VHS, age 30, dies of loneliness

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

The home-entertainment format lived a fruitful life

By DIANE GARRETT

 

After a long illness, the groundbreaking home-entertainment format VHS has died of natural causes in the United States. The format was 30 years old.

 

No services are planned.

 

The format had been expected to survive until January, but high-def formats and next-generation vidgame consoles hastened its final decline.

 

"It's pretty much over," concurred Buena Vista Home Entertainment general manager North America Lori MacPherson on Tuesday.

 

VHS is survived by a child, DVD, and by Tivo, VOD and DirecTV. It was preceded in death by Betamax, Divx, mini-discs and laserdiscs.

 

Although it had been ailing, the format's death became official in this, the video biz's all-important fourth quarter. Retailers decided to pull the plug, saying there was no longer shelf space.

 

As a tribute to the late, great VHS, Toys 'R' Us will continue to carry a few titles like "Barney," and some dollar video chains will still handle cassettes for those who cannot deal with the death of the format.

 

Born Vertical Helical Scan to parent JVC of Japan, the tape had a difficult childhood as it was forced to compete with Sony's Betamax format.

 

After its youthful Betamax battles, the longer-playing VHS tapes eventually became the format of choice for millions of consumers. VHS enjoyed a lucrative career, transforming the way people watched movies and changing the economics of the film biz. VHS hit its peak with "The Lion King," which sold more than 30 million vidcassettes Stateside.

 

The format flourished until DVDs launched in 1997. After a fruitful career, VHS tapes started to retire from center stage in 2003 when DVDs became more popular for the first time.

 

Since their retirement, VHS tapes have made occasional appearances in children's entertainment and as a format for collectors seeking titles not released on DVD. VHS continued to make as much as $300 million a year until this year, when studios stopped manufacturing the tapes.

 

Date in print: Wed., Nov. 15, 2006, Los Angeles

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

I actually just bought some tapes last week, FYE has them all for $2 a pop

[EricMM 0]

It's still my format of choice for RECORDING media.

 

I don't have a TiVo yet, and are you able to share TiVo'd stuff with other people at their houses? Because I can take a tape anywhere...

[Guest peterparks]

But then the VHS had a good 30 years. Thanks VHS. Hello HD DVD...

[Dobbs 3K 0]

That reminds me...I have a lot of older VHS tapes I'd like to transfer to DVD. Do I need a DVD burner for this, or can I do it with my computer somehow? Is it even possible to do with a commercially released VHS tape?

[AboveAverage484 0]

That reminds me...I have a lot of older VHS tapes I'd like to transfer to DVD. Do I need a DVD burner for this, or can I do it with my computer somehow? Is it even possible to do with a commercially released VHS tape?

 

I'm not totally informed on this, but I know there is some way to play the VHS tape's content on your computer. You can record it to your comp, then transfer it to DVD files and burn it.

[tominator89 0]

You need a video capture card to do it. I use my digital camcorder to record VHS to PC/DVD.

[Guest Hotbutter Spoontoaster]

It's still my format of choice for RECORDING media.

 

I don't have a TiVo yet, and are you able to share TiVo'd stuff with other people at their houses? Because I can take a tape anywhere...

I can take my DVR anywhere.

[SuperJerk 0]

That reminds me...I have a lot of older VHS tapes I'd like to transfer to DVD. Do I need a DVD burner for this, or can I do it with my computer somehow? Is it even possible to do with a commercially released VHS tape?

 

Are you asking if there's a way to make DVDs without a DVD burner, or are you just asking if there's a way to store VHS material digitally?

[Guest Felonies!]

Are you asking if there's a way to make DVDs without a DVD burner?

Oh come on, nobody would be stupid enough to ask that.

[Gary Floyd 0]

I remember the first movie I watched on VHS was "Godzilla 1985."

[razazteca 0]

That reminds me...I have a lot of older VHS tapes I'd like to transfer to DVD. Do I need a DVD burner for this, or can I do it with my computer somehow? Is it even possible to do with a commercially released VHS tape?

The bastard that is macrovision is going to make it hard to do.

[Vanhalen 0]

meh, died in the uk ages ago

[Sideburnious 0]

Wait? I won't even be able to buy tapes to record onto?

[Failed Bridge 0]

Are you asking if there's a way to make DVDs without a DVD burner?

Oh come on, nobody would be stupid enough to ask that.

I hear all you need is a ten dollar computer

[Ravenbomb 0]

DVD, eh? This one might take more magnets...

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Magnetic tape is the worst thing on earth. Magnetic tape and superfluous keychains.

[SuperJerk 0]

I remember the first movie I watched on VHS was "Godzilla 1985."

For me it was "Oh, God! You Devil." For those of you unfamiliar with the series, George Burns played God in 3 fims where God comes to Earth and decides to only reveal himself to people no one would ever believe. In the final film, Burns plays both God and the Devil in 80s spit-screen goodness. In typical movie fashion, the Devil tempts a guy into selling his soul for fame and prizes. God must intervene. The final confrontation involves the two sitting at a poker table arguing with each other. I think audiences were supposed to go "Wow...two George Burns!"

[Pegasus Kid 0]

It was preceded in death by Betamax, Divx, mini-discs and laserdiscs.

Uh... what?

[Jericholic82 0]

That reminds me...I have a lot of older VHS tapes I'd like to transfer to DVD. Do I need a DVD burner for this, or can I do it with my computer somehow? Is it even possible to do with a commercially released VHS tape?

The bastard that is macrovision is going to make it hard to do.

well that also depends on the tape you are trying to copy

 

I also still use vhs as my recording media, though I am planning on getting a dvd recorder soon, but its hard to swtich after so many years (but thinking about it, dvd discs are smaller and easier to store then large vhs tapes)

 

anyhow RIP VHS we hardly knew ye

[Exslade ZX 0]

Meh..I still tape RAW every week.

