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The VHS is Dead
Ronnie Coote writes "The UK's largest retailer of electronics is phasing out VHS VCRs. Sales of DVD players have outstripped VCRs by 40-to-1 recently. So how long until the mass market will be saying goodbye to the DVD player?" A few historical links to commemorate the occasion: Sony Kills Betamax, Why VHS Was Better, and How to Preserve VHS Recordings. For the future, maybe we'll have Digital VHS, but I suspect it will mostly be hard drive-based recorders.
Netcraft confirms.....VHS is dead.
Please, spare us the netcraft jokes.
^^
I've rented so many scratched DVDs that at this point I rent the VHS tape before I rent the DVD.
--
Long-term effects of Bush deficits
Maybe in the early days of the video wars, but Beta turned out to be a far superior format than VHS. The quality was better, less quality was lost when copying, the tapes were a bit smaller, Beta tapes last longer, etc. The reason VHS won was because a Beta would only hold one hour and a VHS would hold two when they were released. Later Beta tapes would hold 5 hours in an extended play format, and they'd lose less quality in the extended format as well. Sucks that VHS had to win.
Just because something isn't used as much anymore by the majority of the people as it used to be, doesn't necessarily mean it's dead. A group at college that I'm in was designing a database for some rental place. We purposely included because we were certain that a lot of these places would still actually have tapes. And, after a quick check at a local place called Video Land, I confirmed our thoughts. Sure, it might be phasing out. But that doesn't mean it's dead.
Not when they are preserved for future generations
Monstar L
Why buy a new one?
DVD players are new(ish), so of course they're gonna outstrip VCR's in sales!
DUH!
Not as long as I have my original, unLucasfuckedup Star Wars tapes.
I refuse to use DVDs. They offer too little control for my taste
compared to VHS? the only thing you have no control over with a DVD is the intro sequence, where you are often forced to sit through the FBI/Interpol warning and maybe the distributors logo before the main title screen (although some are now including adverts as well). past that, you can just jump the last scene of the movie if you wish, far far faster than possible with a VHS.
If you've got a half decent video collection, then do your self a favour and buy a top-o-the-line VCR now... and treat it good. You'll never be able to replace ALL the vids in your collection. (And ripping them to 'puter is ok, but you'll find this weird vid at a car boot sale in 2014 and think back to this slashdot story...)
You can still buy a good record player thanks to them bieng the tool of choice for DJs and hardcore classic moosic lovers, but if you want to replace your Betamax, thats harder... I think VCRs are more likely to go the Betamax route, than the record player route.
I can honestly say that I won't miss VHS. I stopped recording stuff to my VCR almost 2 years ago when TiVOs, recordable DVDs, etc. starting coming out. I've just been too poor to plunk down and pay the lifetime fee for a TiVO or build my own PVR.
/. TiVO mavens), DVDs that can't be copied to preserve a copy, and homebuilt PVRs that may become illegal to use to skip commercials or obsolete if content providers start ramping up DRM efforts on the signal level.
However, when I started to craft this reply -- something struck me -- VHS doesn't have DRM that prevents it from recording stuff. Or being passed around with friends. Etc., etc., etc.
Yes, you can't use a VCR to decode a DirecTV signal without a DirecTV receiver, and that might be poor man's DRM. I don't know -- were there ever VCR + sat. receivers?
And popping the write protection tab on a tape isn't so much DRM as "honey, don't you even think about taping that football game over our wedding video."
VHS was mainstream, you could record most anything that you could get a signal into the VCR, and you could pass it around at leisure. There was talk about digital VCRs coming out in the future that would tag copyrighted broadcasts, I think, and would basically introduce VHS DRM, but for the most part, it's been DRM free, right?
Now, we have TiVOs that are getting more and more restrictive or control happy (for the average consumer -- maybe not
I hated using VHS tapes, but they were pretty no-nonsense. Ahhh...the good ol' days. Now I must go back to finding some money to build a PVR, buy a TiVO, pay off my wife when I get an HDTV for the living room, etc.
