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Last Major Supplier Calls It Quits For VHS

thefickler writes "The last major supplier of VHS videotapes is ditching the format in favor of DVD, effectively killing the format for good. This uncharitable commentator has this to say: 'Will VHS be missed? Not ... with videos being brittle, clunky, and rather user-unfriendly. But they ushered in a new era that was important to get to where we are today. And for that reason, the death of VHS is rather sad. Almost as sad as the people still using it.'" At least my dad's got the blank-tape market cornered.

15 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. Last Post by theroge · · Score: 0, Funny

    Is more in order than first...

  2. Re:first by dotancohen · · Score: 4, Funny

    first - nothing better to do on christmas day

    Try masturbating. See how well I type with one hand?

    --
    It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  3. User Interface by AtomicSnarl · · Score: 4, Funny

    Almost as sad as the people still using it.

    You push it in the slot, push Play, and it works. No menus to wander, no special features to get in the way, no Director's Cut, no frigging mind games with some dinky remote with tiny print and bitty buttons to poke at to get the bloody thing to play, now. Get off my lawn! Damn kids these days... Harumph. Where did I put my bifocals?

    This message sponsored by AARP, because you'll be old someday, too!

    --
    Pacifist paratroopers yell, "Ghandi!" when they jump.
  4. Re:VHS says, call me in 30 years. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Funny

    Are you always this depressing? Or is it just Christmas?

    You must be fun at parties.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  5. Re:VHS says, call me in 30 years. by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 3, Funny

    print each frame as a still picture on good quality archival paper.

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  6. Re:DVD = VHS? by retiredtwice · · Score: 2, Funny

    I absolutely agree. I do not have a TIVO because in my household tapes get recorded in 2 different places and are never watched at the taping location. Besides, why should I pay someone a monthly fee when I can set up VHS recorders for nothing.

    DVD recording is not very easy (yes I have one) but the VHS tapes are transportable from room to room so you can be watching and recording at the same time. Besides, VHS tapes will last for many many recordings whereas DVDs do not (cheaply, at least).

    And in the case of wife keeping up with episodes, once set up, she doesn't need to do anything except put a new tape in once or twice a week. And she watches in either of 3 places so you just grab the tape and put it in. Quality is not an issue either. 6 hr mode for these shows is plenty good.

    I do have to throw out the occasional tape because it won't sync right (stretches along the edge where the track is) but DVDs are very fragile and prone to damage.

    As far as I am concerned, the demise of VHS is a giant step backwards in the scheme of things taking away more personal capability and flexibility so the cable folks can earn more money by charging us for TIVO and TIVO-type devices.

    And yes, when the cable companies decide to not transmit analog over the air, I expect to have big problems (probably a couple of years, comcast assured me 3 years but I don't trust them). Losing the flexibility of the remotes for regular TV is something I do not look forward to.

    This tendency to make us pay for every minute of watching TV that is absolutely saturated with commercials is a giant scam and you all know it.

    My rant for todsy.

    Now, GET Off my lawn....

    --
    I get it now. If you disagree with the majority on /., you are a troll.
  7. Re:No players on the market by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ihr seid beiden Trolle.

  8. Re:No players on the market by sortius_nod · · Score: 4, Funny

    There's a lot here in Australia. Not that I'd buy one.

    Kind of feels like being a caveman using VHS.

    Now BetaMAX, that's a standard you can be proud of.

  9. Re:Security systems by Toll_Free · · Score: 4, Funny

    There was a time that notebooks where the only way you could remember to configure the switches on the terminal, but I'm dating my grandfather now :)

    --Toll_Free

  10. Re:Security systems by karnal · · Score: 4, Funny

    *gulp*

    You're dating your grandfather now? Why do we need to know that?

    --
    Karnal
  11. Re:This isn't about blank VHS media, folks! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey, you're not supposed to research anything, just rant about something tangentially related!

    Read the FAQ's of how to post on Slashdot!

    (Insert random newbie slight here) ;-)

  12. Rosetta stones by drolli · · Score: 2, Funny

    Buried below stone plates with the engraved pictures, we can place punch-cards (made from platimum coeated tungsten) for binary formats and engraved text for text formats.

    I suggest the following set to understand todays state of the internet:
    -a messed up word document containing an non-logical formated cruelly layouted document
    -frames from a porn movie
    -a spam mail, ehich demonstrates how to encode mail in multiple character sets (i imagine this would give them a headache....)
    -a crazy frog mobile ringtone
    -a flash game

  13. A Brief Moment of Silence... by coaxial · · Score: 2, Funny

    For the day that users could fast forward past the FBI warning is now gone. And so as remember this day, let us recall those guiding words: Be Kind. Rewind.

  14. Re:DVD = VHS? by Bill+Dog · · Score: 2, Funny

    And we go full circle. Think about the joking about millions of homes with VCR's flashing "12:00" because they don't know how to set the clock. Old people don't know how to record something on a VCR, and now neither do young people!

    --
    Attention zealots and haters: 00100 00100
  15. Re:No players on the market by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2, Funny

    I believe that should be "English, motherfucker [, do you speak it]?"

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;