Betamax Sony Video Technology

Here's one for our younger readers: before Netflix there were DVDs, and before DVDs there were VHS tapes. But before all of that, in 1975, there were Betamax cassettes. Sony created these as a means to record and playback video, but while the format was considered superior in some regards, it lost a very fierce war against JVC's VHS alternative.

Despite all of this, for the past 40 years, the Japanese giant has stuck to its guns with Betamax, continuing to manufacture tapes despite the last recorder launching all the way back in 2002. However, starting March 2016, the organisation will pull the plug on Betamax once and for all, as it ceases to produce new cassettes. It'll be scrapping MicroMV tapes at the same time, too.

So long Betamax – we hardly knew you!

[source bbc.co.uk]