 

But as someone already said, does that mean I won't be able to buy blank tapes anymore? If so, that fucking sucks. Hopefully they don't just stop selling completely.

[Guest Guerrero81]

Some of the population still doesn't have DVD players. Myself, I use three VCRs and don't even have a DVD player anymore since it broke. My PS2 is the only thing I can use but I lost the controller to it. I put it on the ground a couple of feet beside me one day and could never find it again.

 

Myself, I still need a VCR for recording TV and watching my rare wrestling tapes.

[Jericholic82 0]

Meh..I still tape RAW every week.

 

But as someone already said, does that mean I won't be able to buy blank tapes anymore? If so, that fucking sucks. Hopefully they don't just stop selling completely.

doubt it, vcrs are still popular for home video recording it would seem.

 

and yea I tape all wrestling shows every week (bad habit, as I have amassed a huge collection of vhs tapes), which is fine when im at work and miss them, but a bad clutter causing hobby

[Guest Guerrero81]

Meh..I still tape RAW every week.

 

But as someone already said, does that mean I won't be able to buy blank tapes anymore? If so, that fucking sucks. Hopefully they don't just stop selling completely.

doubt it, vcrs are still popular for home video recording it would seem.

 

and yea I tape all wrestling shows every week (bad habit, as I have amassed a huge collection of vhs tapes), which is fine when im at work and miss them, but a bad clutter causing hobby

 

It's true. My place is just a mess with wrestling tapes. They take a lot of room and I've given up a little on organizing them.

[Jericholic82 0]

Meh..I still tape RAW every week.

 

But as someone already said, does that mean I won't be able to buy blank tapes anymore? If so, that fucking sucks. Hopefully they don't just stop selling completely.

doubt it, vcrs are still popular for home video recording it would seem.

 

and yea I tape all wrestling shows every week (bad habit, as I have amassed a huge collection of vhs tapes), which is fine when im at work and miss them, but a bad clutter causing hobby

 

It's true. My place is just a mess with wrestling tapes. They take a lot of room and I've given up a little on organizing them.

i hear you, hell i still have two boxes full of tapes at my frinds back in cali. have wanted to send for them, but havent got around to it, bettre wait till after xmas now

 

even so I have tons of commercial releases in my closet and my dvd collection is reaching up there since I got a job

[SuperJerk 0]

Meh..I still tape RAW every week.

 

But as someone already said, does that mean I won't be able to buy blank tapes anymore? If so, that fucking sucks. Hopefully they don't just stop selling completely.

When I was still watching wreslting, I'd often record the broadcast on a DVDRW, and then transfer the 15-30 minutes of the show I was interested in keeping onto a VHS tape. Not the best system, but I actually prefer the picture quality of a VHS in SLP/6 hour record to the picture quality of a DVDR in SLP/6 hour record.

 

I have a cabinet full of VHS tapes which I am planning on going through and figuring out what to discard when I have the free time next summer. Thanks to affordable releases of my favorite shows on DVD, I have already eliminate dozens of VHS tapes from my collection.

[Jericholic82 0]

Meh..I still tape RAW every week.

 

But as someone already said, does that mean I won't be able to buy blank tapes anymore? If so, that fucking sucks. Hopefully they don't just stop selling completely.

When I was still watching wreslting, I'd often record the broadcast on a DVDRW, and then transfer the 15-30 minutes of the show I was interested in keeping onto a VHS tape. Not the best system, but I actually prefer the picture quality of a VHS in SLP/6 hour record to the picture quality of a DVDR in SLP/6 hour record.

 

I have a cabinet full of VHS tapes which I am planning on going through and figuring out what to discard when I have the free time next summer. Thanks to affordable releases of my favorite shows on DVD, I have already eliminate dozens of VHS tapes from my collection.

right, I am planning on getting a dvd recorder, and if I was home to tape the shows I could record it in either the 1 hour or 2 hour mode (depending on legnth) i assuming you can pause a recording to cut the commericials right? but if I was out id have to use the cheaper mode I suppose on RAW and sd

 

I really need to stop taping shows. I did when I didnt have avcr from the begin of this year thru october, but now Ive got one and this bad habit continues. I mean its not like Ill ever watch these tapes, unless something memorable happened on one of em.

[SuperJerk 0]

Meh..I still tape RAW every week.

 

But as someone already said, does that mean I won't be able to buy blank tapes anymore? If so, that fucking sucks. Hopefully they don't just stop selling completely.

When I was still watching wreslting, I'd often record the broadcast on a DVDRW, and then transfer the 15-30 minutes of the show I was interested in keeping onto a VHS tape. Not the best system, but I actually prefer the picture quality of a VHS in SLP/6 hour record to the picture quality of a DVDR in SLP/6 hour record.

 

I have a cabinet full of VHS tapes which I am planning on going through and figuring out what to discard when I have the free time next summer. Thanks to affordable releases of my favorite shows on DVD, I have already eliminate dozens of VHS tapes from my collection.

right, I am planning on getting a dvd recorder, and if I was home to tape the shows I could record it in either the 1 hour or 2 hour mode (depending on legnth) i assuming you can pause a recording to cut the commericials right? but if I was out id have to use the cheaper mode I suppose on RAW and sd

 

I really need to stop taping shows. I did when I didnt have avcr from the begin of this year thru october, but now Ive got one and this bad habit continues. I mean its not like Ill ever watch these tapes, unless something memorable happened on one of em.

Pausing is not a problem. With a normal TV transmission, there's really no point in using the 1 hour mode, because the 2 hour mode captures the standard image quality just fine.