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Domain: urbanmyths.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to urbanmyths.com.

Comments · 8

  1. Re:Moronic... yah by rfsayre · · Score: 1 · on European Record Industry Goes After Personal Computers
    For example, the MiniDisk, also by Sony, is technically superior to the CD
    It's MiniDisc. It failed because it didn't sound as good as CDs and cost more. Now that we're four years into the technology, it sounds nearly as good as a CD.

    BETA wasn't guaranteed to succeed
    ...true statement.
    Conventional wisdom says Betamax failed because there was no porn. It was also not the superior technology at that time. Beta picture quality in early generations was only marginally better than VHS, but VHS allowed for two hour tapes (versus betamax's 1 hour tapes, not enough for a movie). Beta picture quality became superior in later, more expenxive versions of the technology.
  2. Betamax was never better! by JohnTheFisherman · · Score: 2 · on The PS2 - A Betamax In the Making?

    Will this stupid myth please die soon?

    From the urban myths writeup:

    3). "Betamax failed in spite of the fact that it was a superior technology."

    False. Comparisons between VCRs with similar features showed no significant differences in performance. In fact, most of the differences could only be seen with sensitive instruments, and likely would never show up on most consumer grade television sets. . In particular, the qualitative differences between the two formats were less than the differences between any two samples from the same manufacturer. It was only the later (and more expensive) versions of Beta which noticeably improved the quality, as commercial and broadcast outlets turned to Beta as a standard. In fact, at that time Beta was an inferior technology because VHS allowed for longer recordings. Early beta technology allowed for one-hour recordings, while VHS allowed two hours.

    In the final analysis, the world decided it didn't really need two kinds of video tape--Betamax, say hello to eight track tape.

    The real reason was there wasn't enough pr0n on Betamax!

  3. Betamax was never better! by JohnTheFisherman · · Score: 2 · on The PS2 - A Betamax In the Making?

    Will this stupid myth please die soon?

    From the urban myths writeup:

    3). "Betamax failed in spite of the fact that it was a superior technology."

    False. Comparisons between VCRs with similar features showed no significant differences in performance. In fact, most of the differences could only be seen with sensitive instruments, and likely would never show up on most consumer grade television sets. . In particular, the qualitative differences between the two formats were less than the differences between any two samples from the same manufacturer. It was only the later (and more expensive) versions of Beta which noticeably improved the quality, as commercial and broadcast outlets turned to Beta as a standard. In fact, at that time Beta was an inferior technology because VHS allowed for longer recordings. Early beta technology allowed for one-hour recordings, while VHS allowed two hours.

    In the final analysis, the world decided it didn't really need two kinds of video tape--Betamax, say hello to eight track tape.

    The real reason was there wasn't enough pr0n on Betamax!

  4. Re:Don't get bent out of shape by mikpos · · Score: 1 · on Samba Runs Into Naming Problems In Germany

    Wrong. The Nova did not flop in Mexico; in fact it did very well, despite its name.

  5. Re:Doomed... by Tardigrade · · Score: 1 · on Programmers Will Debut Free MP3 Alternative

    Check out this you urban myth spreader :). Equivalently priced Betamax products were comparable to their VHS counterparts.

    Visit this place for a look at Video 2000 and the other formats which lost out to VHS.

  6. FUD by Chris+Hind · · Score: 1 · on ISPs Victimizing DoS Victims?

    I recently heard a story on a newsgroup about a rumour of an unsubstantiated off-the-record comment that indicates that someone might have had their account terminated for saying that Napster was good.

    I mean, come on. Perhaps we can have a little more journalistic integrity than posting stories from some nameless submittor about some nameless ISP that allegedly (but there's no proof) kicked out some nameless user. Or perhaps you believe these stories.

  7. Make a killer spam/hoax filter by Mashiara · · Score: 1 · on What AI Elements Could Improve the Web?

    The hoax part could be pretty simple like this: cross-reference with the 5 best sites listing and explaining hoaxes, then add to the first lines of the mail (this could be shared as a joke too) that this is a hoax and not to be takes seriously and few links to sites explaining the hoax. It would require some intelligence to detect variations of a theme. Since we have language barriers it's next to impossible start judging the senders intentions so it's not good to just delete the mail outright.

    Few sites:

    Spam doesn't have the language problem (it's mainly english anyways) but it is certainly hard to recognize without some kind of AI (spammers will surely come around any simple script).

    It would be good if this could be implemented as some kind of plugin/API so that any mailserver could use with as little variation as possible.

    This would be ultra cool and nail the goddam spammers for good, it would also significantly reduce damage from hoaxes and even (hopefully) educate the masses of hoaxes (by telling what they are).

  8. Re:Nova and "Doesn't Go" by Doppleganger · · Score: 1 · on Quepasa.com Settles Whatshappenin.com Lawsuit

    Well, this story is in a lot of college business books, but it's also on a lot of urban myths pages.. for example, here.

    I also seem to remember a debunking page that mentioned that "no va" wouldn't be correct Spanish, but that could be faulty memory (my choice in high school was French :)