RCA SelectaVision

1981 – 1986

This analog home movie system used a phonograph-like player with a needle to play video from 12-inch vinyl discs. Imagine a vinyl record that you could also watch. While the technology was impressive, it took RCA 17 years to bring it to market. By 1981 it was already obsolete, and the sensitive fragile videodiscs could not compete with the Betamax and VHS formats. 

RCA lost an estimated $1 billion in today’s dollars. Not to sound like a broken record, but what were they thinking?

Additional info:
Wikipedia
Soundandvision