The CED: No really, it coulda made sense! (Part 2)

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It’s seriously not that crazy of an idea. RCA might have pulled this off in a couple of ways, and in this video we explore those new angles.

First of all, here’s part one;

Here are a few videos that show what goes on inside the later players:
The first link is a quick view, the second link includes more explanation of the player itself.

And where there are some links, you’ll find more links!

Technology Connections 2 (the channel where I sometimes talk about stuff and generally don’t prepare for anything):

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[richardwild]

"The device that RCA thought was too complicated to manufacture, despite the fact that they were selling them already."

That made my day.

[tomreingold]

RCA's failure was explained to me a bit by my father, may he rest in peace. He was an advertising and marketing professional. He said the problem was that RCA had a narrow vision of the home video market. This is because they did market research to gauge the viability of video cassettes. The Japanese companies didn't do marketing research. Instead, they just made the machines, and that gave them a head start. RCA's big mistake was not realizing that you can't do marketing research on a product that doesn't exist yet. Consumers couldn't imagine how useful it is to record TV broadcasts or to rent movies or to get cheaply made pornography. So even if RCA had asked how consumers liked the ideas, the response would not have been accurate, and it would not have made RCA realize that they better hurry up and get in front of the video tape market.

[Agustinb]

In a parallel universe where RCA released the CED's in 1975:

TC: "Today we are going to see why the VHS was a total failure and why the ambitious idea of home recorders could have threatened our lovely copyrights!"

[christopherrippel]

17:10 I have a whole new outlook now for Mr. Rogers. This one act of his turns him into cool & somewhat of a hero! (I never knew this until now seeing your video here).
Mr. Rogers: “Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the ‘Neighborhood’ at hours when some children cannot use it… I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the ‘Neighborhood’ off-the-air, and I’m speaking for the ‘Neighborhood’ because that’s what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family’s television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been ‘You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions.’ Maybe I’m going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important.”


The Supreme Court noted that Mr. Rogers’ testimony was a significant piece of evidence that helped lead them to their ultimate decision.

[root]

If you didn’t, please turn on subtitles! The intro is hilarious.

[TheOldMan-]

I'm digging the disc insert mechanism. Feels like loading the cannons.

[videogamekraken]

Excellent Video!

Fun Fact: The CED almost made it as a Video Game format. In 1983, RDI decided to partner with RCA to use one of their Capacitance Electronic Disc player to use in their upcoming Halcyon video game system. At the time, RCA was working to release a new model called the SKT425 which would be part of their high end Dimensia system, but then RCA announced that they would stop developing the SKT425 and the discontinuation of all other CED player. At this point, RDI had no choice but to switch to the LaserDisc format for their upcoming console. They decided to use the Pioneer LaserDisc model LD-700 as the media player. With the high cost of LaserDisc Player, the price of the system jump to the roof and ultimately made the console too pricy for the home market. Because of this, the Halcyon was never mass-produced.

[MrMonkeyCrumpets]

“I probably sound sarcastic here” could be the Tagline for your entire channel 😉

[SmellTheCheeeez]

A disc-based movie rental industry is an oddly futuristic thought...

[timothystockman]

I have a friend whose father was a machinist who worked for RCA back then. He has a plaque which was given to him for his dedication to the CED project over the years.

[jonathanpullen]

The CED is one of my favorite video stories of all time. It's sooo absurd. I'm delighted that both you and Techmoan are doing articles on it.

[redgrain]

This CED series is my sanctuary media. History, tech talk, and video of components doing things. And the fact it was a dead end makes it another hidden corner of the world. Thanks.

[pptop]

so, I'm 41 now. I grew up with one of these given to me by my grandfather, along with 60 or so movies/collections of cartoons like Chip n Dale, Donald Duck and more.

we took it to a local repair shop very often. the player long ago gave up the ghost, but I still have a few of the disks inside their cases. .. Terms of Endearment, and some others.


lot of childhood memories for me in these machines.

[pghcoyote]

17:56 "And we CANNOT have THAT, oh NO!" I love it. Looking forward to a third installment!

[MatroxMillennium]

The funny thing is there actually is a composite video signal accessible inside the machine. I modded mine to be able to use it. I think all I had to do was wire up the jacks, if I remember correctly.

[theMIP]

I'd like to take a moment to appreciate your set background that always has relavent objects and colors on it, like the backlit RCA logo directly to your right and the tricolor logo to your upper left. I LOVE your set, and can't get over it. So awesome.

[vwestlife]

Another thing that probably didn't help is that a clunky plastic cartridge that needed to be gracelessly shoved into a player reminded people of 8-track tapes, which were rapidly falling out of favor in the early 1980s.

[jponeal]

Thank you for these videos. My father worked for RCA in Indianapolis during this time (until the plant closed). We had two of these machines, though ours were nicer versions. For instance we didn't have to manually insert the disc. You set the disc at the lip of the player and the machine slid the disc inside just as a VHS tape did or DVD tray does. We had dozens of movies that we owned. and hundreds when RCA closed. My dad was bringing home boxes of these as the stock was liquidated. This is where my love of collecting movies came from. We also had a mom and pop video store that (in the early 80's) only rented CED discs. This rental store didn't have VHS until after RCA closed. They remained in business until we started getting Hollywood Videos and Blockbusters (which I worked at for years while in college). I have very fond memories of this machine, seeing our movie collection grow and organizing it on shelves, and visiting the video store.

[davestva]

It's amazing to me how you have managed to get every point exactly right from 40+ years ago. I know. I was there and saw all of this unfold exactly as you state. Another, obviously very researched presentation. Bravo!

[safi.uh_]

I think i know why i watch this series everyday almost.

My dad was a printer technician for most of my life but, he worked all kinds of hardware tech jobs. Also sometimes he would do alot of computer repair for people we knew so our garage had all kind of techy parts organized meticulously and computers in states of disrepair.
I used to watch him fix and clean alot of stuff, and even sometimes he’d do software stuff like install drivers n stuff or fix someone’s os. He passed away unexpectedly in 2015 and left behind alot of his computer parts and tools. Since i was the only one who really even knew what things were for, ive kept alot of them. But like seeing someone who knows what theyre looking at go through and dissect various pieces of tech is something i really miss. So i think i get that from these videos. And it probably also helps that the host is enjoyable to listen to.