As reported by the Computer History Museum, Philips’ Magnavox VH-8000 consumer laser disc player went to market in 1978. Accompanied by the first movie available on a disc, “Jaws,” the system retailed in the United States for $749. Japanese company Pioneer trademarked the name “LaserDisc” and started selling their VP 1000 in 1979. Corporate and educational applications followed with the Digital Equipment Corporation’s Interactive Video Instructional System used for workplace training and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry’s installation of an exhibit in which people searched the Chicago Tribune via disc. 

As reported by Jamie Logie of Back In Time on Medium, the laser disc was actually the third format available to the public for watching movies at home — it followed VHS and Betamax cassettes and preceded DVDs by four years. The picture and sound quality of laser discs were far superior to other home formats and gave the viewer easy playback control. However, the size and weight of the discs made them unwieldy (they were the size of a traditional long play vinyl record), they were delicate, and they had to be manually flipped over. Additionally, they couldn’t record media, which was key as consumers were using VHS tapes to record as well as play media. The expensive costs of LaserDisc players and discs combined with the inability to record made the system impractical for everyone but dedicated cinephiles. The technology did, however, pave the way for CDs and DVDs, which became the next mainstream method of media access.