Word: beta
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Boom in Beta...
...Austrian coffee merchant and his Rumanian wife, Bernhard grew up in Brooklyn. A Phi Beta Kappa, he earned a degree in English from Williams College, then got a job writing theater reviews for TIME in 1925. His pay: $10 a week. Hoping to make more money, Bernhard left after a few months and eventually wandered to Wall Street. There he earned $6,000 a year before losing his job during the Depression. He recalls, "I had a couple of weeks there when I was trying to decide whether to jump off a bridge...
...videotape system in favor of the VHS method developed by archrival Matsushita (1982 sales: $15.7 billion), which sells products in the U.S. under the National, Quasar and Panasonic brand names. Says one industry watcher in Tokyo: "Zenith's move means the demolition of the Sony-led Beta group...
While Sony continues to churn out new products, it has not given up on Betamax. The company recently introduced a 5½-lb. hand-held camera and a stereo system that are compatible with Beta videotapes. Says Kenji Tamiya, president of Sony Corp. of America: "We have absolute confidence in the Beta format." Others are skeptical. Says Reginald Duquesnoy, an industry analyst with Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder, a Wall Street investment firm: "The longer Sony sticks with Betamax, the more severely it'll get beaten...
...Sony's old nemesis Matsushita, are planning to produce their own 8-mm machines. In the past week alone, RCA and General Electric both jumped into the 8-mm market. Sony must make certain that the upcoming 8-mm Shootout does not become a ruinous reprise of the Beta battle. -By Michael Moritz...