1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:20,479 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? Well, it's time for 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: a tech stuff tidbits. This one will probably be a 6 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: long one, like a lot of mine. I get it. 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: I'm bad at being brief, but I thought I would 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about format wars, which I've talked 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: about before, but uh, it was one of those that 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: I really wanted to kind of talk about to explain 11 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: what we mean when we say format war and what 12 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: that can imply. And the older you are, the more 13 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,319 Speaker 1: format wars you have likely witnessed firsthand. Like I can 14 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: think of a handful that I've seen, but of course 15 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: there are plenty that we're way before my time. So 16 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: what is a format war? Why can they be really bad, 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: particular for consumers? And what are a few examples. That's 18 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: what we're gonna look at today, But first let's define it. 19 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: So a format war essentially is when you've got two 20 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: similar technologies, so they each accomplish the same thing, or 21 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: at least a very similar outcome. They're both meant to 22 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,040 Speaker 1: provide for the same purpose, they might do it in 23 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: very different ways. In fact, frequently they do approach this 24 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: in extremely different ways. And typically these two different or more. 25 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: Sometimes it's more than just two. But these different technologies 26 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: are incompatible with one another. So they're each meant to 27 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: achieve a certain goal, but they can't work together because 28 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: they're doing it in a fundamentally different way or sometimes 29 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: a subtly different way, but a way that's different enough 30 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: that they can't work together. So, in other words, if 31 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: you buy technology A, then you aren't really able to 32 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: use the stuff for technology B on it. Like we 33 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: see this very easily and stuff like consoles, right, we 34 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: think of the console wars where you have an Xbox 35 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: or a PlayStation or a Nintendo. Well, you can't play 36 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: PlayStation games on an Xbox, you can't play Xbox games 37 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: on a Nintendo, and so forth right, you can get 38 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: the titles for those particular consoles, but you can't put 39 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: an Xbox you know, disk in a PlayStation console. It 40 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: won't work. I mean you could do it, it just 41 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: wouldn't work. Now. One way you could get around that 42 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: is if you buy all the consoles. Right, So if 43 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: you have a Tech A and a Tech B. The 44 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: one way you could get around being limited is you 45 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 1: could also buy tech B. But then you're spending way 46 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: more cash. And ain't all of us got that kind 47 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: of cheddar? You know what I'm saying. I am not 48 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: the kind of person who can buy every format just 49 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: so that way I have access to everything. And you know, 50 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: we really do see this today played out in other ways, 51 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: like the different streaming services I would argue are kind 52 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,919 Speaker 1: of a format war. Um, it's more of a streaming 53 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: war because the format is pretty much the same. It's 54 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: not like, you know, if you have uh one type 55 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 1: of streaming device versus another, that you're limited to specific 56 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: types of streaming content. But otherwise it's very similar in 57 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: that if you want access to everything, you gotta subscribe 58 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: to everything, which is pretty frustrating as a consumer. So 59 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: the reason format wars tend to be bad for consumers 60 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: is that we're faced with really tough choices. If we 61 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: want whatever the technology actually does, then we then have 62 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: to decide which option do we go with. Do we 63 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: go with tech A or do we go with tech B. 64 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: We do that knowing that our choice is going to 65 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: lock us in from that point forward into that technologies 66 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: ecosystem again unless we go crazy and buy all of them. 67 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: So if we do that, if we're buying a specific one, 68 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: we say, all right, I've looked at both tech A 69 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: and tech B really for a long time. I have 70 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: ultimately decided that Tech A is the one that I 71 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: like more, so I'm gonna go with that. Um. But 72 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: we do that knowing that we're gonna miss out on 73 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: anything that was made explicitly and exclusively for Tech B. 74 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: And likewise, if we had made the other choice, we'd 75 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: be facing the same situation, just in reverse. So you 76 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: can go with a road less traveled and it will 77 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 1: make all the difference. But different does not mean better. 78 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: It doesn't mean worse either. It means different, and you 79 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,679 Speaker 1: might feel reluctant to get on board in the first 80 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: place early on in a format war, because sometimes formats 81 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: go obsolete. In several of the examples that will talk 82 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: about in this episode, one or more formats would ultimately 83 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: fall to a different one that would survive, and obviously 84 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: that means that anyone who has backed a failed format 85 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: is left with a piece of technology that becomes increasingly 86 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: irrelevant and ultimately obsolete. Meanwhile, if you want to stay 87 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: up to speed, you have to bite the bullet and 88 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: buy the other format. Either that or you just you know, 89 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:09,840 Speaker 1: wash your hands the whole thing and walk away from 90 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: technology and live out in the woods, which, trust me, 91 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: I have been tempted to do on numerous occasions. Now, 92 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: if this happens to you once or twice, where you 93 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: back a format and the format ultimately fails, you might 94 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: end up being a little gun shy around emerging formats. 95 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: You might then have a philosophy of this looks really cool. 96 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: There are two different versions of this thing, and they're 97 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,679 Speaker 1: fighting each other. I'm just gonna wait and see how 98 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: this shakes out before I jump on board. Right you, 99 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: you've been bitten too many times. There are early adopters 100 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: who who just live for this stuff and they go 101 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: out and they'll buy every new thing as it comes out. Um, 102 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: I don't know where they're getting their money from. It 103 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: is not the same place where I get my money from, 104 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: because they don't let me get that kind of money. 