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TIME CAPSULE/JUNE 19, 1978 AT
THE MOVIES, Grease rides a boom in '50s nostalgia, continues John Travolta's first wave of success (after Saturday
Night Fever), and is the high point of songbird Olivia Newton-John's career. Earlier this year, a 20th-anniversary rerelease
got a new generation greased up. IN MUSIC, the Bee Gees' younger brother Andy Gibb (left) tops Billboard's singles
chart with ''Shadow Dancing.'' In 1988, Gibb will die of a virus-related heart inflammation. IN BOOKSTORES,
Judith Krantz's Scruples, about a sexy Beverly Hills boutique owner, sits pretty on the fiction best-seller list. In 1980,
it'll be made into a TV movie starring Lindsay Wagner. AND IN THE NEWS, scientists reveal that California's San Andreas
Fault is shifting faster than was expected, and predict that a major earthquake will occur by the year 2025.
November 25, 1978TV Guide announced
on this day that the very first Videodiscs Are Coming. What looks like
a phonograph record, works on a laser beam, and shows Jaws? It's the videodisc, promising broad new options in
TV entertainment. Within a month or two, you'll be able to buy a 12-inch disc that resembles a platinum LP, drop it in
on a turntable, and watch Jaws in incredibly high-fidelity color on your own TV set (and listen on your stereo, if
you wish). But only if you happen to be in Atlanta. The videodisc age is dawning, four years
behind schedule, courtesy of an alliance between the world's largest manufacturer of TV sets and one of America's
top entertainment factories. After the videodisc marches through Georgia, it's scheduled to fan out through the country
and to be available nationwide in 1980. The Magnavision videodisc player will sell for $700, at least in Atlanta. You
can choose from an ever-expanding catalogue of DiscoVision records, ranging from $15 or $16 for major movies (more for special
attractions such as opera) down to as little as perhaps $2.95 or $3.95, with many see-and-hear discs priced lower per hour
than conventional hear-only LPs. Movie discs will contain up to two hours of picture and sound (one hour per side). Others
will hold a half-hour per side, and their moving pictures can be stopped and held, played in slow-motion, speeded up, or even
shown backwards. Each such record can hold up to 54,000 still pictures per side, and any individual frame can be located rapidly
by push button -- which gives the videodisc important potential as an educational tool. A slide show of all the world's
great art masterpieces could be recorded on just one side. If you watched each slide for five seconds, starting Sunday at
8 P.M., without stopping to eat or sleep, it would be 11 o'clock Wednesday before you saw them all. The
videodisc age is dawning, four years behind schedule, courtesy of an alliance between the world's largest manufacturer
of TV sets and one of America's top entertainment factories. After the videodisc marches through Georgia, it's scheduled
to fan out through the country and to be available nationwide in 1980. The Magnavision videodisc player will sell for
$700, at least in Atlanta. You can choose from an ever-expanding catalogue of DiscoVision records, ranging from $15 or $16
for major movies (more for special attractions such as opera) down to as little as perhaps $2.95 or $3.95, with many see-and-hear
discs priced lower per hour than conventional hear-only LPs. Movie discs will contain up to two hours of picture and sound
(one hour per side). Others will hold a half-hour per side, and their moving pictures can be stopped and held, played in slow-motion,
speeded up, or even shown backwards. Each such record can hold up to 54,000 still pictures per side, and any individual frame
can be located rapidly by push button -- which gives the videodisc important potential as an educational tool. A slide show
of all the world's great art masterpieces could be recorded on just one side. If you watched each slide for five seconds,
starting Sunday at 8 P.M., without stopping to eat or sleep, it would be 11 o'clock Wednesday before you saw them all.
The videodisc age is dawning, four years behind schedule, courtesy
of an alliance between the world's largest manufacturer of TV sets and one of America's top entertainment factories.
After the videodisc marches through Georgia, it's scheduled to fan out through the country and to be available nationwide
in 1980. The Magnavision videodisc player will sell for $700,
at least in Atlanta. You can choose from an ever-expanding catalogue of DiscoVision records, ranging from $15 or $16 for major
movies (more for special attractions such as opera) down to as little as perhaps $2.95 or $3.95, with many see-and-hear discs
priced lower per hour than conventional hear-only LPs. Movie discs will contain up to two hours of picture and sound (one
hour per side). Others will hold a half-hour per side, and their moving pictures can be stopped and held, played in slow-motion,
speeded up, or even shown backwards. Each such record can hold up to 54,000 still pictures per side, and any individual frame
can be located rapidly by push button -- which gives the videodisc important potential as an educational tool. A slide show
of all the world's great art masterpieces could be recorded on just one side. If you watched each slide for five seconds,
starting Sunday at 8 P.M., without stopping to eat or sleep, it would be 11 o'clock Wednesday before you saw them all.
Can you remember how excited we were to get the news? It seemed so impossible!
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