advantage of microcomputers in the editing process. One company modified an IBM PC to control videocassette recorders (VCRs) and switchers. To meet the growing pressure to provide low-cost editing systems, some manufacturers created less expensive units that could be upgraded. As a result of this technological innovation, editing videotape became less and less expensive. Now postproduction companies could build more editing bays. Corporations could afford to establish their own video departments to produce newsletters and public service programs.
As the cost of video editing dropped, the rate of technological change increased. By the middle of the 1980’s, much of the film industry’s resistance to videotape had evaporated. VCRs were becoming a common household appliance, and the marriage of the video and film industries appeared to be a lasting one. Television