Ancient and Unsuccessful Video Formats

[Joe Redifer]

You may thing that Beta or LaserDisc is "da bomb".  You may even know about RCA Selectavision and think it is "phat".  But check out some of these wonders from the past:

First we have the Toshiba LVR.  HD-DVD wasn't Toshiba's first attempt at failure. Around 1980 when VHS and Beta were already going at it, Toshiba introduced it's LVR format (it never made it to market). It was a linear head format that did not use rotating heads like VHS and Beta, but rather multiple tracks on an endless loop tape moving at a very high speed.  At the end of each track, the head would increment down to the next track.  Each track lasted about 25 seconds and there were 300 tracks on each tape, giving a running time of about 2 hours.  It did add quick random access as you were never more than 25 seconds away from any spot on the tape.




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Now we have JVC's VHD/AHD system which tried to compete with the likes of LaserDisc and RCA's CED.  It actually had some things in common with the latter. Like CED, the VHD disks came in a protective caddy that had to be inserted into the machine and withdrawn, leaving just the disk inside. Also, like CED the reading was done with a stylus so there would be wear over time.  JVC tried to capitalize on the rampant popularity of the VHS name, so they called it VHD.  Wow.  It likely was not marketed in the US, but evidently it did have some success in Japan.  AHD refers to the digital sound demodulator that can be added to the VHD system to let the discs be used as a digital audio source (no video, but still pictures could be provided like the intensely popular CD+G format).






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Now for the digital audio adapter:





Awesome!

[Arkhan]

Aww dang, I thought we were going to get to make fun of Real Player.




I am prettttty sure my cousins had that JVC one.  They also had 4 CD-i's so this doesn't surprise me.

[guyjin]

I'd read about VHD, but didn't know about AHD or LVR. nifty stuff!

Ark, your aunt and uncle are clearly technological sadists. I bet they own Macs now, amirite?

[_joshuaTurbo]

Awesome post Joey.  My aunt n' Uncle had a CED player.  That thing was Da Bomb!!

[Necromancer]

Thanks for sharing.  Neat stuff, but do you have anything on my favorite archaic video format: the Television Electronic Disc (a crazy Teutonic marvel that used metal record-like discs that could only hold a few minutes of video)?

Ark, your aunt and uncle are clearly technological sadists. I bet they own Macs now, amirite?

[Joe Redifer]

Only f*cking a$$holes own Macs.  ha ha let's laugh at them! 

Necro, I'll see what I can dig up on that.

[nat]

I think it's funny when people slam Macs. I usually end up getting the last laugh when said individuals have to wipe and reload Windows due to a viral infection, malware, etc, though.

[Necromancer]

You two sound like a couple of Mac zealots: "Oh noes!  Someone's poking fun at my beloved Mapple."

[RoyVegas]

I think it's funny when people slam Macs. I usually end up getting the last laugh when said individuals have to wipe and reload Windows due to a viral infection, malware, etc, though.

C'mon nat, as many computers as I have owned that has never ever happened before and it never will.  Hmmm   my computers slowing down and making this weird grinding noi

[Arkhan]

I think it's funny when people slam Macs. I usually end up getting the last laugh when said individuals have to wipe and reload Windows due to a viral infection, malware, etc, though.

Blatant mac computer bashing is pretty dopey, but on the other side of things, there are the mac zealots bashing windows the same way.   It's almost like racism lol.   We assume all mac users are uppity dipshits sipping on latte's and acting like arrogant dicks.

And we assume all windows users are clueless morons that click YES YES YES whenever a window goes YOU WIN, CLICK FOR PRIZE!

There are idiots in both categories.  If macs were perfect, and never had problems, there'd be no Genius bar at the macstore!

