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Format wars: The tech that should have won

The quest begins
We hate format wars. Not because we're afraid of good old-fashioned tech fisticuffs, but because they're often completely unjust. So often, the format that wins isn't technically better than the competition, just cheaper or better marketed. (And no, we're not just sore because we were Betamax owners.)

It's happened so many times over the years that we had to make a list of the technologies that got knocked out of the fight for survival but really shouldn't have. We've laid out the reasons their demise was unfair along with the causes over the next couple of pages.

We've also allowed ourselves to dream. What if we could go back in time and change the way it happened? And as if by magic, our prayers were answered. The sky darkened and from the clouds appeared a shadowy figure resplendent in a tight Lycra outfit and cape. In a booming voice he said: "Don't worry technology lovers, I'm Captain Tech, and it's my job to put right what once went wrong. Technologically speaking, anyway."

And with that Captain Tech vanished into some sort of quantum vortex, and journeyed back through time to assist ailing technology and save the gadgets that should have made it...



This story appeared originally in CNET.co.uk.

 

 
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