Most Sucessful

[Aaron]

What was the most sucessful form of media (all types), and made the biggest boom when it came out? I vote for VHS.

[powerSURG]

Personally, I think DVD. You didn't have to "...be kind, rewind" But not sure it had the biggest bang... I was too young to remember when VHS came out...

[Rave<UK>]

Surely that would have been vinyl?

But seriously, betamax had the technological edge but VHS still came out on top.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by powerSURG

Personally, I think DVD. You didn't have to "...be kind, rewind" But not sure it had the biggest bang... I was too young to remember when VHS came out...

I think VHS because that was the first format that let people actually have a movie. Before VHS it was very rare to buy a movie, unless it was LaserDisc or a reel. I am too young to remember too, but I still have my opinions

[powerSURG]

Originally Posted by AaronDavies

I think VHS because that was the first format that let people actually have a movie...

Great point.

[Blubaru]

Originally Posted by AaronDavies

I think VHS because that was the first format that let people actually have a movie.

BetaMax was the first.

VHS was the first to let consumers record shows but it was not the first cheap tape format to let the people have a movie.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Blubaru

BetaMax was the first.

VHS was the first to let consumers record shows but it was not the first cheap tape format to let the people have a movie.

Oh yea, I forgot that BetaMax came out first, but I still stand by VHS because more people used it.

[MasterXeus]

Originally Posted by AaronDavies

I think VHS because that was the first format that let people actually have a movie. Before VHS it was very rare to buy a movie, unless it was LaserDisc or a reel. I am too young to remember too, but I still have my opinions

Didn't LaserDisc come out after VHS?

[Rave<UK>]

Originally Posted by MasterXeus

Didn't LaserDisc come out after VHS?

By about two years, VHS = 1976 & Laser Disc = 1978.

[The Big Blue]

The clay tablet was huge back in the day.

[MasterXeus]

Originally Posted by Rave<UK>

By about two years, VHS = 1976 & Laser Disc = 1978.

Thanks, both before my time though.

[dgator783]

I remember when I was young and in gradeschool when my school bought all these laser disc machines, which we mainly just watched voyage of the mimi on saying that they wanted the best and most up to date technology avalible to us. Man, those were the days thinking that nothing could ever get better than laser disc. No way they could top those massive 18" wide discs (dont really know the width but they seem like they were freakin giant). No way they could make those things any smaller.....

[LembasBread]

Originally Posted by dgator783

those massive 18" wide discs (dont really know the width but they seem like they were freakin giant). No way they could make those things any smaller.....

Yeah, they were shiny LP's.

My vote goes for VHS as well, it revolutionized the home video market.

[jorg]

Originally Posted by AaronDavies

What was the most sucessful form of media (all types), and made the biggest boom when it came out? I vote for VHS.

when it first came out vhs maybe but over all dvd

[Filterlab]

Originally Posted by Rave<UK>

Surely that would have been vinyl?

But seriously, betamax had the technological edge but VHS still came out on top.

Only because of Sony's insistence on royalties from Beta machine sales. They only let other manufacturers use the system if they paid Sony a commission for each unit sold.

JVC on the other hand developed VHS and let any manufacturer copy the system for free, as long as the VHS logo was stamped on each unit.

The manufacturers adopted the cheaper system and Beta died in all but the professional side of the market.

[Ascended_Saiyan]

Don't forget that VHS had a higher capacity than Betamax.

[Filterlab]

Not initially though. As VHS took the market hold it was obviously developed by the manufacturers as all products are, but Beta still remained (and remains) the pro's choice.

However, DAT was based on VHS, and that's seriously good quality.

[Solar Driftwood]

Originally Posted by Blubaru

BetaMax was the first.

VHS was the first to let consumers record shows but it was not the first cheap tape format to let the people have a movie.

There were other domestic recorders before VHS and Betamax (the Philips 1500 was available in the early 70s, for instance, another cassette format). Before that, there were reel to reel recorders from Sony and Shibaden.

Of course, there was also Philips' Video 2000 system, which was released to compete with VHS and Betamax, too. Tapes could be turned over and you could record on the other side. IIRC, you'd get 8 hours out of a single tape in standard play.

As for the original question, DVD is recognised as the format which became established most quickly on a worldwide basis.

[Blubaru]

VCD was very popular in China and places in the southern Hemisphere.

Magnetic Tape was not liked in the more tropical climates.

[Blue]

Vinyl by a mile. It has been around the longest. Was the first real physical mass media (as opposed to wireless) is up until Blu-ray arguably the best quality (I don't hold that view, but MANY do). It was also random access unlike tape a great strength of DVD over VHS (or Beta). It has a number of problems, but it gets my vote for the most successful.