Significant Anniversaries

October 12, 2006: Two radically different imaging systems have celebrated major anniversaries this week.

Monday, 9 October marked the 30^th anniversary of the release of the first VHS video deck by Victor Company of Japan (JVC). This significant event has been marked by the award of an IEEE Milestone for technological development. Soon after its launch, VHS video defeated Sony’s Betamax format to become the global de-facto standard for home video recording. VHS has also played a major role in the electronics industry, the visual entertainment and movie industries, education and the arts. In the 30 years since its inception, more than 900 million VHS tape decks have been sold worldwide. Interestingly, the format has itself been overtaken by DVD video recording.

Canon’s Elph brand celebrated its 10^th anniversary on 10 October. Noted for its elegant design and sturdy stainless-steel construction, the Elph brand was initially carried by APS system film cameras but moved into digital cameras in May 2000. Elph’s original designer was Yasushi Shiotani, who developed the “box-and-circle” design concept through looking at the simplicity of the picture-writing symbols used on universal road signs. His design formed the basis for the digital Elph cameras (which are sold in Australia under the Ixus brandname), which were designed by Seiichi Omino. In the past 10 years, more than 33 million Elph cameras have been sold, although the APS models are no longer produced.