IronChefMorimoto
If a new disk is skipping it may well be your player not the media.
If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
The primary use of a VCR is no longer watching videos - but recording things. DVD Recorders are not yet at a price point that makes it affordable for consumers - nor do we have a standard in place for the type of DVD to be recording to. Until DVD recorders reach a price point that is affordable for the average consumers, there will still be considerable demand for VHS to record television. I don't see digital recorders (Tivo, etc) at that point yet either.
I prefer videos to DVD. When I rent a DVD from Blockbuster, I often find that the film just stops when it gets to a damaged part. With rented VHS, the quality may not be quite as good as the best parts of DVD, but it keeps running. I am also not at all amused at the inability of my (Bush) DVD player to skip certain content on the disk. For some reason, it won't let me bypass those ridiculous copyright notices. I have never had that problem with a VCR.
flossie
Write now. Defend liberty
Once in a while, there will be a show on TV I'd like to watch, but am too occupied with other things to pay enough attention. If I know this will happen, I'll pop a trusty old VHS tape into my trusty old VCR, hit record, and forget about it until the end of the show. Later that evening/day/week, I hit rewind, wait a minute or so, and watch what I missed.
I know PVRs are capable of this as well, and yes, I have a computer with an All-in-Wonder 9700 that I use extensively for video capture, but
1) I'm in linux 95% of the time I'm on my computer, and Rage Theater II chips aren't supported yet. (Yes, I can get some decent capture cards supported under linux but at present my VCR just works without tweaking drivers or anything)
2) In Windows, I take a noticeable performance hit capturing video, and if I do anything to put pressure on the CPU, I'll get dropped frames. (When was the last time you got dropped frames on a VCR?)
and 3) I'd have to go through another step in burning the file to DVD/CD to make it portable/archivable. (Just pop the tape out and take it to a friends house right after recording)
While the format of VHS may be phased out in terms of new product releases, the relative quality (with decent quality tapes) and reliability of the machinery has earned a place in my room. I've never had dropped frames, codec/compressor incompatibilities, or my TV lock up while I'm recording with a VCR. Yes, I know I can buy a tivo, but I don't feel like spending that money when I have something that works fine at the moment. I don't plan to buy any new release movies on VHS, but I do occasionally pick up a few blanks in case something comes on I'd like to watch, without buying any new equipment.
Fans of the VHS video format have been gathering outside the home of VHS for over an hour, forming an impromptu vigil for this fallen hero of home entertainment which was found dead of Degaussclerosis in its home yesterday.
One woman, sobbing, pleaded, "But how will I record American Idol now?"
A memorial service is planned for next week. At the ceremony, the casket containing VHS's earthly remains will be inserted into a slot on the front of a specially constructed burial vault and lowered into the ground.
Unknown host pong.
I do not have a DVD player. I do not rent much movies. I do however record a lot of TV shows. My old VHS does the job well. Alternative recording devices are still way to expensive for my taste to replace my VHS and VHS offers "good enough" quality for my needs (when I record a TV show, it is for its content, not the quality of the images).
I bet because of the recording needs, VHS will still be with us for a while. Yes, other technologies are comming and gaining market share, but they still have a lot to go (in price) for VHS to disapear from households.
Remember the year 2000? They promised us flying cars. They delivered the PT Cruiser...
Imagine The data capacity and economics (as far as tape costs go) that would be possible with a VHS data backup drive. Right now it's cheaper to buy a new computer and build a RAID-server than to buy a tape drive & rotation tapes for a small-medium business. $1/Tape is a lot better than the $1/GB you pay for tapes now. If the digital tape format & (USB/FireWire?) interface were standardized, there could be some major competition for the drives (instead of the $1200 drives now on the market).
People might actually start making regular backups again.
Here's the deal. I've got this GPU with TV-in, but it doesen't have a TV-tuner. So, what do i do? I hook up my VCR to my puter so i can watch TV on my puter without a TV tuner card. It's cheap and works in Linux.
