Betamax was slightly technically superior, but the reason it lost was that Sony initially limited recording times to 1 hour. This meant that most movies require

Betamax was slightly technically superior, but the reason it lost was that Sony initially limited recording times to 1 hour. This meant that most movies required 2 Betamax tapes, vs 1 for VHS. Betamax players were also much more expensive. The point is that a lot of "bad ideas" have something major going for them.