Beta was vastly superior compared to VHS as evident by the professional market use of the technology until early this century. Sony dropped the ball thus allowing Toshiba and the boys to grab the consumer market with their inferior product. So in the end Sony made peanuts compared to the VHS manufacturers. Apple also dropped the ball and the world ended up with the inferior PC. Well maybe if Electrovaya drops the ball now they can come back in a decade or two just like Apple.