OT: What is your favorite failed format? - Page 2

UMD........














NOT. IMO UMD movies was a good concept, but not reasonable unless they were $5 a pop instead of $15.

Yes! As mentioned earlier: the TurboGrafx-16, the Turbografx portable, and the TurboDuo (with the built-in CD drive). A great system with great games that was incredibly successful in Japan as the PC Engine, but never quite hit the big time in the US.

UMD movies. Most people seem to think it is a failed format though new releases keep coming...

I have many and watch them when I travel.

I also use Minidisc though I got that recently so I have the HiMD with 1GB on each disc. Very nice and relatively cheap storage for audio.

The Kodak disc camera!

Me? I like stone walls and ink made from berries.

Ah, I miss the good ole' days...

The LP, with DAT a distant second.

Third that. It has remained a niche and I don't get any of my favorite music on it ....

CD-Video (CDV for short; often confused with the current VCD format). It was a short-lived format for CD singles in the late 1980s that combined analog video with digital audio. The audio tracks can play in a CD player, but you need a laserdisc player to play the video.

They were gold discs, usually containing 1 video + 4 audio tracks. Both NTSC and PAL versions were released.

I run an internet reference for CDV discs: http://www.cdvideo.info

I currently own about 30 different CDV titles, and am always looking to purchase or trade for ones I don't have. Some pictures:

Digital casette tapes....am I make this up...They where here for bleep...and then they where gone.

DJoel

Actually, I'm just surprised that no one has mentioned DVHS

I remember the first time I saw a prototype DVHS HD deck at CES - I drooled and had to have it, but it was too expensive then. Then D-Theater came out and the decks were "only" $900. I was thrilled.

But of course, the "convenience factor" was never there for a generation that was accustomed to CDs and DVDs. I didn't mind the lack of instant direct-access on the tapes, since the PQ was so gorgeous - but nevertheless was happy to see the arrival of HD DVD/BR.

I still have about 15 boxes of blank tapes, which I use to archive my HD movies. I can even use my DVHS deck as a "transport" for my AVC satellite recordings which are decoded and played back by my HTPC.

Truly was a great product that just shined for a brief moment between two other great products.

Other greats I miss are the Radio Shack Color Computer, the Commodore Amiga, DVD-A and DAT. The ones I don't miss much are the Apple IIc, IBM PS2, Betamax and SACD.

DAT. I'm still got a couple of players around. For those not in the know...portable DAT decks were/are used my fans of music to record live shows. You'd be amazed at how many bands allow you to bring your gear in and record shows. Even plug strait into the Soundboard. I've got hundreds of live shows that i've traded for over the years.

For those of us old enough to remember (like the LP guys): Quadraphonic. One of the earliest attempts at surround sound for music. Pretty sure I went to a Pink Floyd concert at the Hollywood Bowl purportedly in quad, but my memories of the evening are hazy for some reason...

I still have my turbografx with the cd attachment sitting in the case in perfect condition

Does anyone remember Coleco Vision? Okay....there was a home computer named "Adam" which spawned from it. I must have been about 11 when my parents bought it. It used cassette-like tapes to store data....a floppy disc drive eventually came out for it. On any rate, this computer miserably failed on the marketplace. We ended up selling it and I got an Apple IIC.

http://oldcomputers.net/adam.html

I still have my Colecovision. The controllers (with the number pads) long since fell apart but I discovered a few years back that Sega Genesis controllers work. You can use the D-pad for the number selections (IIRC left was 1 - usually for 1player).

Then my Commodore Amiga, which I also still have (right next to my Pentium 60 - first computer that my dad bought and I ended up coopting).

Ditto. MD was an amazing format, you could record from any source with a headphone or optical out. Should have been king.

I loved my Dreamcast, too. The sucky thing was it seems like they pulled the plug at the rumor of the PS2. When the announced they were killing it it was still six or eight months til the PS2 came out- they had the "next gen" console market completely to themselves! Not a ton of great games but Soul Caliber is still one of my favorites.

Ultimately it was no shocker- Sega's hardware division is like the "French Military" of Console manufacturers. They introducted the 32X only to drop it almost instantly. They released the Sega CD with grand promises of tons of games, only to bail after a couple dozen (and ye gods, do you remember Night Trap!? ). They try valiantly with the Saturn but get buried by Sony. Then they release their wonderful DC only to drop it several years too soon. No wonder they got out of the console business altogether- who'd ever believe in them again?

My favorite "failed" format is DVD-A. IMO the Best Audio Format Ever. Not exactly failed as great discs are released every week, but a strong niches format isn't what it aimed to be (it was created to replace CD which it obviously didn't do).

Finnely someone else lists a true failed format. I started to add CDV after Elcaset but you beat me to it. I still have 5 of them: 2 Dire Straits, Robert Cray, John Mellencamp, and Kiss. Looks like almost no one understands what faild is. Obsolete (8-track), less successful (Betamax or DAT), niche products (DVHS), or not successful in the US (MD) doesn't mean failed.

This is from the link I provided.
Quote:
The VHS formats defeat of the Betamax became a classic marketing case study.........
Quote:
Sony's ability to dictate an industry standard backfired.................
Quote:
Sony finally conceded defeat in 1988...................
Sounds like a failed format to me

Atari PONG. It cost $100 in 1975, was black and white and did one thing...

SACD utter failure. Not only the format but my disc are now dead too.

On top of that now that my multiformat player has lost some laser light output due to aging these discs are now useless. The light reflected from the SACD layer is now too low for the player. DVD Audio's are at least still playing.

I fear that the same is going to happen with HD video formats. The low reflectiveness could spell trouble if the laser looses some of the light output over time. I expect BR to have a more issues because of this. HD Layer close to surface and higher pit density and low reflectiveness could become a serious issue when the laser ages.

Beta failed to beat VHS but the format itself didn't fail. Millions were sold and it was a consumer product for almost a decade. It also continued as a professional product for about another 10 years beyond 1988.

SA-CD is a niche product with dozens of players for sell today (with more to come) and about 10 or more releases each week.

Failure???

"1975 was the most popular season for PONG, with customers lined up outside Sears, waiting for shipments to arrive....By 1977 the home version of PONG had become so popular that it was copied by other manufacturers until the market was overrun with cloned machines..."

The LP was about as far from a failed format as you are from alpha centauri

Sorry to hear of your problems but I am not sure if you don't merely have a defective player. My old 777ES is still going strong as are all my other players except the infamous Philips SACD1000.

"Beta failed to beat VHS" Which was its main objective. It doesnt matter how long it lingered around. Its objective was to be VHS, the standard at that time. If one of these High Def formats becomes the standard the other format will linger around as well. Why because people invested money in it and refuse to give it up.

From the OP:


I only have about a thousand LPs, but still play them regularly.

Video: laserdisc which just meet its time. Still buy a few.

Audio: DVD-audio poor marketing and lack of tittles/ EQ. I've bought a few which sound great on my 7.1 system

Worst format: DIVX. CC sold these around DVDs intro. Requred a phoneline and a pay_per veiw style..