Rest in peace VHS

Last rites sounded for life-changing video format as retailers yank VCRs from their shelves for good.

The story "Rest in peace VHS" published November 22, 2004 at 9:57 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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R.I.P. VHS

This is crazy. Videos are the best. Theyr'e cheaper and easier to use. Dixons is making a big mistake. No other companies should go down this road. Big do daas!!

[skeptik]

huh?

I can't say I under stand your reasoning. The last time I bought blank DVDs I paid $.20 each. A blank video tape is still $1.00 or more, the quality is not as good and the media size is far larger, not to mention the degradation factor which is non-existant with optical media... so what exactly is so good about VHS?
I have a library of hundreds of VHS tapes, commercial and home recorded and I'm converting them to DVD as fast as I can.
When console DVD recorders hit the sub-$200 market the VHS recorder will be gone. And not missed.

[joshuaguttman]

Let's Part Like Its 1899!

About freaking time! DVD is about to die as the US finally adopts HDTV. I saw my first HDTV plasma screen in 1990 and they said it would be here in 2 or three years. Two words: "AS IF". It never ceases to amaze me how Americans will invent exciting new technology, but no one in America will use it until the another country steals the idea and gives in an Asian name.

[joshuaguttman]

Let's Party Like Its 1899!

About freaking time! DVD is about to die as the US finally adopts HDTV. I saw my first HDTV plasma screen in 1990 and they said it would be here in 2 or three years. Two words: "AS IF". It never ceases to amaze me how Americans will invent exciting new technology, but no one in America will use it until the another country steals the idea and gives in an Asian name.

I don't think DVD is going any place soon!

Actually according a recent report on Cnet and a few other places HDTV's aren't selling anywhere near as good as EDTV's (That is Enhanced Definition). These are TV's that cost much less but offer quality about as good as DVD can currently show.

Add in the greed factor and cost for HDTV and all of the copy protections Hollywood wants placed on the technology and I don't think it is a going to be replacing regular TV's anytime soon.

BTW the article I said said going flat was more important to people that going HD. I agree what I have seen of HDTV it just isn't worth the big bucks.

I just bought a new 60" TV for the livingroom. It is wide screen with component inputs. I pissed off the sales person by snubbing his trying to get me to fork out another $5000 for HD. I told him I wasn't interested. As it was I got the TV I got for just under $2000.

Robert

[ray08]

VHS=Video Home System???

I thought it stood for "vertical helical scan", which describes the head orientation to the tape.

[dkknj]

Recording Needed

Am I missing something? Most of what I use the VHS box for is recording shows for later viewing, e.g., if I'm busy when the show is live broadcast. I have a separate DVD box for viewing DVDs (e.g., from netflix).

If one has only a DVD box, how do you do any programming for later viewing?

Any thoughts?

Ha

Who cares if something is 'high tech'?

A $30 VCR can do everything most people need. Why spend hundreds of dollars on TiVo or entertainment PC's? To brag about being 'high tech'?

Please. Go throw your toys away and go design and build your own motherboard, hard drive or other piece of hardware. Learn how to program high end apps. Stop acting like you are a nothing more then a child bragging about how expensive your toys are, and go be high tech.

[malabrm1]

Maybe It's Cool To Be Uncool

The marketing machine of the "consumer technology" industry will sell you anything and everything that's new and cool. That's their job.

But it's the consumer's job to decide just how cool new stuff is. Maybe homework will tell the consumer that tape remains cooler. It can't run code on your machinery, and its quality is just as good as any DVD I've ever seen.

I asked this geek at the local Best Buy her views. Her response: "Hey, you got three million bucks to spend on the hippest HDTV and DVD and Security stuff - cause they all go together - we got the products right over there, there and there. Me? I dig tape, but I'd be a lousy consumer electronics products buyer. I mean, don't these people know it's been cool to be uncool for many years now?"

[AlecWest]

great post

Hehehe. I smoke cigarettes. Yeah, I know ... bad habit. But, I buy matches, not lighters. You always know when you're running low on lights which is something you can't say about lighters (I've had lighters die, half-full of fluid, for reasons unknown). True, matches can get wet ... but have you ever tried to light a wet cigarette lighter (grin)?

Bottom line? Sometimes, cheaper low-tech solutions are more livable. I have a cheap VHS recorder I'll continue to use for time-shifting until I can no longer buy tapes for it ... and I have a cheap DVD player for viewing movies I rent. Two cheap solutions to two problems. Can't ask for more than that.

[AlecWest]

VHS says "Rumors of my death greatly exaggerated."

Speaking as one who was around at the time TV was born and heard the "RIP Radio" chides, I think there's a lot of wishful thinking going on in the tech community. While it's true that, as a rental item, VHS has gone by the wayside, the format may be breathing on its own just fine for some time to come. DVR technology will have to get a lot cheaper if it's going to drag VHS users away from their boxes ... and that will be harder to come by in the U.S. market where income erosion is a factor. Just checking Amazon.com, I've found that the cheapest DVR they have (ReplayTV RTV5504 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder) still costs more money that a good VHS VCR ... even AFTER the rebate. And people with tight budgets don't give a whit about rebate scenarios ... they care about how much they'll have to plunk down at the time they buy the unit.