Editing Format war (section)

==1980s==
*[[Home computers]] often had incompatible [[peripheral]]s such as [[joystick]]s, [[Printer (computing)|printers]], or [[data recording]] ([[Cassette tape|tape]] or [[Hard disk drive|disk]]). For example, if a [[Commodore 64]] user wanted a printer, they would need to buy a Commodore-compatible unit, or else risk not being able to plug the printer into their computer. Similarly, [[disk format]]s were not interchangeable without [[third party software]] since each manufacturer ([[Atari]], [[IBM]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], et al.) used their own proprietary format. Gradually computer and game systems standardized on the [[Atari joystick port]] for joysticks and [[Computer mouse|mice]] (during the 1980s), [[parallel port]] for printers (mid-1980s), the [[MS-DOS]]-derived [[File allocation table|FAT12]] format for [[floppy disks]] (mid-1990s), and so on.
*[[AM stereo]] was capable of fidelity equivalent to [[FM broadcasting|FM]] but was doomed in the United States by competing formats during the 1980s with [[Motorola]]'s [[C-QUAM]] competing vigorously with three other incompatible formats including those by [[Magnavox]], [[Leonard R. Kahn|Kahn]]/[[Hazeltine Corporation|Hazeltine]], and [[Harris Corporation|Harris]]. It is still widely used in Japan, and sees sporadic use by broadcast stations in the United States despite the lack of consumer equipment to support it.
*[[Video8]] vs. [[VHS-C]] and later [[Hi8]] vs. [[S-VHS-C]] tape formats (see [[camcorder]]). This is an extension of the VHS vs. Betamax format war, but here neither format "won" widespread acceptance. Video8 had the advantage in terms of recording time (4 hours versus 2 hours maximum), but consumers also liked VHS-C since it could easily play in their home [[VCRs]], thus the two formats essentially split the camcorder market in half. Both formats were superseded by digital systems by 2011.
*Several different versions of the [[Quarter Inch Cartridge]] used for [[data backup]].
*[[Micro Channel Architecture]] (MCA) vs. [[Extended Industry Standard Architecture]] (EISA). Up to the introduction of MCA, [[personal computer]]s had relied on a 16-bit expansion system, which was later christened '[[Industry Standard Architecture]]' (ISA). [[IBM]] introduced a new range of personal computers featuring a new 32 bit expansion system, which they called MCA. It was at this point that the rest of the personal computer industry named the existing expansion system as ISA. IBM wanted substantial royalties from any manufacturer wishing to adopt the MCA system (largely in an attempt to recover lost royalties that they believed that they were owed due to the wholesale cloning of their original 'PC', a task that was greatly simplified by the 'off the shelf' nature of the design). IBM's competitors jointly responded by introducing the EISA expansion system, which, unlike MCA, was fully compatible with the existing ISA cards. Eventually, neither MCA nor EISA really caught on, and the [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]] standard was adopted instead.
* Home computer [[sound card]]s: [[Ad Lib, Inc.|Ad Lib]] vs. [[Roland MT-32]] vs. [[Sound Blaster]]