No, the author says that VHS succeeding over Betamax was inexplicable to consumers. The fact that there is an Urban Legend (read popular belief) that it is inexplicable says that, to the average consumer, it was.

If you are suggesting that the author, Nigel McFarlane, knows the truth of the situation and is merely stating what the consumers thought (not what he himself thinks), then I think you are mistaken because Nigel writes, "Examined objectively, VHS just wasn't as good as Betamax." False! VHS was better.

As far as I know, the Urban Legend about betamax being superior arose well AFTER the war was over. If you are claiming that people were confused about it *at the time*, then I challenge you to present evidence of this. I am fairly sure people were NOT confused about which was better at the time -- it is damn well obvious if one type of VCR advertises "1 hour recording time" (Beta) and another type of VCR advertises "2 hour recording time" (VHS).

Were you even ALIVE when the VHS/Beta battle was in progress? Did you buy a VCR at that time? I remember that our first VCR was a Betamax. We only had it a short time, and then we sold it second-hand in the local trading-post newspaper when we discovered that VHS was overall better.