On 16 Sep 1998, Eric Smith wrote:
> Beta was technically better than VHS. But VHS won because the consumers
> preferred it. Not the engineers, not the marketers, not the sales people.
> The CONSUMERS.
I don't think the consumers cared either way. They chose the technology
that had better marketing. End of story. This plays out time and again
in the computer industry.
> And the reason that consumers preferred it was not that VHS had better
> marketing.
Oh, I disagree.
> If anything, Sony had better marketing. Many people continued to refer
> to VCRs in general as "Betamax" even into the mid-80s. It is widely
> believed (but of course unproven) that VHS was preferred due to the
> longer recording time per tape. JVC rarely even mentioned this feature
> in advertising.
M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G
Mac vs. Windows - who won? Microsoft. Why? Marketing.
PowerPC vs. Pentium - who won? Intel. Why? Marketing.
Those are simply two of the most obvious examples.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling. But I hope you see my point. The
majority of people buy stuff because a disembodied voice on TV or a
caption in a magazine compels them to. The majority of the people buying
into your propaganda (marketing) is what it takes to make a successful
product. I could sell dogshit if I marketed it right.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Wed Sep 16 1998 - 18:19:41 BST