When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn What Does Betamaxed Mean?
Betamaxed is a slang term for when a superior product loses out to an inferior product. This term refers to the adoption of VHS over Betamax in the 1970s and ’80s. Betamax was perceived as the superior product, but the pricing and economies of scale behind VHS relegated Betamax to obsolescence. Since then, the term betamaxed has been applied to many technology showdowns, such as the browser wars between Netscape and Microsoft and the ongoing competition between Microsoft and Apple.
Techopedia Explains Betamaxed
When a superior product gets betamaxed, it is usually attributed to a marketing flop. However, there are many factors that come into play when a seemingly superior product is outsold by an inferior one. The most obvious is pricing because people will not necessarily spend more for a top-of-the-line technology when a cheaper, but still functional, alternative is available.
