Who requested the external clock on the VCR and which company was he chairman of?

The first `consumer VCR' was put on the market by Sony in 1974. It was the Betamax and could only record one hour at a time. It also came with a clock that had a plug in the back for the VCR and it was used as a timer mechanism. You'd set the clock to `alarm' just like any other clock, but instead, it would turn on the power to the VCR, which would then start recording. (For what it's worth, I no longer have the VCR, but I still have the clock and I use it even today.)

Sony also invented the VHS format, but sold it to JVC because Sony didn't feel that the picture quality was good enough over all. That's also what killed the Betamax: recording time. VHS could do six or eight hours, depending on the tape and Sony couldn't do more than four and a half. Naturally, as it turns out, picture quality wasn't as important as recording time to the average consumer.

Of course, the later versions of the VHS machine had made several improvements which allowed for a half way decent picture in the extended mode.

Funny thing is, Sony had to license the rights back to make VHS recorders. Go figure.

First answer by ID3483747011. Last edit by Cubby. Contributor trust: 330 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 13 [recommend question]