105 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: So in that case, you might feel like a wait 106 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: and see approach is better. And honestly, this is sort 107 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: of what I typically do, although I do occasionally fall 108 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 1: victim to getting hyped because you have to suppress the 109 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: evil feeling of fomo, you know, the fear of missing out, 110 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: particularly as you see other folks really enjoying their technology 111 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 1: while you just sort of sit and wait. I'm kind 112 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 1: of imagining now people playing video games while writing jet 113 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: skis and flying over waves or something. Now, one thing 114 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 1: that can happen with format wars is that the industry 115 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: as a whole sometimes will coalesce around a unified standard. 116 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: And it is best for the consumer anyway when this 117 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: happens before products ever come to market, because at that point, 118 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,039 Speaker 1: customers have the option to buy whichever brand of the 119 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,840 Speaker 1: technology they like, and they know it should work with 120 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: pretty much anything else made for that specific use case. So, 121 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: in other words, like there are times where companies will 122 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,799 Speaker 1: all be developing a technology that's meant to do something similar, 123 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,279 Speaker 1: and the companies, well, then behind closed doors essentially meet 124 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 1: with one another, hash it out, make compromises, and create 125 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: a more unified technology before they come to market. So 126 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: then when you go to the store, you're like, all right, well, 127 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: there's brand A version of this, there's Brand B version 128 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: of this, there's Brand C, version of this, but they 129 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: all do the same thing, and the stuff that's made 130 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: for them will work on the other ones. That's ideal 131 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: for customers. Doesn't always happen that way, but we have 132 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: seen that happen a few times. UH, Like the Compact Disc. 133 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: While it did have competitive competing formats, the Compact disc 134 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: was not like by itself, but the Compact Disc benefited 135 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: because that was it was the product of that kind 136 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: of compromise before it came to market, and that ultimately 137 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: meant that consumers had fewer incompatible formats in front of 138 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: them in order to uh to enjoy that technology. So 139 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: it does happen, but um often we won't see agreement 140 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: in an industry on a particular standard until after different 141 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: formats have already hit the marketing. But then, of course 142 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: it's too late. At least some portion of the consumer 143 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: public will be left behind if ultimately everyone then agrees 144 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: upon a standard. All right, Well, let's talk about a 145 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: few famous format wars. And there's quite a few of them. 146 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: There have been dozens of them. I'm gonna stick with 147 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: some that aren't very obscure, Like I'm gonna stick with 148 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: some well known ones just for the purposes of kind 149 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: of explaining what was going on, and a lot of 150 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: them will relate to technology and various forms of media, 151 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:43,199 Speaker 1: because that's one realm. Whereas consumers, we have seen format wars, 152 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: you know, front and center, like those tend to be 153 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,959 Speaker 1: the most uh published or publicized format wars in our 154 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: era and uh And when I'm talking about media, I'm 155 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: really talking about any content that plays upon technology. It 156 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: could be media in the form of music, it could 157 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: be shows and movies or or whatever, or it could 158 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,719 Speaker 1: be software. So that's kind of what I mean when 159 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: I say media. But one format that I've talked about 160 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: a format war that I covered in past episodes. I 161 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: also talked about this when I I appeared as the 162 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: Quizster on Ridiculous History. If you've never listened to Ridiculous History, 163 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:22,319 Speaker 1: you should check it out. It's a very fun show 164 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: and once in a rare while I'll pop on as 165 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,960 Speaker 1: a ridiculous, over the top villain called the Quister. But 166 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: there was one episode where I showed up and talked 167 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: about rail gauges, as in railroad tracks, you know what 168 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:40,439 Speaker 1: trains travel upon. In the very early days of railroads, 169 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,319 Speaker 1: you had different engineers and different companies that were building 170 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: train engines and cars or rather like bogeis or trucks 171 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: as they're sometimes called. These are the wheeled frames that 172 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: sit on the rails and then you essentially bolt cars 173 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: onto these frames. Well, the were a lot of people 174 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: making these, and they were making them at different sizes, 175 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 1: Like they had designed the tracks and the the trains 176 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:12,959 Speaker 1: uh to run on a specific width of rails, and 177 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: they weren't all the same everywhere. So this is just 178 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: a random, like hypothetical example. You could have a region 179 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: within a country where one part of the region there's, uh, 180 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: there's a company that's laying down tracks that are a 181 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: hundred centimeters apart because the wheels on their vehicles are 182 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: a hundred centimeters apart. But elsewhere in that same region, 183 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: you might have folks building other trains where they've settled 184 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: on a width that's a hundred twenty centimeters apart. And 185 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 1: so you can't have a train that was built for 186 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: one run on the tracks of the other, right, because 187 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: you know, if a train were to encounter a section 188 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: of track where suddenly there was a twenty centimeter difference 189 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: in the width apart from the rails, the train's gonna 190 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: go flying off the track it you know, the wheels 191 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: can't expand with it. So this obviously was a limiting factor. 192 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: So as people were building train tracks, they eventually arrived 193 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: at locations where other tracks were also being built at 194 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: a different width, and that meant there was no way 195 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 1: for a train to pass from one set to another, 196 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:25,079 Speaker 1: and if you really wanted to travel long distance, chances 197 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 1: are you would have to change trains, perhaps a few 198 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: times in different towns. In fact, there was one town 199 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania where this became a cornerstone of their local economy. 