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Video Tape Recorder Unveiled 50 Years Ago

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the my-betamax-thanks-you dept.

Argyle writes "50 years ago Ampex unveiled the first video tape recorder. TV Technology has an excellent story about the surprise launch of the video tape recorder, impacting almost every aspect of business, entertainment, and family life as we know it today. The enabler of the entire modern entertainment industry, the video tape recorder was was designed by only six men, Charles Ginsburg, Charles Anderson, Ray Dolby, Shelby Henderson, Alex Maxey, and Fred Pfost."

10 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Oh boy, first Pfost! by DurendalMac · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.

  2. Waste of time... by evilviper · · Score: 4, Informative
    In an age when video cameras and recording devices are virtually everywhere, it's difficult to believe that it wasn't always possible to walk into a Wal-Mart or Best Buy store with $50 and leave with a new video recorder.

    Yes, difficult to believe... if you're 16 years old. Jesus, it was less than 20 years ago that VCRs became ubiquitous.

    The science of magnetically recording video images is so mature today that it's taken completely for granted,

    Tell that to someone without a DVR... I was just digitizing VHS tapes the other day, and the memories came flooding back, of eaten tapes, tons of visual glitches, tapes deteriorating from age or repeated recordings, etc. Magnetic tape recording seems very iffy, even today.

    That whole article is a waste of time. Extremely verbose and filled with hyperbole, and yet very little to say.

    I strongly recomend the (defacement-proof link) Wikipedia Ampex article which I found infinitely more informative and concise than this article, when I was reading up on the history of broadcast a few weeks ago.
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    1. Re:Waste of time... by mlewan · · Score: 4, Insightful
      "In an age when video cameras and recording devices are virtually everywhere, it's difficult to believe that it wasn't always possible to walk into a Wal-Mart or Best Buy store with $50 and leave with a new video recorder."

      "Yes, difficult to believe... if you're 16 years old. Jesus, it was less than 20 years ago that VCRs became ubiquitous."

      I'd guess it wouldn't help to be 16 years old. There were no VCRs around when I was a kid. There are hardly any VCRs around today either, as everything is replaced with DVDs. The only persons agreeing with the article author would be someone born around 1985 who tragically died around 2000, so they never got to see the DVD revolution.

  3. Re:Well okay... by Detritus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Simple concept? No, it isn't. Transverse recording is a major jump in technology from longitudinal recording. It enables head to tape speeds far in excess of that possible with longitudinal recording. It requires a complex rotating head assembly and very close attention to tape handling. A friend of mine used to use one of these beasties, modified for improved performance, to record image data from the LANDSAT-1 satellite. It was the only tape machine that could do the job.

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  4. Cool article: disruptive technology by AaronLawrence · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is cool because it reminds us what can happen when a *real* innovation is created, instead of version X+1 of existing software program with new feature Y.

    People go crazy, you make more money than you can dream of, the world changes.

    That's what geeks should dream to do...

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  5. Actually... by Sirch · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... there wasn't widespread belief of a flat Earth at the time of Christopher Columbus. This misconception is generally attributed to Washington Irving.

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  6. Re:mass media impact by judabuddhist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yup, I stopped watching tv a few years ago, and now I'm utterly addicted to pointless internet activity. In fact, I'm indulging the addiction right now.

  7. Truly we're at the end of an era. by johnnywheeze · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Very nostalgic, for those of us who work with broadcast VTR's on a daily basis. I can still thread a quad machine in a pinch, but even I can't wait to get rid of tape completely.

    The next generation of broadcasters are going to look at tape like we look at recording on wax cylinders.

    Good to see it's beginning, and even better to see its end. It's time has passed.

  8. The date was, April 14, 1956 by nblender · · Score: 3, Funny

    The time was ..... 12:00 .... 12:00 .... 12:00 ..... 12:00 .... 12:00 .... 12:00 (Apologies to those of you who are 30yo and have no idea what I'm talking about).

  9. Damn the RIAA for not stopping this then! by jocknerd · · Score: 3, Funny

    They unleashed a monster. Could have nipped it in the bud back in the 50's.