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- Newsgroups: rec.audio
- Path: sparky!uunet!peora!tous!bilver!bill
- From: bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion)
- Subject: Re: questions on new digital formats
- Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL
- Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 15:27:02 GMT
- Message-ID: <1992Dec25.152702.22080@bilver.uucp>
- References: <1gld2cINN8pa@mensa.usc.edu> <1992Dec23.234533.16495@adobe.com> <28963@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
- Lines: 80
-
- In article <28963@oasys.dt.navy.mil> curt@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Curt Welch) writes:
-
- >And I think MD will not only beat out DCC, but it will also replace
- >ACC, and in about 3 years, I think MD sales will even pass CD sales.
- >MD will never replace CD, but I think MD will replace CD as the primary
- >audio distribution format.
-
- It seems that most people viev this as a battle between MD and
- DCC - and which one will be the winner.
-
- The third scenario is that there is no winner, and they both
- disappear, or become niche market items. There have been
- instances in the past where the consuming public waits until a
- clear winner has been determined before committing their
- dollars. If it becomes a statemate they could both lose.
-
- I'm leaning more towards this scenario myself as I have seen
- too many - far TOO many - new 'inovations' in audio that were
- to sweep the world from all that went before.
-
- Inludes such things a pre-recorded audio tape in a cassette
- type form that loaded to/from the tape cartridge - that was
- courtesy of 3M/Wollensak. Hip-Pocket records - flexible mini
- 45's to take to the beach - from Philco/Ford.
-
- A novel idea that had tape in mini hubs - using the Newell tape
- transport idea - really looked good - but also went away.
-
- Then there were 16 2/3 LPs for music. And how about the 10"
- records with the 45 RPM sized center holes that played at 16
- 2/3 rpm - they were background music.
-
- The quad format for LP's. And the ever-popular El-Cassette -
- designed to overcome the limits of the cassette format :-)
-
- And 2-track reel-reel, both stacked and staggered. Four-track
- reel to reel, both high-speed and low-speed.
-
- Though not really pertinent to the audio part of this
- discussion, in video we had at least 4 cartridge formats before
- Beta and VHS - (not to mention a couple of reel-reel units)
- and 6 videodisk standards - and if Pioneer hadn't
- hung in there, we might not have a single one today.
-
- And the lowly cassette, that didn't even pretend to be a music
- device when it first came out, conquered them all.
-
- I've become really jaded to announcments from those who think
- they control the entertaiment industry about what is the
- "greatest things since xxxxx - and will undoubtedly change the
- way the world sees xxxxx forever" or statements even more
- pompous. The thing those who think they control the industry
- don't realize, is that they don't control the business, they
- merely get to drive it in a certain direction after the buying
- public decides what the direction is.
-
- The CD held (holds) a fascination for the bying public. Anyone
- can see that it differs radically from anything that went
- before. TV news anchors commented on the little silver disk,
- newspapers ran articles, the publice was amazed.
-
- I just can see that happening with DCC as it looks too much
- like the old stuff in new packaging. And the consumer gets
- enough of that with all the commercial for "new" "new
- improved" "exciting new formula that xxxxx" - sure and they
- see just how 'new and improved' the old stuff is, and they
- don't buy it. The American consumer is more immune to hype
- that the advertising industry would like you to believe.
-
- Anyway - lets review this discussion a year or two from now and
- see what has happened.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- --
- Bill Vermillion - bill@bilver.oau.org bill@bilver.uucp
- - ..!{peora|tous|tarpit}!bilver!bill
-