200 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: They counted on the fact that you had different rail 201 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: gauges all terminating at this one town because it would 202 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: mean that trains would have to stop in that town, 203 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: and then the locals often found employment by doing stuff 204 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: that was related to the fact people were stopped in 205 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: the town in order to change trains. So there were 206 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: people who made money as as porters who were unlow 207 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:02,839 Speaker 1: trains or loading other trains. You had a lot of 208 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,560 Speaker 1: people who are making money because they were providing food 209 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: or lodging or both two travelers. So when you had 210 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: government saying, you know, it would make way more sense 211 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: for us to settle on a standard rail gage so 212 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: that you could travel seamlessly from point A to point 213 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: B without having these issues. Towns like this one in 214 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania really objected to that, and by objected, I mean 215 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: like they were. They got a little rowdy, they started 216 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: tearing up train tracks. That's how bad this format war 217 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: was going. Because they saw it as their livelihood and 218 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: if you were too streamline things, it might be better 219 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: for the passengers, but it wouldn't be better for this town. 220 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 1: So this was a format war where depending upon what 221 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: side you were on, like what where you were coming from, 222 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 1: if you were coming from the perspective of a traveler 223 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: or you were coming from the perspective of a townsperson 224 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: who is dependent upon this for their living, you had 225 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 1: a very different view on what was important. Now. Ultimately, 226 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: at least in most cases, UH standards were arrived at 227 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: and the train gauge was set to a specific width. UH. 228 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: There are still trains in countries even like the United 229 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 1: States that have a different rail gauge, but they tend 230 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: to be curiosities now. They're like tourist attractions UM and 231 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: typically are not really used that much in industry these days. 232 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: So you can. You can sometimes find these in interesting 233 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: places where you know people have maintained the tracks and 234 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: the systems so that you can experience it. But if 235 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: you're traveling coast to coast, then you're on standardized rail gauge. 236 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: So that was a format work that was long in 237 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: the making and took a long time to resolve and 238 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,839 Speaker 1: didn't go easily. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break here, 239 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: but when we come back, we'll talk about some more 240 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: format wars. Okay, let's get back to it. So another 241 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: really big and important format war, particularly here in the 242 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: United States back in the day, like like late eighteen 243 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: hundreds into the nineteen hundreds, was alternating current versus direct current. 244 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: So here in the US, that war was really personified 245 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: as Thomas Edison on the direct current side versus George 246 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: Westinghouse on the alternating current side. Though some people will 247 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: substitute George Westinghouse. They'll they'll put in Nicola Tesla instead, 248 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: and it becomes Tesla versus Edison. That's not really an 249 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: accurate description because Edison was really more of a business 250 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: owner as was Westinghouse, and Tesla was more of an engineer. Um. 251 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: But we often see it Edison versus Tesla's really Edison 252 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: versus Westinghouse. And anyway, Westinghouson and Tesla were on the 253 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: alternating current side. There were numerous promotional stunts that both 254 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: sides held in an effort to have their own standard 255 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: adopted for the purposes of building out infrastructure throughout the 256 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: United States. I mean this was like, this was representing 257 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: a true fortune in investments right in order to build 258 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: out power plants and all the wiring and everything that 259 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: would be needed in order to transmit power to the 260 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: average American citizen. It is hard to put a figure 261 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 1: on how big a a fortune that was a potential fortune. 262 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: So clearly the stakes were very high between d C 263 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 1: and a C, and they each had their own uh 264 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: benefits and drawbacks, but ultimately a C would win out 265 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: like they were. And again there were some huge promotional battles. 266 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: A big one was when Westinghouse managed to to land 267 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: the contract for the World's Fair to light the World's Fair. 268 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: But and of course there's there's stories that have grown 269 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: with the retelling, such as the the electrocution of an 270 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: elephant named Topsy using alternating current um, which was frequently 271 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: attributed to Edison in recent years, but really it was 272 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: more like Edison's company that did this. And the story 273 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: gets really complex. It's still not a good story, like 274 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: you know, hearing about doing a public execution of an 275 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: animal in part to show how a type of electricity 276 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,280 Speaker 1: is quote unquote more dangerous than another type. You know, 277 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: it's that's indefensible, really, but the story is more complicated. 278 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: We'll leave it at that. However, ultimately a C one out, 279 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: at least for the purposes of long distance electricity transmission. 280 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: And and honestly, the reason for that was largely practical 281 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: because it was way easier to use transformers, which work 282 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,360 Speaker 1: with a C current but not d C current. And uh, 283 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: it was easy to use transformers in order to step 284 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,399 Speaker 1: up voltage for the purposes of long distance transmission, step 285 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: down voltage when it gets to its destination and make 286 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: use of it, whereas d C you would have to 287 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 1: build way more electric plants closer to the point where 288 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:30,160 Speaker 1: it's providing the electricity. So, just from a practical standpoint, 289 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 1: a C ultimately one out at least back then now 290 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: right now, as I record this episode, I'm also on 291 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 1: at work on another really big episode about the music industry, 292 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 1: both the technology and the business side of the music industry, 293 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: because the two are extremely closely tied together, Like you 294 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: can't really I would argue extract one without the other 295 00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 1: because they inform each other. So the that I am 296 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 1: hard at work, it's probably actually gonna be more than 297 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:07,680 Speaker 1: one episode about the music industry and technology. So this 298 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,119 Speaker 1: next format war I want to talk about, plays into that. 299 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: In the early days of recorded media, like just when 300 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: people were learning how they could take sound and record 301 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,919 Speaker 1: that onto a physical object and then play it back, 302 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: essentially reversing the process. UH, you had companies like Thomas 303 