Althouse: "Let’s all watch the Scopitone!"

June 6, 2011

"Let’s all watch the Scopitone!"

"15 never-too-popular obsolete entertainment formats."

I never fell for any of them. But I did have a Betamax.

29 comments:

edutcher said...: Hmmm...

Scopitone sounds like something the doctor uses to look up your old address...; 6/6/11, 6:36 PM
Anonymous said...: I had a Betamax as well. Good thing I was too broke to buy any of the others at the time they came out.; 6/6/11, 6:36 PM
Anonymous said...: If this gets 10 comments by midnight, I'll be disappointed in people here.; 6/6/11, 6:36 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: If you want to see piles of useless electronic junk that was used once or twice, get to know a musician.

Every musician I know buys dozens of electronic gimcracks... stomp boxes, strange recording devices, tone benders... etc. ... that are ultimately piled up in a box in the attack or the garage.

Most of them prove to be absolutely useless or so poorly manufactured that the logic board fries after the fifth use.; 6/6/11, 6:39 PM
Phil 314 said...: The DIVX concept always reminded me of this; 6/6/11, 6:44 PM
rhhardin said...: Cake decoration is omitted.

An employment opportunity for Chip.; 6/6/11, 6:56 PM
Anonymous said...: ABCNews reveals, in a hard-hitting expose, the cleavage Flashy Tony gave up to stay with the absent Huma.; 6/6/11, 7:05 PM
David said...: NevadaBob, good luck in your new career as post critic and comment prognosticator. It's a tough job.; 6/6/11, 7:10 PM
Anonymous said...: Ten, bitch.; 6/6/11, 7:11 PM
Anonymous said...: Sorry to see no mention of Cartrivision, the VCR that was way ahead of its time.

http://www.angelfire.com/alt/cartrivision/

WV: intess; 6/6/11, 7:13 PM
Phil 314 said...: Nevada;
Time to get out of the sausage factory and go read a book; 6/6/11, 7:14 PM
Trooper York said...: A girl in my class in grammer school had socpitone. She was bent over like a question mark.; 6/6/11, 7:25 PM
Trooper York said...: Whenever she got mad at the other girls, Connie Cosenza would say "Don't get all bent out of shape.'; 6/6/11, 7:27 PM
Trooper York said...: Connie was a nasty bitch.; 6/6/11, 7:27 PM
Trooper York said...: But she was the first one to get those huge nice titties.

So she pretty much had all the boys wrapped around her finger.; 6/6/11, 7:27 PM
Trooper York said...: See how it all goes back to your Weiner?; 6/6/11, 7:28 PM
Trooper York said...: Now Connie kinda looks like Rene Graziano from Mob Wives.; 6/6/11, 7:31 PM
Trooper York said...: And her titties?; 6/6/11, 7:31 PM
Trooper York said...: Well now she can buy cheap shoes. Just sayn'; 6/6/11, 7:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Is Connie accepting cock photos?; 6/6/11, 7:32 PM
Anonymous said...: "Ten, bitch."

Figured to be you - SevenLame-os. You're an Democrat butt muncher. Enjoy your ass today. Quite crusty it is.; 6/6/11, 7:35 PM
Anonymous said...: You're an Democrat butt muncher.

Okay, Bob. Whatever you say. Tell us again about how Weiner is mentally ill. I love that one. It's science!; 6/6/11, 7:37 PM
Anonymous said...: DailyKos #hacked!

All your fucking base are belong to us, bitches.; 6/6/11, 7:38 PM
clint said...: The only really interesting one was the Scopitone -- film reel music videos from the '30's to the '60's!

Holy cow, I hope these aren't mouldering somewhere in a dank basement.

Someone needs to transfer these to digital -- for the camp value if nothing else.; 6/6/11, 8:54 PM
Carol_Herman said...: You can also have HD TV. Cost SONY a fortune to produce. And, it's already been bypassed.

Who still owns their 8 track? That used to fit into a car's radio?; 6/6/11, 10:21 PM
Wally Kalbacken said...: I recall seeing a Scopitone for "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" in a bar in Hayward, Wisconsin when I was 10 (1967). Pretty much seared that into my memory. No nudity was involved, but when you are 10...

Among the formats that were failures, which I did not fall for was the Sony Elcaset. It was a Phillips type cassette that was perhaps 200% the size of a regular cassette. The innovation was a tape speed 2x that of regular cassettes which increased fidelity. The increased size was necessary for the longer tape reels. Apparently it was launched in the late 70's and died by 1980.

The RCA CED video disc system was a debacle, and it is studied in business schools today as an example of a titanic failure which helped take down RCA in the end. I recall reading that losses of $500M were attributed to it in the early 1980's. I was working at American TV at the time and I recall seeing the RCA device next to the Pioneer LaserDisc on the same shelf. I think the prices were similar, but the RCA concept of an analog needle in grove format as opposed to Pioneer's digital/optical system was a stunning contrast between old and obsolete and a glimpse of the future.; 6/6/11, 11:32 PM
Trooper York said...: Nah she didn't want photos. Only plaster casts. It was the 1960's dude.; 6/6/11, 11:53 PM
el polacko said...: i saw a scopitone jukebox in a diner in montreal in the '60s and i thought it was the coolest thing. i spent the afternoon feeding quarters into it..think i watched them all.
i did have a betamax and still swear by it when it comes to videotape. that vhs won out was a travesty.
this list omitted quadrophonic sound...i had a decoder and what few quad lps that were available and would sit in the middle of my four scratchy litte speakers and marvel at the modern advances in technology.
currently, i collect odd releases on 8-track. suprising how many titles were released in the format...what a thrill it was to choose your own musical tracks while tooling down the highway!; 6/7/11, 4:00 AM
el polacko said...: @clint: http://scopitones.blogs.com/; 6/7/11, 4:03 AM