Results: Product Life Cycle Part 1. There is a question in some surveys "I am among the first to try new technology. My son would answer "Yes" and I would answer "No." I have practical and financial reasons for this.
New technology can save us time, effort, brainpower and money etc. .For the manufacturer of products based on this technology, it can generate $billions or bankruptcy. There are four stages in a product's life cycle—introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. A company often incurs higher marketing costs when introducing a product to the market but experiences higher sales as product adoption grows. This growth relies on the people who answer "Yes" to the above question. Similarly the price charged for the product will be higher initially, and the product will have fewer features. To maintain the price and attract new buyers, additional features are added. Eventually the price may start to be lowered as the market matures and fewer additional features are added. In the final stage the product may be feature rich yet the price can even be below the cost of manufacture if the product becomes obsolete due to new technology. Here is one product example from history. At what stage did you become a customer?
1.
1.
In these days of streaming entertainment it is hard to imagine a time when programming was stored on various media types. Images from TV were first recorded to disc in 1927 only a year after John Logie Baird made his first television demonstration. In 1947, the BBC successfully captured live television using a process called "telerecording". The first program recorded was Variety in Sepia on 7 October 1947 . Subsequent improvements were extremely expensive and not intended for home use until the 1970s when all that changed. Are you familiar with any of the following devices that were used in the early days of television? (I will show some photos in subsequent questions to jog your memory).
Streaming and on-demand services provide access to thousands of historic television programs. Netflix has been building its own catalogue, while Disney+ and BritBox have their own archives. I have seen some of these old shows and would like to see more.
27%
•
598 votes
Film records of TV shows created a "permanent" record but when it was created, television was intended to transmit everything live. I preferred these live shows to those "filmed before a live studio audience - with laugh track added."
23%
•
502 votes
Without recording, repeating popular programs required the entire production to performed again.
13%
•
281 votes
The technology was not perfect. During one recording an insect that landed on the screen was inadvertently permanently recorded into the footage. Have you ever seen a TV show with this type of glitch?
14%
•
315 votes
Recording to film was expensive, so the BBC began recording television to magnetic tape. The large tapes ran at very high speed, allowing only 15 minutes of recording each. An advantage of tape over film was it could be reused. Many early programs were subsequently wiped and lost when the tapes were put back into use to save costs. Shows by The Beatles were just one casualty. There are other shows I miss (comment below).
12%
•
262 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
•
12 votes
Not Applicable
54%
•
1192 votes
- You're nuts if you think I'm going to take time to list them all.
- All of them. They were my youth. They were funny, family oriented, adventurous without sexual content, and reinforced the values I was growing up with.
- none
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
| 0.41% | 8 | |
| I believe there were screens available for people wo owned black & white tv sets to convert the, though apparently not very convincingly, to color screens | 0.05% | 1 |
| No idea what you’re saying | 0.05% | 1 |
| Streaming was used in the early days of TV? | 0.05% | 1 |
| Antennas | 0.05% | 1 |
2.
2.
Sony developed the Beta system in the early 1970s to provide a magnetic tape storage system that was easier to use than reels of tape. These early video cassettes were large and not for home use. In 1975, Sony Betamax was unleashed for home videos. This gave an opportunity for the public to watch and/or record movies. The price was $2,000 to $2,300 (in 1975 $) depending on model. Do you know anyone who bought one even with such basic features?
Even at this price I know of someone who bought one.
15%
•
334 votes
The lack of a remote was not a deterrent.
9%
•
206 votes
The cassettes were only 90 minutes long so some movies had to be split into 2 cassettes.
13%
•
289 votes
Programming the Betamax to record a TV show was uncertain and stressful.
8%
•
168 votes
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich could easily be fed into the cassette slot with expensive results.
7%
•
163 votes
$2,000 in 1975 is the equivalent of $11,500 in 2023. I would have been nuts to buy one of these (yet people did.)
11%
•
235 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
•
21 votes
Not Applicable
60%
•
1309 votes
- Nope
- I have five VCRs that all work I've had I had one in every room hooked up to every TV so now I got like three just sitting
- none
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
| 0.85% | 12 | |
| I bought one | 0.07% | 1 |
| My husband and I owned TWO (one a spare for whenever something happened) | 0.07% | 1 |
| No way! | 0.07% | 1 |
| my parents had a betamax with 30 minute tapes in the 70's recording was work pausing for commercial and timing when to put the next tape in | 0.07% | 1 |
| I believe my grammar school had one of these. We watched the Nut Cracker if I'm not mistaken. | 0.07% | 1 |
| Wall circuits were used | 0.07% | 1 |
| I bought a beta vcr in about 1983 for about $1000, unfortunetly VHS became more popular | 0.07% | 1 |
| NO! | 0.07% | 1 |
| I only used a VCR in those days, or later in the 1980's/1990's. | 0.07% | 1 |
3.