/do/ want to watch DVD 99% of the computers around have DVD players. With a descent screen it makes a TV completely redudnant!
A run of the mill DVD player doesen't have TV tuning capability, therefore it sucks and is nothing that will replace my VHS and DVD drive on my puter anytime soon.
Eh, that was a mess. That'll teach me not to post drunk.
What i meant is, why discard your VCR when you can tune TV with it? And when you
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
I want a TiVo/Replay-type device that has no subscription service associated with it. I want to program it the way I program my VCR. No fancy schmancy "Record all occurrences of Seinfeld, and phone home to find out when they occur". Just a simple "Record Wednesdays on Channel 4 at 9:00PM for 1 hour", like a normal VHS VCR. I want recording quality, storage capacity, the ability to pause live TV, and the ability to watch something I recorded earlier while the system is recording something else. And I don't want to build a dedicated PC to do the job. If I can get that, I may even forego the ability to pop out the tape I recorded in the living room VCR and bring it up to the bedroom VCR to watch the rest of the show in bed. Maybe. I'll think about it. Can I get that anywhere? If not, I'm sticking with my VCR.
You must be 16.
I read that article yesterday. It basically says the DVD player has replaced the VCR. They aren't directly comparable products. The VCR's main selling point is it allows you to record TV content to watch at another time. The DVD's main selling point is it allows you to watch pre-recorded content.
The VCR originally beat the laserdisc (and destroyed RCA in the process) because people wanted the ability to record. PVRs or set-top DVD-Rs might be the eventual downfall of the VCR but the current DVD players sure aren't.
The article even has a summary of the VCR that talks about how people loved the ability to record. Apparently, the author's microscopic mind couldn't make the connection that DVD players don't have that ability yet.
The CD player also didn't replace the cassette deck. They lived as complimentry products for many years until mass CD-Rs and mp3 players took over the cassette's market. Jason
ProfQuotes
the only thing you have no control over with a DVD is the intro sequence, where you are often forced to sit through the FBI/Interpol warning and maybe the distributors log
Ever watch one of the older Disney DVDs? They used to make that "intro" into a 10 minute commercial for their other DVDs. It was just like going to the damn movie theatre.
"VHS is dead." - Ronnie Coote
"Ronnie Coote is dead." - VHS
Is this a sigs-optional kind of place? 'Cause I am totally down with that if you know what I mean.
Don't like the ability of making recordings without worrying about DRM? That whole "if you can see it, you can record" it thing?
This just means I need to look for a sale, so I can put a couple of boxed ones in the basement, to be carefully opened only after the current VCR is totally dead.
Yes, I know that there are ways around DRM. but are they as simple?
Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.
My DVD player, a cheap far eastern thing, has a cunning feature where if you insert a disk, press STOP twice while the intro is playing and then press PLAY, on about 90% of disks it'll immediately start playing title 1. It misses the intro, the warnings, the menus, everything. It's great.
Region hackable, too --- they know where the money is.
Counterpoint: scene selection is almost invisible to toddlers I have been around. That means that when it is nearly bedtime, you can skip past the majority of Finding Nemo directly to the fun bits at The End, and have it look like The End. Toddlers know what that means, and off we happily go to brush our teeth and put on jammies.
Ahh... scene selection. Nemo is MUCH more watchable the 20th time if you go from school to turtles to reunion to THE END.
Lying on the counch just staring there at you
If I was young it didn't stop you coming through
They took the bandwidth and sold it for low cost you see
The internet burst in with and gave me kickass p2p
And now my TV suffers it's redundancy
I blog my life, bro. Why do I share so?
Digital killed the video star
Digital killed the video star
In my mind, and in my car
We outdo rewind with our PVRs
You're not the first one. You're not the last one.
Digital killed the video star
Digital killed the video star
In my mind, and in my car
We outdo rewind with our PVRs
The web it came, and copyrights it bent
So get all your media through a bittorrent.
Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?