VHS Gone Forever
Another piece of past technology is now officially only a memory. VHS, that durable winner of the race between Betamax nearly three decades ago is now a relic of the past with the news this week that Distribution Video Audio, the last supplier of VHS tapes, has finally shipped out the last of its stored stock.
The VHS format was to video what vinyl proved to be for the music business, a long-term media for the recording and storage of video images, photos and movies. However, like vinyl, VHS has gone the way of the 8-track. But don’t shed a tear just yet……isn’t vinyl resurrecting?
Of course the big question for all who ran out several years ago and invested in that craze called the DVD — there are experts in the field saying that within the next four or so years that too will be replaced entirely by Blu-ray technology. Some of us have already gotten on board that band wagon and will have an ample supply of the 1080p technology before it too reaches extinction over the next decade or two.
I personally will miss VHS. There is something about the feel and smell of the material when you flip open that little plastic window into the soul of the rectangled box…or maybe I’m just getting high from the fumes of decaying tapes on my video shelf in the TV room. All I’m saying is don’t be too quick to get rid of your tapes or VHS player….like vinyl, nostalgia has its place.
The early part of my life was spent repairing VHS tapes and VCR’s. I was in the repair industry for almost two decades and it made me a very good living. I for one will shed a small tear for the format. I still have all the tools and supplies to start a booming service business.
There was just something about video tape that I will miss. Even though the format was not always the best quality it was perfect for the smaller format TV’s of the day. What has really killed VHS is big TV. Put a VCR and a DVD on a 28″ screen, and you will quickly see that VHS is a much better experience. The digital pixalation that we have all grown used to is nowhere to be seen on the old tape format. (Star Wars is a perfect example)
No… I for one will pay homage to the technology that changed the way we all consume video content.
I’m actually still surprised there isn’t enough of a market to make it at least worth a small production, as there are still quite a few people, including myself, who are still using VHS to record TV shows (sorry, I’m just not into paying a monthly fee plus the price of new equipment for the priveledge of recording a couple of shows every week).
I have to butt in here and say….VHS is more like the cassette tape than vinyl. You don’t see cassettes used nearly as much as Vinyl, and Vinyl never really went away. I highly doubt there will be a resurgence of VHS, evar.
The DJ in me couldn’t resist.
No more VHS Tapes, EVER?? Guess I had better stock up quick. Though that will only delay the conversion to disks that I have been putting off all year.
The end of an era….
Too bad.
what’s video tape???
darcy
Darcy, don’t make me come over there!
I will admit that I’ve purchased something on vinyl within the past 6 years. Old, used stuff mostly, filling in gaps in a project that I probably should have let go of long long ago. Darn that Michael Mann for using B-sides and stuff from 12″ singles…
Guess this means I have even more reason to use my VHS-to-DVD recording deck and save off the last few things I wanna keep off the handful of VHS tapes I have left, just to clear them out and reclaim some space!
Good thing my kids are growing up, and I still have two players that work. I can’t imagine how much i’d have to spend to replace every Barbie/Wiggles/My Little Pony / Disney/Thomas the Train vhs tape that I currently have.
I still can’t believe that blank vhs tapes will disappear that easily. Even Beta lingered for several years after being dead.
That is upsetting.
All my family home movies are on VHS. Also, the cameras we have are made to record on VHS. This is really sad.
My father works at a television station and I remember when all that was used were VHS tapes.
Will the VCR become obsolete? Will it become an “antique” or a “collector’s item?”
Thank goodness we still have some blank ones.
I understand that the companies haven’t been getting much of a profit, but it still makes me sad.
I remember when you could rent a player along with the tapes, but never heard of dvd player rentals.
As we mourn the passing of VHS into history and will have kids looking at you funny in a couple of years (more than they do now) when you talk about them just like when I talk to my younger nieces and nephews about the Commodore 64, TRS 80 Models 1, 2, 3 (which were not compatible with each other-nice move Radio Shack), Texas Instruments Models 4000 and 9000 and the ones put out by Sega and Atari before they turned to just gaming systems, plus everybody’s favorites from Steve Jobs, the Apple I and the now neglected kin to MacIntosh known as Adam and Lisa, lets remember when some of our younger siblings looked funny at Dad when he talked about changing the tubes in the TV set or the home stereo receiver (you know, the ones that came in a cabinet that was on four thin wooden legs and caused hernias when they had to be moved). I know I’m showing my age (46) when speaking about these things from my childhood and younger days, but you should see the look I get from them when I talk about having to use Hollerith cards to write programs (for those under 40 watch an old episode of “Hawaii Five-O” to see what most of us had to use at work until the mid-80’s and the cards they fed the machine) plus having to change the recording tape or going to the tape room to find a specific tape so data could be read from it. I ceretainly miss the fun I had back then but not the having to look at thousands of cards for the one mispunched or having to re-punch one that has been through the reader 10 times and looks bad so it won’t jam the system up and ruin valuable drinking time. Ah, yes, the good old days.
The vhs that work you can put them on a DVD so you can still have the move that you had on VHS. I have when to get my VHS over to DVD to keep the longer to show other people the moves that I have. You can go to Wal-mart to get this done. I have 100 of VHS that we had of the flamy and that. we only payed $179.00 for all of them swiched over to DVD.
they do have DVD player rentals. Here where I am from you pay $30.00 a day for it if you what it. You are better off going out a buying one becuse the store sell some of the the sane prices an you can keep it.
What is a VHS???????
VHS is tape that you put in your vcr.
like the one on top of here.
VHS Superior, DVD Inferior
Not only do VHS recordings have better picture, sound and motion qualities than DVD recordings (like the first poster attesting to the denigration inherent in digital format) but they have proven to stand up to the test of time. A very stable and reliable medium indeed.
Now I’m not sure about frames per second or screen resolution, but I find that VHS lends itself better to fluid screen movement better than a DVD recording. Digital pictures have beautiful color and great contrast, but a motion picture just seems more natural and film-like when viewed using a VHS machine. DVD pictures seem choppy and stilted in comparison.
I think that many consumers are often deceived into thinking that because something is novel, it is therefore superior in every way to it’s predecessor. If you ask me, the only thing better about a DVD is it’s compact nature. So many times I’ve popped twenty year old VHS cassettes into the 4 Head Hi-Fi and they’ve played almost flawlessly. You can’t tell me that a five year old rental DVD isn’t going to freeze up a million times…whereas a VHS rental just gets choppy during the racy scenes where the tape is stretched a little thinner!
Long live VHS!!! As for ‘Blue Ray’, I haven’t yet had the pleasure to experience it….but it’s name is tad too Orwellian for my liking!
Just put you vhs over to a dvd. It will still will look good it cool to have your old vhs over to a dvd. so the next time you are looking for a dvd player may shure it is a dvdr not a dvd. I had a dvd player it will not work as good as a dvdr. Dvdr will record your stuff.
I like to record documentaries onto VHS, movies onto DVD, the thing i like about VHS is that it’s still the most versatile transportable media, idea for what I use them for, still easy to buy blank tapes, just slot them in and press record, no messing about with format etc.
I have down-stream, movies on demand, HDD’s to store it on, but I still love to back things up on my old trusty VHS or DVD.
Using a Macrovision decoder to get around that annoying macrovision that’s on most pay-to-view services.
Kind of ironic that I’m using an on-demand format so I can record it onto VHS lol.