Editing Capacitance Electronic Disc (section)

=== Demise ===
Several problems doomed the RCA CED videodisc system long before it was even announced. The introduction of [[VCR]]s and home videotape in the mid 1970s—with their longer storage capacity and recording capabilities—posed a major threat to the system.<ref>{{cite web | title = Richard Sonnenfeldt's "VIDEODISK" Book Chapter | publisher = CEDMagic.com | url = http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/richard-sonnenfeldt-book.html | access-date = 2007-03-11}}</ref>  However, development of CED continued. When the forthcoming system was formally announced in late 1979, RCA had projected annual sales of between five and six million players and 200 to 500 million videodiscs. The company had expected to sell 200,000 players by the end of 1981, but only about half that number had been sold, and there was little improvement in sales throughout 1982 and 1983.<ref name = "expect" /><ref name = "whyquit">{{cite web | title = RCA SelectaVision VideoDisc FAQ - Why did RCA abandon further development of the CED system in April 1984? | publisher = CEDMagic.com | url = http://www.cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html#oneseventeen | access-date = 2007-03-11}}</ref>
{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" |"...[[Machiavelli]] noted that '..there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things...'  At [[RCA|videodisc]], I believe these words had special significance..."
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | '''''Dr. Jay J. Brandinger''', Vice President, RCA SelectaVision Videodisc Operations, June 27, 1986.''<ref name = "jj">{{cite video | people = Jay J. Brandinger | title = Memories of VideoDisc  | medium = Capacitance Electronic Disc | publisher = [[RCA|RCA, Inc.]] | location = [[Rockville Road]], [[Indiana]] | date = June 27, 1986}}</ref>
|}

The extremely long period of development—caused in part by political turmoil and a great deal of turnover in the high management of RCA—also contributed to the demise of the CED system. RCA had originally slated 1977 as the release date for the videodisc system; at that point, discs were not able to hold more than 30 minutes of video per side and the nickel-like compound used for manufacturing the discs was not sturdy enough. Signal degradation was also a problem, as handling the discs was causing them to deteriorate more rapidly than expected, baffling engineers.

60 minutes per side rendered it impossible for most movies over 120 minutes to be released on one CED disc. Many popular films such as some of the [[James Bond]] series, ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'' and ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' had to be released on two CED discs. All three of these examples were typically available on one VHS/Betamax cassette.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cedmagic.com/v-title-database/ced-titles.html|title = Visual CED Title Database with 1024 x 1146 Images}}</ref>

RCA had projected that by 1985, CED players would be in nearly 50% of [[United States|American]] homes,<ref name = "expect" /> but the sales of players continued to drop. RCA cut the prices of CED players and offered incentives to consumers such as rebates and free discs, but sales only slightly improved. RCA management realized that the system would never be profitable and on April 4, 1984, announced the discontinuation of production of CED players.<ref name = "whyquit" />  Remaining stocks of players were sold by dealers and liquidation retailers for as little as $20 each. Unexpectedly, demand for the videodiscs themselves suddenly became high immediately after the announcement; RCA alerted dealers 
and customers that videodiscs would continue to be manufactured and new titles released for at least another three years after the discontinuation of players. Less than a year after this announcement, the sale of discs began to decline, prompting RCA to abandon videodisc production in 1986, after only two years.<ref name = "fail"/>
The last titles released were ''[[The Jewel of the Nile]]'' by [[CBS/Fox Video]],<ref>{{cite web | title = Memories of VideoDisc - Milestones - The Last Production CED Title | publisher = CEDMagic.com | url = http://cedmagic.com/mem/milestones/mem268.html | access-date = 2007-03-14}}</ref> and ''Memories of VideoDisc'', a commemorative CED given to many RCA employees involved with the CED project,<ref>{{cite web | title = Memories of RCA VideoDisc Main Page | publisher = CEDMagic.com | url = http://cedmagic.com/mem/memories-of-videodisc.html | access-date = 2007-03-14}}</ref> both in 1986.