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: Edison's that were rushing to dominate the space, and there 304 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 1: were a few different formats even in the early days. Now, 305 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 1: one very early one was wax cylinders, and essentially recording 306 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: audio meant that you had a cylinder of wax mounted 307 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: on a spindle. The spindle would rotate, UH, and you 308 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,479 Speaker 1: would put down a stylus or needle that would carve 309 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,919 Speaker 1: a groove into the cylinder, and if you were to 310 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: speak into a device would either be like a horn 311 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: or a microphone, then it could transmit the vibrations from 312 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 1: the sound ultimately to the stylus. That's carving into the 313 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:16,119 Speaker 1: wax cylinder, and you're carving a physical representation of the 314 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: sound that's being presented to this recording device. And to 315 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,439 Speaker 1: play it back, you would take the cylinder, you'd put 316 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: it in a player, and you would have a different 317 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: kind of stylus that would travel through the groove that 318 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: had already been cut through the recording process. And essentially, 319 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 1: again you were just having the same recording process but 320 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,359 Speaker 1: in reverse, and that's where you would get the sound 321 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: playing back. But different companies would have different ways of 322 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: doing this, even as they switched from cylinders, you know, 323 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,959 Speaker 1: to flat disks like the traditional format we think of 324 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: if you think of like a vinyl record. Uh, they 325 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: weren't vinyl back in those days, but it was that 326 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: same shape, right, the flat disc shape. Well, even then 327 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,679 Speaker 1: there were still major ways to cut the grooves that 328 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: were fundamentally different. So one was that you could do 329 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,920 Speaker 1: sort of a vertical cut grooves. So that meant that 330 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: as the the disc rotated and you're recording to it, 331 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,440 Speaker 1: the needle you're using, the stylus you're using is varying 332 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: in degrees of depth, so it's recording vibrations. Um Essentially 333 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: up and down along the groove, and when you're playing 334 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: it back, it would mean that the playback needle would 335 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: be sloping up or sloping away from the surface, and uh, 336 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,879 Speaker 1: that's where the vibration would be and would be replicated 337 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: to create the sound that you would hear. The other 338 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: way was lateral grooves or lateral cuts, where the groove 339 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: would vary in width. Right, the needle was vibrating, not 340 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,439 Speaker 1: up and down, but left and right, and as it 341 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:00,440 Speaker 1: was recording, and thus when you're playing it back, same 342 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: sort of thing. But these two things were not necessarily 343 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,960 Speaker 1: compatible with one another, which meant that if you bought 344 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: a player that was dependent upon the vertical cut versus 345 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 1: the lateral cut, then you were limited to just those records. 346 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: So this was another early format war um that was 347 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: tricky for consumers. Um. Another format that was around the 348 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,280 Speaker 1: same time and of the same thing, same media, was 349 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: on all about rotational speed when you were recording and 350 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: playing back sound. So again, in order again accurate sound 351 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: out of a player, you need to play the record 352 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 1: back at the correct speed. If you have ever tried 353 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,239 Speaker 1: to play a forty five album, forty five refers to 354 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: the number of revolutions per minute, so forty five revolutions 355 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: per minute. In this case, if you were to put 356 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: a forty five album on a record player, but you 357 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,639 Speaker 1: set the record player to its thirty three and a 358 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 1: third setting, meaning it's rotating thirty three and one third 359 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: times per minute, then when you listen, everything sounds rue 360 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: slow because the playback is slower than the recording speed, 361 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: so it sounds much slower. By by the way, as 362 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: a kid, I found this endlessly entertaining, either playing forty 363 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: five on thirty three or finding thirty three albums and 364 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: playing them at forty five, so everyone sounds like, you know, 365 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: the chipmunks or whatever. I was easily entertained as a child, 366 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: and honestly, I'd still have a ready record player this today, 367 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: and uh it requires some careful uh resistance for me 368 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: to not just indulge in that silliness even to this day. 369 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: But you know, there were so many different speed playback 370 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: formats in the early days. Like, it wasn't just forty 371 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: five and thirty three or even seventy eight, which would 372 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: become an early standard. There were tons of different ones, 373 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: typically ranging between sixty all the way up to like 374 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,719 Speaker 1: a hundred eighty Now, that could have caused an enormous 375 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: problem them. Right, Like, if all record players could were 376 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 1: limited to playing back at a specific speed, that would 377 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,159 Speaker 1: be a nightmare because it would mean that if you 378 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: were shopping for a record, you'd have to make absolutely 379 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: sure that the record was recorded at the same speed 380 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: that your turntable could play back at. Otherwise it would 381 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: just not sound right, it would sound very wrong. However, 382 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: most turntables, most record players that we didn't really call 383 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: them that at the time, but that's what they were. 384 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 1: Most of them at the time were actually capable of 385 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,120 Speaker 1: playing back at very different speeds, Like you could set 386 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: it to whichever speed you need to. Sometimes you have 387 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: to do it manually and kind of dial it in 388 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 1: so that you know, it might mean that you're taking 389 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: a little time to get it to sound just right. 390 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,679 Speaker 1: But you had that kind of, uh, that kind of 391 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: flexibility for a lot of those tables. So because of that, 392 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 1: the format wars weren't spilling over into a negative consumer 393 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: experience too much. It would actually take several decades for 394 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: the music industry to gravitate toward three and then really 395 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: to RPM standards. So the first one, as I mentioned, 396 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,199 Speaker 1: earlier was seventy eight RPM. That was pretty close to 397 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: what a lot of the old traditional records used. You know, 398 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: a lot of them were somewhere between the seventy and 399 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: eighty RPM, So seventy eight was kind of a well 400 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,400 Speaker 1: for multiple reasons, it was set upon as a standard. 