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Reports of VHS's Death Highly Exaggerated

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i-don't-want-to-go-on-the-cart dept.

aicrules writes "What does it take to ensure that a technology choice will remain relevant and available to the general public? Well, being sold by Wal-Mart is certainly pretty high on that list. According to a CNN/Money article, Wal-Mart Stores will continue to sell VHS tapes for as long as its customers want them. With Best Buy, Circuit City, and Target all dropping sales of the VHS medium, how long can VHS hold out? What is the major reason for people still sticking with VHS?"

3 of 624 comments (clear)

  1. VCR vs DVD Player by fembots · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's a poll in the article asking " Are you planning to replace your VCR with a DVD player? "

    I guess that sums up why VCR and VHS tapes are still selling, because while DVD players are pretty advanced and cheap right now, DVD recorders are still expensive to most households, and what are consumers going to do with their precious VHS tapes?

    What is required is a VHS+DVD recorder with easy to use interface to transfer VHS to DVD, that'll be the first step to move consumers away from VHS.

    I'm moving all my CDs to DVDs. It's pretty easy to do that with a software, and let's not forget that my DVD writer is also capable of reading old CDs, that's why I didn't think so much while buying a DVD writer.

    I suppose if technology moves too quickly without sufficient transitional period, older technology might get a chance to stay longer.

    --
    Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
    1. Re:VCR vs DVD Player by JeTmAn81 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As much as I hate to advocate giving the MPAA more money, those "enhanced" DVD versions of old movies, in almost all cases...ARE enhanced. The picture quality is much better, the movie will usually feature a surround sound audio track or two, there might be some extra features, and best of all...it'll be in widescreen (if the original movie was filmed in widescreen). So in this case, they're actually worth what you plunk down, at least if you care about seeing movies the right way.

      --
      "Me? Lady, I'm your worst nightmare -- a pumpkin with a gun."
  2. the customer is always right by R.D.Olivaw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If it remains profitable to sell it then I don't see why it will disappear. Some shops might find out that the demand is not worth stocking VHS but on the other hand some stores might come up that only cater for the VHS clients. Somehow a la Vinyl. If the demand persists.