Susan White, World-Herald Staff Writer
Ah, 1975. The Vietnam War was ending, but a whole new “war” was starting: Beta vs. VHS.
VHS won the battle, but ever-evolving technology has brought an ever-growing list of cultural revolutions: The rise of the movie rental business. The fall of the movie rental store to online ordering and Internet streaming. “Time shifting” TV viewing that lets you record one show and watch another — and now lets you pause live TV and zap through commercials. And let's not forget, a whole new way to make fun of your parents, who weren't smart enough to program a VCR.
June 7, 1975
Though lots of steps came before, June is recognized as the month Sony Betamax was released in the United States. The first machines required an external timer and could only record one hour, but the technology was groundbreaking in its ability to let viewers record a program and watch it whenever they wanted. “It's the ultimate conquest of time,” touted a Betamax promo. (Check out the promo on Omaha.com.) OK, computer geeks, what technology giant also was founded this year? (*See answer below.)
July 1977
JVC introduces its VHS format, featuring a two-hour recording time, or four hours using a “long play” mode. The longer playing time was one factor that helped push VHS to the forefront in the ensuing format war.
1984
The first skirmish in the industry/home-player wars: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios that VCR technology did not violate copyright laws. TV, movie and music companies have been on guard against digital piracy ever since. (Just ask any of the 35 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students whom the music industry targeted in 2007 for illegal downloads.)
1986
The first store in what would become the Blockbuster chain opened in Dallas.
1997
DVD video format was introduced in the United States. The first movie to appear in DVD format? “Twister.” Netflix, with its rent-by-mail system, was launched the following year.
1999
Ti-Vo debuts the first DVR (digital video recorder). The service, soon offered by other companies, allows TV viewers to set their DVRs to record TV shows without worrying about ever-shuffling schedules on networks, to pause and replay live TV, to find and record shows by categories or the names of actors, and more. The growing numbers of people watching recorded shows has networks today on edge about their 9 p.m. (Central Time) schedules, because that's when many viewers replay shows they've recorded.
2003
DVD rentals in the United States exceed those of VHS.
2006
Blu-Ray and HD DVD players became commercially available, launching another format war. By 2008, the field was conceded to Blu-Ray — which is widely expected to eventually make the DVD obsolete.
2006
David Cronenberg's “A History of Violence” is the last major Hollywood production released on VHS.
2008
Hulu service debuts, allowing viewers to stream TV shows and movies over the Internet. It's the start of a small-but-growing trend of people ditching their cable service to patch together their own TV service through the Internet.
(*Answer to what technology giant was founded in 1975: Microsoft.)
没有评论:
发表评论