RIP The VCR...

[EMCE Hammer]

You are absolutely right. Being able to watch pretty much anything and everything that is available to be watched in the history of TV and movies via the internet, on demand, with a few clicks and a bit of typing certainly can't beat that.

Although this ease of availability does make me nostalgic for the days when there was a certain degree of satisfaction in hunting down video rarities. I'm sure many of us have fond memories of tape-trading what we perceived as treasure on VHS back in the day because they might not be available commercially or in a particular geographical area. Whether it was bootleg concert footage if you were a fan of certain music or bands, a celebrity sex tape, kungfu/horror/monster/scifi movies from overseas, I know in Canada many of us really cherished tapes of MST3K because it wasn't aired up here. For the longest time you could only watch certain cult movies like Rocky Horror or Heavy Metal as bootlegs.

I will also concede that the one thing kids are really missing out on these days in regards to physical media, is the art of crafting a mixtape on magnetic cassette tape and gifting that physical object. Somehow the idea of sharing a digital online playlist lacks that romanticism of time and effort.

Wang Chang unplugged at the Fillmore East mix CD coming your way Sweetie. It's an EMCE Hammer exclusive.

[Bruce Banner]

Pretty much been expecting this for a while now.

Still have two working VCRs in the house, and a lot of movies on VHS that have yet to be officially released on digital media.

[Hedji]

On thing VCR's had going for them that still can't be surpassed today.

The ease of recording a TV show ... stopping it to cut out commercials etc... And finally recording over it when you get tired of it.

Ah yes, but programming the VCR to schedule a recording... That required a PhD!

[daz71]

the guild home video of blood on satan's claw is considered vastly superior to any dvd or blu ray release of it.

[HardyGirl]

I have 4 of them, and a local shop that still repairs old school electronics, so I'm good.

[Hedji]

the guild home video of blood on satan's claw is considered vastly superior to any dvd or blu ray release of it.

Why is that? Just curious.

[ScottA]

My top loader I got in '80 or '81 is up in my attic. For some reason I can never seem to get rid of it. And I have no idea why. Maybe because a lot of the kids first moments are on VHS tapes.

[kingdom warrior]

I still have 2 VCR's that I still use and there are still soooooo many new ones that can be had for nothing.
I love finding tapes for nothing now....

[daz71]

Why is that? Just curious.

the dvd's and blu-ray have been anamorphically altered to widescreen so you're not getting the full picture and the print they used for the vhs was better quality than the ones used for dvd and blu-ray the colours were much richer.

[apes3978]

I still have 2 VCR's that I still use and there are still soooooo many new ones that can be had for nothing.
I love finding tapes for nothing now....

I'm with you: Used VHS tapes are quite plentiful at the local thrift shops around here...

I still want to buy one of those VHS/DVD recorder units...

[VintageMike]

I can understand the demand for standalone players waning a bit. But I have a combo which as far i know are still being made. I've been transferring from VHS to DVD where I can because if you were lucky/smart enough you recognize the real godsend: you recorded stuff they may never be seen unaltered again, particularly due to music rights. Right now for instance, I dug up most of my TV Land/Nick at Night Happy Day tapes. No need to wait to season 7 (or beyond) on DVD as I have them WITH most of the music and am transferring to DVD to avoid the one pitfall of VHS tapes: the actual tape breaking. The video quality of course doesn;t match an official DVD release but for something taped off syndication in the early 2000's it's not bad.

[hobub]

Mine still works. I think.

[Bruce Banner]

One of the best quality analogue TV images I ever saw was a Betamax top-loader hooked up to a PAL TV set. Amazing quality for the time.

[MIB41]

I still have mine and she works perfectly fine when I load old videos or watch family videos on this cassette converters.

[VintageJoe70]

I can remember mom buying our first one in the early 80s...cost like $400.00...lol...she spent many years recording damn near every movie and TV show...she is in a home now and recently I had to get rid of her collection of like 3 or 4 hundred tapes because mold had gotten to them...even in the case...they were stored in our basement....all those yeas of taping down the tubes...but she enjoyed doing that...

Before we got our first vcr, we had the laserdisc player and discs....still have the discs...anyone remember those?...