WAS I THE LAST BETAMAX HOLDOUT?

    I have always been a fan of  technology. Except for cell phones, but that's another story.

    In 1977 I was the first on my block to own a video tape recorder. It was something I just had to have. I could record my favorite TV shows and watch them when ever I pleased. What a great concept that was. And it was so revolutionary.

    So I scrimped and saved and worked extra hours so I could lay down the $1700.00 needed for a brand new SONY BETAMAX video machine.
                   
 

       
    I recorded everything. Over the years my video tape collection grew and grew. I loved the beta format because it was the best available.

    But Sony made one major mistake that caused them to loose the video tape war to the inferior VHS format.

    Their first tapes only ran for 90 minutes. The VHS folks had a tape that ran long enough that you could record a movie! Sony eventually came out with longer running cassettes, but the race was over.

    But not in my house. Oh sure, eventually we got a VHS recorder. (It came with my wife) But I stuck hard and true on the Beta format and refused to budge.

    But the old tried and true machine finally failed to function. I was stuck with a ton of tapes and no way to watch them. So I bought another Beta machine.

    Eventually the DVD recorder came about and that was the end of the video tapes in our house. Add a TIVO unit and 200 channels of TV, and we still can't find something to watch.

    But what to do with over 35 years of video tapes? You dub them onto DVD's.

    So, some 2000 DVD recordings later, I have a ton of old TV shows available to watch.   

    But then I bought a 60 inch LED HIGH DEFINITION monitor.

    The quality is amazing and we love watching movies and our favorite shows in High Definition.

    And when it comes to football and basketball, I am in heaven.

    Not to mention ROKU and AMAZON PRIME

    BUT, the old Beta Tapes turned into DVD's look terrible on the big screen, as well as the analog TIVO recordings.

    I guess I will have to start over.

    Maybe a large computer mainframe with huge hard drives?   

    As I placed the final Beta machine in the trash can, I got to thinking.

    "Was I the last Beta Max hold out?"