My usual complaints when I slam macs are pretty safe:

-None of the software I personally use has a nice Mac counterpart.  Or if it does, it costs wayyyy too f*cking much to be worth switching.
-I do alot of stuff requiring parallel/serial ports, and DOS.  Not gonna happen on a mac.
-They're not as easy to open and tinker with, and I like tinkering. 
-While sleek, they aren't tron-like enough for me.  I needs muh LEDs
-The customer support at my local mac store sucks a fat one. 
-I don't art, so paying out the ass for a machine that's great at arty stuff (photos, video, photoshoop), doesn't really thrill me

For my Unix needs, I just FreeBSD/Linux it up.  No need for me to have all the expensiveness of a mac that I don't even need.

cause I'll just spill pop on it and f*ck it up like my last mac, lol.



I do want to get a mac mini though.  Looks pepsi proof.

[Keranu]

Looks pepsi proof.

But are they Coke proof?

[Joe Redifer]

I need to reply fanboy style to these complaints!

-None of the software I personally use has a nice Mac counterpart.  Or if it does, it costs wayyyy too f*cking much to be worth switching.

Dude you need to pirate that shit.  Just because it's a Mac doesn't mean it isn't pirate proof.  Plus, doing illegal things is good!

-I do alot of stuff requiring parallel/serial ports, and DOS.  Not gonna happen on a mac.

It's not 1980 any more, dude.

-They're not as easy to open and tinker with, and I like tinkering.

OMG!  My Mac is even easier to open than my PC.  I just installed 2 separate 1 terabyte hard drives a couple of days ago.  I have 3 terabytes in here now (there are 4 SATA drive bays and 2 optical drive IDE bays, though I think the newer machines have SATA optical drive bays).  I can put in a shit-ton of ram, change the video card and even change a little battery on the motherboard.  I can even overclock that battery for MORE POWAH!  Don't get an all-in-one unit like an iMac.  Gotta go with a Mac Pro.

-While sleek, they aren't tron-like enough for me.  I needs muh LEDs

That shit is super gay, though I admit I did see a bunch of LEDs light up when I had the case open after I installed the hard drives and I turned it on.  I as not impressed.  I hope you're not one of those people who mods their PC Engine or TurboGrafx-16 with a BLUE LED.

-The customer support at my local mac store sucks a fat one.

How do you know if you've never been a customer?  Also, why do you require customer service?  Don't you know how to use a computer?  Fo' shizzle.  But they've worked well for me.  Once, when lightning struck nearby it fried everything that was hooked up to a phone line and that included my Mac's motherboard.  They replaced it with a new one fo' free.

-I don't art, so paying out the ass for a machine that's great at arty stuff (photos, video, photoshoop), doesn't really thrill me.

DUDE I already told you that you need to illegally pirate that shit.  Do you have respect for the law or something?  How dare you!

But in all seriousness, it doesn't sound like you'd benefit in any way by owning a Mac.

[SignOfZeta]

Since all Macs can now run Windows, the only real disadvantage to them is that they are supremely expensive. Any other argument is just some hutu versus tutsi grudge bullshit.

[Joe Redifer]

I like hutu because it sounds less retarded than tutsi.

[Necromancer]

Since all Macs can now run Windows, the only real disadvantage to them is that they are supremely expensive. Any other argument is just some hutu versus tutsi grudge bullshit.

Yep, all bullshit. 

1)  Mac mini and iMac - limited upgrade choices and made with slower and less robust laptop parts.
2)  iMac - uses low quality TN screens (this may no longer apply - I know the model with the larger screen now uses a better IPS panel, and they may have upgraded the smaller model at the same time).
3)  Mac Pro - uses Xeon processors, which can't match the i7 line in performance yet cost considerably more (for the few who need such a beast, this is a plus, as they're required for a dual processor system).
4)  All 3 - limited to slower PC3-8500 memory.
5)  Mac Pro - no SLI/Crossfire support and no professional level graphics options (I give the iMac and mini a pass, for even though their video chipsets suck, they're competitive for their form factors).

All that said, I'd consider a Mac if it could run the software I use, but running Windows would defeat the purpose of buying a Mac in the first place.  The hardware is not cheap (except for dual processor Pros), nor is it any better designed than a quality PC, so why buy a Mac if you're not going to use OSX?  It's the only thing it has going for it that can't be found elsewhere with more power and/or for less money.