It’s no surprise that Sony Corp. will finally stop manufacturing Betamax videocassettes. Betamax transformed the world’s viewing habits 40 years ago but it quickly succumbed to the rival format, VHS. No new Betacam recorders have been available, even in Japan, for over 13 years. So, why did the format last so long? It’s easy to blame corporate stubbornness. But the persistence of obsolescent technologies goes beyond culture. It takes three forms — Pragmatism, ruggedness and aesthetics The first is pragmatic.
Many people, including owners of the latest devices, retain some old ones because they avoid some of the vulnerabilities of newer equipment. Consider the often-ridiculed fax machine. A scanned document may be more convenient and cheaper to send than a fax, for example, but unencrypted personal information is notoriously easy to hack online.
Another pragmatic reason for using older devices is simply that they still work. Professional laboratory instruments and theatrical lighting systems still operate with floppy disks, for example. And the world’s military leaders find it hard to part with older, rugged ones like the World War II–era Kalashnikov automatic rifle, now marketed and produced worldwide as the AK-47.
In civilian technology, too, the past is still alive. Technically, the audio cassette (originated by Philips in Europe) may be even more primitive than the Betamax tape, but the largest remaining American producer, the National Audio Company in Missouri, has reported a 20 percent growth in sales from 2013 to 2014, and the best year since the company was founded.
A second reason for using older technology is aesthetic. Where pragmatic users like saving money, aesthetic ones will gladly pay more for what they consider a higher quality or more authentic experience. Not too long ago, vinyl records were associated with middle-aged audiophile purists; now they appeal to youthful hipsters as well. Even vacuum tube amplifiers have new admirers.
Paradoxically, the Web and social media have also helped prolong the lives of waning technologies, especially on aesthetic grounds. Amazon, eBay and modern search engines make it easy to find niche products in the US — including working Betamax recorders and vintage tapes, still sealed in their original wrappers. The many academic aficionados of the elegantly simple WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS can turn to a Columbia University Web site for instructions and troubleshooting.
Source: www.scientificamerican.com
