The reason laserdisc didn't take off better is that it was an unnecessary change for the average viewer. For most people the cheap and practical VHS that fit into their VCR, which could record things off of TV, seemed to be perfectly good quality. If you play a laserdisc on a small screen TV with your TV's speakers, there isn't a whole lot of difference. Laserdisc was more of a niche market. DVD was the first practical replacement that appealed to the average consumer. A lot of people have never even heard of laserdisc, and many who have don't have any clue what it is. I hope it is a long time before Blu-Ray gets replaced, DVD certianly seemed to become obsolete a lot sooner than I would have expected. Don't want to upgrade my movie collection every ten years. I bought my first DVD player in 2001, by 2007 I had already stopped buying DVDs altogether. Of course it is only because of the rising of HD that made us need a new format. Hopefully this time it will stick.
The reason laserdisc didn't take off better is that it was an unnecessary change for the average viewer. For most people the cheap and practical VHS that fit into their VCR, which could record things off of TV, seemed to be perfectly good quality. If you play a laserdisc on a small screen TV with your TV's speakers, there isn't a whole lot of difference. Laserdisc was more of a niche market. DVD was the first practical replacement that appealed to the average consumer. A lot of people have never even heard of laserdisc, and many who have don't have any clue what it is. I hope it is a long time before Blu-Ray gets replaced, DVD certianly seemed to become obsolete a lot sooner than I would have expected. Don't want to upgrade my movie collection every ten years. I bought my first DVD player in 2001, by 2007 I had already stopped buying DVDs altogether. Of course it is only because of the rising of HD that made us need a new format. Hopefully this time it will stick.