• gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    11 hours ago

    There’s an old thing “the thing that won the Video Format Wars was porn”, because in the 80s, mail order and rental porn was very popular, and the easiest format (VHS) to buy and record onto won largely because of that.

    Makes me wonder if we’ll see the same for Operating Systems?

    • psud@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      12 hours ago

      It was probably sports that made VHS the winner. Porn was on both technologies (and available at local video rental places in Australia at least).

      VHS could handle a full gridiron game (but not a cricket match) but Betamax couldn’t.

      • gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        11 hours ago

        The real truth is it’s probably both, and also other factors, but over time people have simplified the explanation to be “it’s just one of the factors that did it!”