Word: betamaxes
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...your story "Max Troubles for Betamax [Jan. 16], you stated that NEC was no longer planning to build Beta VCR equipment. On the contrary, NEC has only recently entered the VCR market in the U.S. and has been highly successful with its initial Beta product, with new models scheduled for introduction in 1984. NEC is also adding VHS to its VCR line as part of its policy of offering the broadest possible product selection...
Lest the consumer and our dealers be led astray, may I correct the statement in your story "Max Troubles for Betamax" [Jan. 16] that indicates Toshiba has abandoned Beta? On the contrary, Beta is still being sold by Toshiba in both the U.S. and Japan. With the advent of Beta hi-fi and Beta movies, Toshiba's business in this videotape system is booming...
...last week the Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 4, that home videotaping of television programs for private use is not a violation of copyright law. The anxiously awaited decision grew out of a suit brought by the Disney and Universal studios in 1976 against the Sony Corp., makers of Betamax videocassette recorders (VCRS), for enabling home viewers to record movies and TV shows without paying a royalty. In 1981 a federal appeals court in California decided in favor of the studios. Since then the billion-dollar VCR industry, as well as millions of consumers, has been in a state...
Sony's current troubles, though, go beyond Betamax. The company's Mavica filmless camera, announced with much fanfare in August 1981, has yet to appear on store shelves. Sony and other firms are still dickering over standards for the camera's reusable magnetic disc. In addition...
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...