401 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 1: Of those reasons also involved the fact that when people 402 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: stopped using like spring loaded playback machines and they started 403 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: using gear devices, gear ratios ended up creating the necessity 404 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 1: to stick with certain types of of RPM. The combination 405 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: of electric motors and gear ratios meant that there were 406 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,879 Speaker 1: certain RPM speeds that were easy to attain, and seventy 407 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: eight was one of them. But later on there was 408 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: the forty five rpm, which was the seven inch format. 409 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: This was primarily used for stuff that just needed a 410 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: couple of minutes of audio on each side, so it 411 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: was ideal for things like record singles. You know, you 412 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 1: have a single song on side A and a single 413 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: song on side B and that's all you would have. 414 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,200 Speaker 1: Then you also had the thirty three and a third 415 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 1: rpm speed. That one became synonymous with full length record albums. 416 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: And you have to remember also that there were different 417 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: companies pushing these different RPM formats, right, Like, it's not 418 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: that these were just two formats that were out there 419 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: on records. It was that you had companies that were 420 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: really pushing to make that the standard and not the 421 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,560 Speaker 1: other one. But as it turns out, both of them 422 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 1: would survive, and the reason they would survive is because 423 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:46,400 Speaker 1: they filled different purposes. Right. You had the forty five, 424 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: which was great for singles. So if you were say 425 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,399 Speaker 1: a teenager who that was the market that was really 426 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: into buying music, you might want to save your money 427 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: and just buy a single song that you were like, 428 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,920 Speaker 1: you're not interested in the full album, and so that 429 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,680 Speaker 1: was a niche that the forty five field. You might 430 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,639 Speaker 1: be a collector and you want an entire album, and 431 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:11,439 Speaker 1: you're gonna spend a little bit more money, so you 432 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,399 Speaker 1: go and get the thirty three and a third album, 433 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 1: full length album. Um, this shaped music in ways that 434 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: go well beyond this episode. I will touch on that 435 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: on the Music Industry episodes, because again, the format itself 436 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:30,360 Speaker 1: would change the way people made music. It's really fascinating 437 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: history when you get into it. But the important bit 438 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: here is just that because both of these had a use, 439 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: they ultimately would both be adopted as standards and and 440 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: ultimately the different companies would end up adopting the other 441 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: standards as well, so it stopped being something that was 442 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:54,440 Speaker 1: brand specific and just became the different formats that were 443 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:59,639 Speaker 1: available for record collectors. And there are a bunch of 444 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: others we can talk about that happened over the following decades. 445 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: For example, there was an infamous battle that was primarily 446 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: between our c A and its subsidiary NBC versus CBS 447 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 1: in the United States, and this was over the format 448 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:21,399 Speaker 1: of color television broadcast technology. Now, r c A and 449 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: CBS were bitter rivals in trying to establish what should 450 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:32,959 Speaker 1: be the standardized color television broadcast format, and initially CBS 451 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:38,160 Speaker 1: appeared to secure that format in the US UH, despite 452 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 1: our CIA really putting up a fuss about it. However, 453 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: before CBS could really intrench itself, the Korean War broke 454 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: out and the United States got involved, and UH and 455 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:54,640 Speaker 1: some technical challenges on top of the shortage of materials 456 00:27:55,160 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: sidelined color broadcast television in the US. Also, at the 457 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: same time, our c A was determined to sand bag 458 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: cbs IS operations by only selling black and white sets. 459 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: R c A would not sell color sets, and the 460 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 1: CBS color broadcast format was such that it wasn't compatible 461 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:18,919 Speaker 1: with the older black and white sets, so if you 462 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: had a black and white set, you weren't able to 463 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: watch those color broadcasts. So our c A had a 464 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,679 Speaker 1: vested interest in in this because the executives wanted to 465 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,119 Speaker 1: establish our CIAS tech as the standard. But there was 466 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 1: also a practical consideration that whatever color broadcast standard was 467 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: being used should be one that would be viewable even 468 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: if you still only had a black and white set, 469 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: so you'd still be able to watch the broadcast, you 470 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 1: just wouldn't have color. Obviously, by the time the US 471 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 1: was ready to really get back into color broadcast, CBS 472 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: had given up. It gave up. In fact, I think 473 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: it gave up like a week before, or maybe even 474 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,480 Speaker 1: a day before the US announced that it was ready 475 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: to look at color broadcast standards, and CBS had already 476 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: pulled the plug at that point, and our c A 477 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: was in a position to really pick it back up. 478 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: It's technology would provide the foundation for the National Television 479 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 1: System Committee, or in t SC format now with color TV. 480 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: I would say that our CIS actions, while motivated primarily 481 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: by a desire to dominate the market, would end up 482 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: having an enormous benefit to the average US consumer an 483 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: audience member, because it meant that you didn't have to 484 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: worry about your television only being able to receive a 485 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: subset of all available broadcasts. Color broadcasts could come through 486 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: on your old black and white sets, just you wouldn't 487 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: see color, but you would get the broadcast, and your 488 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: color sets would also be able to pick up older 489 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,600 Speaker 1: black and white transmissions. Uh. And meanwhile, broadcast stations could 490 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,920 Speaker 1: rush to get up to speed. So that was an 491 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: example where again that happened behind the scenes didn't really 492 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 1: impact most consumers. There weren't very a many color televisions 493 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: that were available before the Korean War really sidelined everything, 494 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: So that ended up being a hiccup in technological progress 495 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,800 Speaker 1: that ultimately benefited the consumer. When we come back, we'll 496 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: cover a few more examples before we wrap up, but 497 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 1: first let's take this quick break. Okay, let's get back 498 