I said


So why didn't laser disc take off? It was clearly superior to VHS and is
arguably superior to DVD.

Tom said


Not that much better than VHS/Beta and nowhere near DVD

I quite disagree on both counts. DVD ghas some serious image problems that
laser disc never suffered from. There is simply no contest between laser dics
and VHS.

Tom said


Also saddled for a
good share of its life with 2-channel sound.

Also a problem that was fixed.

I said


There is more to the formula of success to these
formats than actual quality. VHS beat out Beta for reasons that had nothing
to
do with quality. LPs gave way to Cassettes for reasons that had nothing to
do
with quality.

Tom said


LPs never "gave way" to cassette.

Complete nonsense. In less than 10 years cassettes went from non-existance in
the market to total domination of the market. Something like an 80% market
share. The LP certainly did give way to the cassette. The fact that both are
analog couldn't be less relevant to my claim.


I said



Convenience and portability have been the key factors IMO in
audio. I think an interest is home theater helped DVDs along with all the
bonus
material and the full support of the industry.

Tom said



Radially new technolgy (genuine replacement technology) such as CD offers
much
improved performance along with convenience

It is more convenient. Without that it wouldn't have made such an impact. I
agree that it was an improvement in quality over cassettes.


Tom said

The perfect example is cd/LP &
cassette. cd replaced both lp and cassette as the music choice because it was
better performing AND more portable and convenient.

Yes it was more convenient than LPs and better sounding than cassettes. It
makes perfect sense that it would overtake them both once it was convenient
enough to compete with cassettes. The fact is that better sound from LPs over
CDs comes at a higher price tag that most consumers are not willing to pay.
Hence it has been reduced to a niche market. A market that continues to thrive
in it's niche.