From: (Neil Wagner) - CED Magic

Date: Mon, 10 Nov 97 15:50:00 est
Encoding: 37 TEXT
I am new to the CED Digest and am interested in the discussion of
breathing new life into CED. I just bought a CED player and have
collected a few discs. Although the few experiences I had with CED while
it was new involved skipping discs while watching them, I must say I am
quite impressed with the quality of CED over even modern day VHS
prerecorded fair. As an avid Beta user since 1984, I wish this format
would have won out over VHS. In my opinion Sony really had a chance to
overcome VHS and even modern laser disc with its' ED Beta VCR; but
dropped it for fear that it would hurt their industrial 3/4" sales! As an
ED Beta owner, the quality of the format is breathtaking, being able to
record at laser disc level of quality.
I have been working for General Electric for a couple of years now and
as you may already know, the consumer electronics division of RCA was
sold to Thompson Consumer Electronics group shortly after GE purchased
RCA in 1986. RCA and even General Electric products are made by Thompson.
This may give CED a chance because with the company mandated margin
levels for their divisions, CED wouldn't stand much of a chance of coming
back here at GE.
I have seen the estimated number of CED users. Are these based on past
sales or actual people actively using CED to this day? Probably the most
feasible way of pressing discs would be to prove to a small production
company that there is a market awaiting the new release of titles on
disc. However, I have read of small duplication companies that are
willing to take all of the responsibility of releasing prerecorded Beta
tapes but are consistently turned down by the big studios. This despite a
fair amount of loyal Beta users with interest in obtaining new
prerecorded fair.
I can remember back in the early eighties that big studios were anxious
to get down to one format to release movies on. With RCA pulling the plug
on CED and Beta dying a slow death at the hand of VHS, Pioneer was smart
enough to create a niche for its' product by vastly improving the quality
of the format and fiercely standing behind it; almost alone. With DVD
giving laser disc a run for its' money and the number of Beta owners
still interested in that format, it will take some creative thinking to
bring CED back to life.
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From: LLP33
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 22:50:58 -0500 (EST)
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: Re: CED Digest Vol. 2 No. 45
$7.00 per person seems very reasonable, but how about rounding it off to
$10.00? and what about an organization that we all trust will handle this
money properly? Would this be a new company?
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