Philips Video 2000

1979-1985

The V2000 video cassette recorder was innovative compared to the existing VHS and Betamax video formats. It had two-sided cassettes that doubled recording time and featured an auto-rewind function. The buttons were electronic instead of mechanical. And there was more, but most of the technological innovations were only available on the high-end expensive models. 

Video 2000 took too long to develop, suffered from high production costs and the first machines had reliability problems. Unlike the other formats it lacked hi-fi stereo sound. And most films were only available on VHS because it was cheaper and more popular. The V2000 became the first casualty of the “video format war” of the early eighties. 

Additional info:
Wikipedia and the excellent: Wikipedai article on the Video Format War.
Whathifi – 11 heroic tech failures, from Betamax to HD DVD.