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: to music. Another big format war happened between cassette tapes, 499 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 1: which were all the rage when I was a kid man. 500 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: Mix tapes. Yeah, those are kind of back in in style, 501 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: largely because the guardians of the galaxy. And of course 502 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: people have been making things like playlists and you know, 503 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: burn CDs and stuff forever too. But yeah, mix tapes 504 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 1: is what we called them back when I was a kid. 505 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 1: But you know, there was this format war before the 506 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,960 Speaker 1: cassette tape really established itself, where it was the cassette 507 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: tape versus eight tracks versus four track tapes. Now, four 508 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 1: track tapes didn't get a whole lot of love outside 509 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: of audio file circles. Uh, they didn't really take off 510 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: big time in the consumer space. Eight tracks did a 511 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: little bit better. Uh. Some car manufacturers would incorporate eight 512 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,840 Speaker 1: track players into vehicles, so these were also cassettes of 513 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 1: a type. But eight track tapes had some pretty big drawbacks. 514 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:24,880 Speaker 1: One of the major ones was that you could not 515 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: rewind and eight track tape. So let's say that you 516 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: put an eight track of an album in your in 517 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: your jeep and starts playing and you're like, oh, no, 518 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: I like the first song on this side, but this 519 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: is like the third song. You'd have to end up 520 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: flipping it over to the second side, go all the 521 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: way to the end of that like either play it 522 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: or or whatever, and then Ultimately you can flip it 523 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: back over and listen to the first song on side A. 524 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,719 Speaker 1: It was not convenient. Cassette tapes were smaller than eight tracks, 525 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 1: and you could rewind them. You could also tape over them. Eventually, 526 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,200 Speaker 1: so over time they won out in the format war. 527 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:10,080 Speaker 1: They had enough advantages that they became much more popular, 528 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:15,600 Speaker 1: and essentially eight tracks kind of faded into obscurity. Now, 529 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: when I think the actual phrase format war, there's one 530 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: specific one that leads to my mind because it was 531 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: settling down when I was a kid. Right, I'm not 532 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: saying that this was the most important format war or 533 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:29,920 Speaker 1: anything like that. It's just the one, like, if I 534 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,239 Speaker 1: hear that phrase, this is what I think of, And 535 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: that was the video cassette format war. Primarily, I'm talking 536 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:40,440 Speaker 1: about VHS, which was championed by the company j v C. 537 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 1: And on the other side you had Beta Max, which 538 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: was a Sony product. Now there were other home media 539 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: contenders to those were not the only two, but they 540 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:53,080 Speaker 1: were the two big big players in the space. You 541 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: had like laser disc. You also had ce D Systems 542 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 1: UM which I could go off on a rabbit trail 543 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 1: on the I have one in this office. Uh, they 544 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: were not popular, but I still own one. I don't 545 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,440 Speaker 1: know if it works, but I've got one. Anyway, Let's 546 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: get back to cassettes. So if VCR systems had only 547 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,440 Speaker 1: allowed for playback, If if VCR and Beta Max could 548 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: only play back recorded material that was sold, like you 549 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: would go out and buy a copy of a video 550 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 1: and that's the only thing you could do with them, 551 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: then it's very possible that Beta Max could have won 552 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: out because Beta max quality was marginally better than VHS. 553 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:39,479 Speaker 1: Although both formats did evolve over time, it's not like 554 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:44,720 Speaker 1: they they emerged with one quality and never changed. But 555 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:49,520 Speaker 1: the thing that really gave v HS a big advantage 556 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: in the long run is that you could use these 557 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:57,720 Speaker 1: to record material from say a television onto tape so 558 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: you can watch it again later. Uh. That was something 559 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: that the industry was not in favor of, but it 560 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 1: ultimately happened. And this is where VHS really was superior. 561 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: You could fit more content onto a single VHS tape 562 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 1: than you could with Beta Max, and this ultimately contributed 563 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: largely to VHS winning out. But it took years. It 564 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: was not like this was an overnight thing. This this 565 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 1: took place over years and years, and it was a 566 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: vicious fight. Uh it wasn't a guarantee that VHS was 567 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: going to win, But by the early nineteen eighties, Beta 568 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 1: Max was kind of treated like a punchline. It became 569 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 1: the you know, the the big example of a technology 570 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:41,960 Speaker 1: that failed to secure relevance at least around that time period. Uh. Next, 571 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:43,800 Speaker 1: we're gonna skip over a whole bunch of other stuff 572 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:45,960 Speaker 1: in order to get to a similar story that played 573 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:49,400 Speaker 1: out in the two thousands, like mid to late two thousand's. 574 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:51,960 Speaker 1: So yeah, it was the nineteen seventies when we had 575 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 1: the VHS versus Beta Max war, and three decades later 576 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,719 Speaker 1: we would get a brand new home video format war, 577 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 1: which would pit Blu Ray versus h D DVD. You 578 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:05,399 Speaker 1: all know how that turned out, because we don't talk 579 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:08,560 Speaker 1: about h D DVD anymore, and we still could get 580 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,319 Speaker 1: a Blue Ray if we really want one. And some 581 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: of you might be too young to even remember this 582 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: format war, but back in the mid to late two thousand's, 583 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,360 Speaker 1: this was a really big deal. Both formats were vying 584 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,799 Speaker 1: to become the next big thing after the DVD, Like 585 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: this was supposed to be the step into h D 586 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: television UH, and DVD was somewhat limited in that. So 587 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 1: you had Blu Ray, which was backed by Sony, and 588 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,160 Speaker 1: Toshiba was behind h D DVD, and these two companies 589 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:45,880 Speaker 1: rushed to foreign partnerships, both with other technology companies so 590 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,520 Speaker 1: that you know, there'll be other companies producing players that 591 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:53,040 Speaker 1: could play Blu ray or h D DVD, but they 592 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: also rushed out to foreign partnerships with media companies, like 593 00:35:57,239 --> 00:36:00,319 Speaker 1: the companies that were actually making the content, in order 594 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,320 Speaker 1: to secure exclusive deals, which meant that consumers were faced 595 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:06,960 Speaker 1: with this problem that, you know, the movies and shows 596 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: