R.I.P. VHS Tapes
Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 3:34 PM by Donna MartinezBoy, does this make me feel old. I still remember Betamax. From the LA Times:
Pop culture is finally hitting the eject button on the VHS tape, the once-ubiquitous home-video format that will finish this month as a creaky ghost of Christmas past.
After three decades of steady if unspectacular service, the spinning wheels of the home-entertainment stalwart are slowing to a halt at retail outlets. On a crisp Friday morning in October, the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Fla., warehouse run by Ryan J. Kugler, the last major supplier of the tapes.
“It’s dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt,” said Kugler, 34, a Burbank businessman. “I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I’m done. Anything left in warehouse we’ll just give away or throw away.”
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I disconnected my 8-year-old Super-VHS VCR from my home theatre recently… got it ready to box up and just give to someone who needs a VCR to replace one that’s died. I hadn’t played a tape in the thing in over 6 years and I have no tapes anywhere that I know of.
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I still use my VCR routinely, in part because I don’t feel like converting all my old stuff to DVDs. Too much trouble, too little gain.
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Hulu
Netflix
YouTube
If you cannot find it on there, you do not need to watch it. Hulu in particular is a time sink. Now for The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues.
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:46 am
Now look here, Taylor. If I want to watch my MST3K episodes with the original commercials — it’s just not the same experience without them — my vast collection of VHS and, yes, even Betamax tapes are required.
I don’t understand the kids today, with their fax machines and Hulu hoops.
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:07 am
John, I think you need to take a look at this:
http://www.amazon.com/JVC-DRMV100B-Upconverting-Recorder-Built/dp/B0015IL57I/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230042205&sr=8-1
A JVC combination VHS and DVD which I believe will not only let you play back your TVs, but also let you burn them to DVD so that when your tapes wear out, you will still have DVDs of the original recordings.
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
When my VCR died I actually fretted but aside from the two Metallica and Black Sabbath guitar instruction tapes I gave to my brother-in-law to turn into DVDs — he’s a HS teacher and has a ton of edu stuff on tape he is cycling to DVD — I haven’t missed a beat. Or tritone.