries:

America's favorite fries!*

* by sales volume.