they really liked, they might only be available on a 597 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,320 Speaker 1: single format, and that meant that if you wanted those movies, 598 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,840 Speaker 1: you had to buy into that format. And in the beginning, 599 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,080 Speaker 1: the very beginning, it looked like h D DVD might 600 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 1: have a bit of an edge. UH. First of all, 601 00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,640 Speaker 1: it came out a little bit earlier than Blu ray 602 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:31,320 Speaker 1: by a few months. Secondly, early on, HD DVD attracted 603 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,879 Speaker 1: some major studios onto its side, but Sony would turn 604 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:40,360 Speaker 1: around and play some pretty brilliant strokes of its own UH. 605 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:42,960 Speaker 1: And it didn't hurt that Blu ray also had some 606 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,040 Speaker 1: technical advantages on top of that, a big one being 607 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:50,720 Speaker 1: that it could hold more information than an HD DVD 608 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: disc could, so you could put more onto a Blu Ray. 609 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 1: For another, Blu Ray could support more advanced piracy prevention 610 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:03,239 Speaker 1: technologies than HD DVD could. HDDVD had an advantage and 611 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,560 Speaker 1: that it was not quite as expensive, so that was 612 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:09,160 Speaker 1: a big boost. But Sony's really brilliant move was that 613 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,239 Speaker 1: they built a Blu Ray player into a PlayStation three. 614 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 1: That meant that you could have a games station, a 615 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 1: game's console that could also serve as a media player, 616 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:22,279 Speaker 1: which obviously today that's pretty common thing, but back then 617 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:26,760 Speaker 1: it was pretty new. Plus those additional protections. That privacy 618 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,280 Speaker 1: protection was really attractive to studios, right They were terrified 619 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: of the thought of losing out on revenue due to piracy, 620 00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:36,120 Speaker 1: so anything that could cut that down was a big 621 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,920 Speaker 1: bonus for them, and one by one studios began to 622 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 1: side with Sony, until by two thousand and eight it 623 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 1: was pretty clear that HD DVD was dead in the water, 624 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,239 Speaker 1: Like Warner Brothers left h D DVD, and at that 625 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:52,760 Speaker 1: point all the major studios had had had jumped ship. 626 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:55,359 Speaker 1: In fact, I remember attending c E S one year 627 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: where just a couple of weeks before the show, h 628 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,759 Speaker 1: D DVD hold out of c E S. So there 629 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 1: was this big empty spot on the show floor where 630 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:08,040 Speaker 1: there was supposed to be an HD DVD booth, but 631 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:11,160 Speaker 1: there was nothing because you know, again a couple of 632 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:14,680 Speaker 1: weeks before the show happened, they decided to you know, 633 00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:16,920 Speaker 1: they didn't have any good news to share and they 634 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,400 Speaker 1: didn't want to have to face the music at that point. 635 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:23,000 Speaker 1: It wasn't long after that that HD DVD was for 636 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,560 Speaker 1: all intents and purposes dead. So Blu Ray one that 637 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:29,080 Speaker 1: format war, and it meant that all those people who 638 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:32,680 Speaker 1: got h D DVD players and a library of disks, 639 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:37,680 Speaker 1: we're stuck with the technology that ultimately went obsolete. Um like, 640 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 1: once those players stopped working and there's not an easy 641 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:46,319 Speaker 1: way to repair them. Those discs are you know, paper weights. Now, 642 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:48,680 Speaker 1: of course we still have format wars going on today, 643 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:52,400 Speaker 1: some of them have settled into different lines of products 644 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,960 Speaker 1: that can coexist. So like in the early days of 645 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,399 Speaker 1: personal computers, we had several different styles of computers, right, 646 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:03,480 Speaker 1: you had you know, Commodore sixty four. Uh, you would 647 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 1: have the Apple, you would have Sinclair machines, you had 648 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,680 Speaker 1: all these different computer systems, and over time they mostly 649 00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:15,000 Speaker 1: shook out two PCs, which really was just shorthand to 650 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:20,480 Speaker 1: describe any computer that was built upon architecture that IBM 651 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:25,120 Speaker 1: first offered as a personal computer. And then on the 652 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:27,759 Speaker 1: other side you had Apple and we continue to have 653 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:29,719 Speaker 1: that to this day. I mean, there are other ones 654 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:31,760 Speaker 1: as well, but those are like the two primary ones, 655 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:36,520 Speaker 1: and they can coexist, they serve different functions. So that 656 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:39,080 Speaker 1: was a format war that ultimately kind of settled into 657 00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,680 Speaker 1: two different lines of products. In other cases, however, we've 658 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: got ongoing format wars that can still cause trouble for consumers, 659 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:50,440 Speaker 1: including me. So for example, there is HDR, which is 660 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:55,360 Speaker 1: high dynamic range, and this applies to displays, uh primarily 661 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:59,840 Speaker 1: things like televisions, but not only television's also computer displays, tablets, 662 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,279 Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. They can have HDR technology 663 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:06,239 Speaker 1: in them. But here's the tricky thing. HDR does not 664 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:10,839 Speaker 1: refer to a specific technology. You don't have just one 665 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:15,480 Speaker 1: thing that is HDR. HDR is more like a desired outcome. 666 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:20,160 Speaker 1: High dynamic range is a goal, not a technology unto itself, 667 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,760 Speaker 1: and the outcome is all about creating a large range 668 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:27,040 Speaker 1: of color intensities and brightnesses so that you can have 669 00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:32,000 Speaker 1: really rich, lush and accurate color representation on screen. You 670 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:35,880 Speaker 1: can have everything from a dim, dark purple to a bright, 671 00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:40,160 Speaker 1: vibrant yellow and every other color. Right that, the idea 672 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:47,600 Speaker 1: is that HDR gives you incredibly vibrant pictures. That's the goal. 673 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:52,560 Speaker 1: The problem is there are different ways to get to 674 00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:57,200 Speaker 1: that goal. There's not just one technological pathway to lead 675 00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:00,360 Speaker 1: to h d R, and there are actually several different 676 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:03,600 Speaker 1: formats that all aim to do this. The big ones 677 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:08,399 Speaker 1: are h lg UH, there's Dolby Vision, there's HDR ten 678 00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:13,320 Speaker 1: that's the most common of the formats, and there's HDR 679 00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:18,920 Speaker 1: ten plus. So Dolbie Vision has really incredible capabilities, like 680 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:24,200 Speaker 1: it is technically one of the most advanced of the 681 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:30,920 Speaker 1: HDR formats. However, Dolbi Vision is also a proprietary Now 682 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,000 Speaker 1: that means that anyone who wants to make use of 683 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:38,920 Speaker 1: Dolby Vision, whether it's a television manufacturer right it's a 684 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:42,720 Speaker 1: it's someone that's creating televisions that are capable of showing 685 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:47,520 Speaker 1: Dolby Vision, or it's a format like a like a UH. 