Wannabe

Life-changing video format gets last rites
Mon 22 November, 2004 13:59

By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - It changed the lifestyles of a generation but after a lingering death, the last rites have been sounded for the revolutionary VHS home video format.

All over the world, Video Home System -- which let people record and watch television programmes when they wanted rather than at the whim of broadcasters -- is in headlong retreat as the Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) takes over.

Accepting the inevitable, Britain's biggest high street electronics retailer Dixons announced over the weekend that it was taking VHS video players off its shelves for good.

"We are now entering the digital age and the new DVD technology available represents a step-change in picture quality and convenience," said marketing director John Mewett.

Dixons is not alone. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, offers only a handful of stand-alone VHS recorders on its website.

"VHS was pretty revolutionary," VHS player collector Andy Hain told Reuters on Monday. "The fact that people take them for granted so much today shows just how important they were."

For more than 25 years, VHS dominated the world home entertainment market after seeing off a challenge from Sony's Betamax in the early 1980s.

By the 1990s, a VHS recorder was a common feature in most homes as prices fell and technology improved -- although the art of actually programming a recorder remained a mystery to many.

To add insult to injury, police grudgingly admit that in Britain at least, house burglars don't even bother to take VHS players because new ones now cost so little that no one wants a second-hand model.

FILM INDUSTRY BENEFITS

When DVDs first came along in the mid-1990s, sales were initially very slow but now sales of DVD players outstrip those of VHS players by a factor of 40 to one globally. Leading high street film rental company Blockbuster reports that over 80 percent of its rentals are DVDs.

Far from undermining the film industry, DVD sales can make the difference between loss and profit.

Internationally the market for DVDs -- currently estimated at some $15 billion (8 billion pounds) a year -- is expanding exponentially and the industry expects that some 450 million households will have a DVD player by 2008.

But the explosion of DVD technology has brought with it a surge in piracy -- discs may be offer better-quality viewing but they are far more quickly copied than tapes and easier to carry.

The demise of VHS vindicates the foresight of Andy Hain who has been collecting VHS players for the past 11 years and has set up his own museum of video recorders.

He admits on his website, though, that the museum is rather small. "This is partly because VHS decks are a little dull," he reflects.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle...9&section=news

Green Jello

I love when idiots think DVDs are a COMPLETE replacement for VHS. VHS sales have been dead for some time, but the thing that is finally pushing the format under are sales of the new recording formats like DVR and DVD-Rs.

nightmaster

I'd like to believe thats true, but it's amazing how many people don't know how to set the clock on their VCRs, let alone make the jump into recordable discs.....I want VHS dead as much as the next guy but they still seem to bring out nearly every new release in the VHS format. Killing the rental market is more important than the sales department IMO. As long as that continues J6P doesn't HAVE to put away his VCR and figure out the new recording mediums, and he's still happy to rent tapes....UGH!

Green Jello

Exactly. Also, Dixons dumping all VHS in the UK doesn't mean anything. It's not a big deal until places like Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Circuit City dump them.

calhoun07

I really don't see the big deal either way. If VHS needs to stay around for the tehnologically challenged, who cares? As long as it's not taking up shelf space for our DVDs and DVD related electronics, I say there is room in this world for both. Hell, there are still people I know who ask me where they can get a record player. Old formats may fade away, but they should never totally die out.

Mike Lowrey

Hell, the sole reason why I eventually went to DVD was the seemingly death of Widescreen VHS releases.

sracer

Why Ugh?! Why do you care if J6P still rents and buys VHS? Personally, I wish J6P would go BACK to VHS and leave DVD alone. Ever since DVD players dropped below the $100-$150 mark, there has been a dramatic decrease in the condition of rental discs. Discs are more scuffed, scratched, and smudged than ever before. Not a big deal for rentals, but when rental places have sales on those discs, it is virtually impossible to get a disc in good condition anymore.

DVD Josh

Best Buy and Circuit City already have. Walmart won't until it's deader than dead, they'll sell them until you can't buy VCRs anymore.

nightmaster

The problem is, as far as rental stores go they ARE taking up DVD shelf space. I live in Nowhere, Indiana and that may play a big part in it, but the neighboring Family Video and Blockbuster stores are still carrying huge selections of VHS with more coming upon each new release. That space could be used for either more DVD copies of new releases or placement of tons of catalog titles that would otherwise have to be had by either buying the title or renting it online. The only thing my local stores are good for are DVD titles that have been released in the last 6 months; on the other hand, there seem to be VHS copies of an endless number of favorites spanning decades. Yes, I realize that the retailers are trying to squeeze all the life out of the suckers that can be squeezed, boxes looking older than my grandma still sitting there...sheesh....sure would be nice to walk in and see some of those great titles in DVD format ......

Green Jello

Where do you get that? Best Buy still sells VHS VCRs.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....&type=category

and so does Circuit:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/categ...6+20012880&c=1

I'm a buyer for a major A/V retail chain. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.

Byron_T

I think he might have been talking about VHS cassettes and not VHS players.

NitroJMS

CC dumped VHS cassette sales over 2 years ago, but still carries them on their website.

philo

I'll continue to fire up my trusty VCR until all of my most wanted films are available and uncut on DVD.

marty888

I have more than 500 movies on VHS that have yet to appear on DVD, many of which may never show up. And that's not counting another several hundred movies taped commercial free (and often OAR) from TCM, AMC (when they were still a decent channel), etc. that have never been available.

huh?

I idiots that think that DVR and DVD-R weren't made popular by the increased demand for DVDs.

DVD Polizei

huh?

ianholm

I still need the VCR for that porn that never seemed to make it's way onto DVD.

sdk

If j6p never found dvd's, do you think studios would put their money into dvd's. Not likely.

bodomnet

Get a dvd recorder and upgrade them yourself I know once my pre-recorded tapes are all upgraded to dvd my vhs player is going in the wardrobe to gather dust.

Green Jello

That looks like English, yet I still have no idea what the fuck you are saying.

Dabaomb

huh?

JupiterPrime

Linear, Non-digital, easily degradable media is a dinosaur. I for one have been donating VHS tapes replaced by DVD to the library, and even they are reluctant to take them.

I look forward to the day when I bring my 2 VCRs to the library as a donation, along with my last replaced VHS tape

the ONLY VHS tape I still watch from time to time is Robin Hood: Men in Tights (R1) becasue there is currenlty no R1 DVD release of the title - aisde from that, I havent watched any VHS tapes since the year 2001

DIE Magnetic tape, DIE

mr_jbloggs

Anyone know where that VCR Museum is? I'd like to plan a visit with the kids one day.

Green Jello

Here's an online one:

http://www.totalrewind.org/

avrilfan

vc/r wont be tottaly obsolute yet. pre-corded video tapes can stopped being produced.while recordable videotape still can be offered.

however,with that being said,there is still a fair share of movies on videotapes(pre-recorded) that still need to in the digital domain yet. I have yet to see cry-babyand the chase(1994) two films that I am awaiting to take the pludge.

granted v.c.r has given consumer the abilty to watch alot,and record stuff,so I give credit where credit is due.so thank vhs and vc.r.

now we have reached the time with compact disc,laserdisc(remember those) video cd's cd-rom,that it would one day make room for newer technolgy. while there will be always newer electronics out there,the upcoming blU RAY. I think it is safe to say,that the majority of homes have at least a dvd player.some tivo,others a dvd recorder or and/or both.

I dont think we will see magnetic tape die off just yet,give or take a few years and it will go the way side of vinyl records and audio tapes.

I love my dvd recorder and dvd player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!