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The Forgotten Tale of Cartrivision's 1972 VCR

Posted by timothy on from the don't-remember-this-at-all dept.

harrymcc writes: In 1972 -- years before Betamax and VHS -- a Silicon Valley startup called Cartrivision started selling VCRs built into color TVs. They offered movies for sale and rent -- everything from blockbusters to porn -- using an analog form of DRM, and also let you record broadcast TV. There was also an optional video camera. And it was a spectacular flop. Over at Fast Company, Ross Rubin tells the fascinating story of this ambitious failure.

2 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. Analog DRM, no way by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    using an analog form of DRM

    So, that'd be "RM", then.

    In case you're wondering, it was simply that only the rental store could rewind rental tapes (cartridges).

    Not so much rights management as blanket functionality removal.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  2. Huh. Imagine that. by jpellino · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The equivalent of $7,172 in 2015 dollars, skip frame 1:3 recording and no rewind. And they failed you say? Early bird gets the worm, second mouse gets the cheese.

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."