686 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:50,400 Speaker 1: Someone who's creating media and they want the media to 687 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,040 Speaker 1: be in Dolbie Vision. No matter what, if you want 688 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,000 Speaker 1: to make use of Dolbie Vision, you have to pay. 689 00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:58,240 Speaker 1: You have to pay a licensing fee, and um companies 690 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,440 Speaker 1: typically don't like having to pay a license fees. If 691 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:02,120 Speaker 1: they can find a way around it, like if they've 692 00:42:02,160 --> 00:42:04,480 Speaker 1: got a free option, they would much prefer to do 693 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:07,319 Speaker 1: that because they keep more of the money themselves. So 694 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:12,000 Speaker 1: HDR ten is an open standard. That's why it's the 695 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,000 Speaker 1: most common because you can use it for free. Like 696 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:17,600 Speaker 1: you can make use of that open standard, but it's 697 00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:20,640 Speaker 1: not as advanced as doy'll be Vision. So you get 698 00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:24,719 Speaker 1: your HDR output, but it's not as good as if 699 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,040 Speaker 1: you were to use Dolby Vision. Now, all of this 700 00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:29,279 Speaker 1: is on the back end, right, like you have all 701 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:31,759 Speaker 1: these companies that are making deals about whether or not 702 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:33,800 Speaker 1: they're going to pay a licensing fee and use something 703 00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:35,719 Speaker 1: like they'll be Vision, or they're going to go with 704 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:39,040 Speaker 1: an open standard, or maybe they will support multiple ones. 705 00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:42,759 Speaker 1: But on the consumer side, it gets really messy and 706 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:48,920 Speaker 1: really confusing because not all HDR television's support all HDR formats. 707 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:53,120 Speaker 1: That's what I find really frustrating about format wars like 708 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:55,920 Speaker 1: this because You can go out and buy an HDR 709 00:42:56,080 --> 00:43:01,000 Speaker 1: capable TV, but if it only supports say HDR ten, 710 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:05,040 Speaker 1: then it doesn't necessarily support something like Dolby Vision. And 711 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,160 Speaker 1: you might think, Oh, I'm gonna watch this it's an HDR, 712 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:10,520 Speaker 1: But if it's an HDR and it uses Dolbi Vision, 713 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:14,520 Speaker 1: you won't be able to experience the HDR. So this 714 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:17,719 Speaker 1: is really upsetting to me because it means that you 715 00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:19,640 Speaker 1: actually have to do a lot more homework before you 716 00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:21,879 Speaker 1: go out and buy something. Right. You can't just oh, 717 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:23,759 Speaker 1: this TV is on sale, I need a new TV. 718 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:25,520 Speaker 1: I'm gonna buy it, and then I can watch all 719 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:30,120 Speaker 1: this stuff maybe or at least maybe with the HDR, 720 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:33,280 Speaker 1: but you might not be able to if the television 721 00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:36,840 Speaker 1: doesn't support the formats that are available on the media 722 00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:40,120 Speaker 1: you have. By the way, this gets even more complicated 723 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:43,240 Speaker 1: when you start talking about things you connect to your TV. 724 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:46,840 Speaker 1: Because let's say that you have like a streaming device. 725 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:49,520 Speaker 1: Let's say the television is not its own smart TV, 726 00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:53,960 Speaker 1: it doesn't have native access to streaming apps, and you 727 00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,280 Speaker 1: have it connected to a streaming device. Well, the streaming 728 00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:59,520 Speaker 1: device also needs to have those same compatibilities. So anywhere 729 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:03,719 Speaker 1: in a chain. If you are lacking a compatibility, then 730 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:08,759 Speaker 1: you miss out on that that particular feature. And this 731 00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:11,920 Speaker 1: is really the downside for me for format wars. It's 732 00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:18,640 Speaker 1: why I think standardization is so important because it removes 733 00:44:18,719 --> 00:44:23,080 Speaker 1: that confusion and ambiguity and it improves the customer experience. 734 00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:26,200 Speaker 1: It doesn't necessarily mean we get the absolute best version 735 00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:30,400 Speaker 1: of whatever that technology is. We might make some compromises. 736 00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:33,560 Speaker 1: But what it does mean is that when you buy 737 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,600 Speaker 1: technology A, you know it can play everything that was 738 00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:41,480 Speaker 1: made for technology A right or whatever. The play is 739 00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:46,040 Speaker 1: too limiting because this goes well beyond media, but that 740 00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:49,200 Speaker 1: is that's the argument for standardization is that doesn't mean 741 00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:52,759 Speaker 1: that you get the absolute best version of everything, but 742 00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:54,920 Speaker 1: that you can be confident that the version you do 743 00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:57,640 Speaker 1: get is something you can use. That's the big benefit 744 00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:02,359 Speaker 1: of standardization. Now, maybe you one day, you and me 745 00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:05,759 Speaker 1: and everybody else listening to this will all be like 746 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:09,439 Speaker 1: super wealthy and we won't care, Like we won't care 747 00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:12,000 Speaker 1: if if one format is not compatible with the other, 748 00:45:12,040 --> 00:45:14,680 Speaker 1: because we'll just buy all of them. But I don't 749 00:45:14,719 --> 00:45:17,359 Speaker 1: know about y'all. I do not appear to be on 750 00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:19,799 Speaker 1: that track anytime soon. So for the meantime, I'm going 751 00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:23,400 Speaker 1: to continue being my grouchy old man self and argue 752 00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:27,520 Speaker 1: for standardization. I hope you enjoyed what was going to 753 00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:29,480 Speaker 1: be a Tech Stuff tidbits, but I'm looking at the 754 00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:31,919 Speaker 1: I'm looking at my recording right now, and it's as 755 00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:35,879 Speaker 1: long as a normal episode, very typical. Go ahead, get 756 00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:39,520 Speaker 1: your licks in now. I deserve them. If you want 757 00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:43,120 Speaker 1: to chi to be on Twitter for being a chatty Cathy, 758 00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:46,399 Speaker 1: the handle is tech Stuff hs W. Also reach out 759 00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:48,440 Speaker 1: if you have any suggestions for topics you would love 760 00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:50,360 Speaker 1: for me to cover in future episodes of Tech Stuff, 761 00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:54,040 Speaker 1: whether it's a technology, a trend in tech, a company, uh, 762 00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:57,000 Speaker 1: an important person in tech, any of those things, let 763 00:45:57,080 --> 00:45:59,359 Speaker 1: me know. Or if there's like a guest you would 764 00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:01,640 Speaker 1: love for me to have on the show. I've really 765 00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:05,400 Speaker 1: enjoyed having guests on recently. It's um it's always a 766 00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:08,960 Speaker 1: challenge to schedule those kind of things, but I think 767 00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:10,920 Speaker 1: they bring a lot of value to the show, and 768 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:14,360 Speaker 1: I know you folks really appreciate getting to listen to 769 00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,279 Speaker 1: someone besides just me. So if there's anyone out there 770 00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:21,160 Speaker 1: that you think would be an excellent guest for whatever purpose, 771 00:46:21,719 --> 00:46:24,759 Speaker 1: as long as you know technology related, let me know. 772 00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:28,000 Speaker 1: Send me that message tech stuff hsw on Twitter and 773 00:46:28,040 --> 00:46:36,880 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is 774 00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:40,080 Speaker 1: an I heart Radio production. For more podcasts from I 775 00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:43,759 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 776 00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:45,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.