3.
Some times it pays to be second in launching new technology. Such was the case with video cassettes and VCRs. In 1976 the Victor Company of Japan (JVC) created their own video format called "VHS" with a larger 2 hour cassette system which was more suitable for movies. Although Betamax initially owned 100% of the market in 1975 by 1987, VHS accounted for 90% of the VCR market in the US. This was around the time when I spent $1,300 on my first VHS VCR. Even at this price and with limited features did you buy a VCR?
Even at $1.300 we were persuaded by all the marketing hype to buy one of these.
11%
•
234 votes
These VCRs were still in mono but so were the TVs so no big deal.
12%
•
261 votes
The video had more lines and lower quality than a Betamax but we were watching bootleg movies so didn't mind.
10%
•
215 votes
Still no remote, still impossible to program, still required many cables connected to the TV.
12%
•
266 votes
Even at $1,300 this VCR could be fed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
6%
•
142 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
•
27 votes
Not Applicable
63%
•
1381 votes
- !983 VHS like hte above for $1300
- 250
- I never owned a VCR.
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
| 1.40% | 16 | |
| No | 0.17% | 2 |
| Bought VCR in late 70s but dont remember price. Had a wired remote. | 0.09% | 1 |
| I won a VCR in a local lottery | 0.09% | 1 |
| Purchased mid 80's. | 0.09% | 1 |
| don't remember | 0.09% | 1 |
| Got a second hand VCR | 0.09% | 1 |
| My family still had a black and white TV in 1976, so nope. | 0.09% | 1 |
| No, but I have two for less than $200 dollars each. | 0.09% | 1 |
| didn't pay anywhere near $1300 for one; think it was around $250-$300 | 0.09% | 1 |
| I waited for to the price to drop. | 0.09% | 1 |
4.
4.
Both Betamax and VHS were supplanted by higher-quality video from laser-based technology such as DVDs. The last Sony Betamax unit was produced in 2002, while the last VCR/DVD combo unit was produced in 2016. Here are some details of the last VCR I bought at the "decline" stage of the product life cycle. Could you have imagined that the life of the VCR would have ended like this only 35 years or so after its birth?
My last VCR was half the size and 25% of the weight yet could handle 2 tapes at the same time..
10%
•
227 votes
My last VCR had 4 head Dolby HiFi stereo sound quality as good as CDs of the day.
16%
•
347 votes
My last VCR had everything controlled by a remote.
27%
•
587 votes
My last VCR only cost me $25 and blank VHS tapes were about $2.
15%
•
319 votes
Even at that low cost I have since converted my favourite VCR tapes to digital DVDs.
8%
•
169 votes
Other (please specify)
1%
•
21 votes
Not Applicable
45%
•
988 votes
By the time I bought my last VCR, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich days were behind me.
8%
•
170 votes
- 1986 250
- I never owned a VCR.
- Early 1980's and I paid $300 retail for it.
| Other Answers | Percentage | Votes |
| 0.60% | 11 | |
| ... | 0.05% | 1 |
| I still have the last one I bought and it still works. | 0.05% | 1 |
| Maybe...? | 0.05% | 1 |
| I had one but no longer remember the details. | 0.05% | 1 |
| Can't remember any details of the VCR we had. | 0.05% | 1 |
| Don't remember, still have both machines & tons of tapes! | 0.05% | 1 |
| Other features could bo also used | 0.05% | 1 |
| So long ago I don't remember anything | 0.05% | 1 |
| The last one I bought was a tv with vcr built in for my daughters bedroom | 0.05% | 1 |
| DVD burning was included so tapes could be converted to DVD format | 0.05% | 1 |
5.
5.
Knowing that manufacturers might add features and lower the price later as part of their marketing strategy, does this make you more inclined to wait before buying the latest technology? Yes
43%
•
943 votes
No
10%
•
218 votes
Undecided
14%
•
315 votes
Not Applicable
33%
•
724 votes
- My truck - next years model was aluminium so no rust.
- That has never happened to me.
- No. I wait till the price is affordable and there's nothing left to add but bells and whistles.
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