Rest in peace VHS
 

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 :)......

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.

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

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

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

:up:

I have more than 500 movies on VHS that have yet to appear on DVD, many of which may <i>never</i> 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.

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

huh?

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

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

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.

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

huh? :hscratch:

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

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

Here's an online one:

http://www.totalrewind.org/

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Umm, there were plenty of discs available before J6P found DVDs. The only thing that the additional awareness brought was anamorphic releases of Zoolander and Happy Gilmore.

Wow you can actually SMELL the superiority complexes in this thread. Way to go guys!

Not exactly.

What J6P brought to DVD was increased selection, decreased prices, and a huge viable format. A format where Blue Underground can release some obscure film that only a handful of people have ever heard of -- and still get shelf space at Best Buy and get carried as a selection at Columbia House.

What would have happened if they hadn't embraced DVD? See Laserdisc for an example... fewer releases, MUCH higher prices, difficult to find at retail stores, and a format that would collapse as soon as the Next Big Thing arrived.

$19.99 Tron DVD
$129.99 Tron laserdisc

$24.99 Night of the Living Dead Elite DVD
$89.99 Night of the Living Dead Elite Laserdisc

I'm not happy to return to those days. I thank the powers that be that people flock to Wal-Mart to buy the latest DVD of Zoolander or whatever.

:up: x100!

I love DVD, don't get me wrong, but am I the only one who likes the fact that a VHS cassette stays on the same spot when you stop watching for the day, and it's really easy to continue watching the next day?

My DVD player does not do that, unless if I keep it powered up which I do not like.

I think both media still have a place next to each other in this world.

If anything needs to die its the J6P phrase.

If I leave a DVD in my player, and turn it off, I only have to hit "play" while it's loading once I turn it back on - and it picks up right where it left off. (Philips 747)

Same here (Sony)

I agree, how totally fucking ignorant you would have to be to demean somebody who does not have the same opinions you do ON AN ENTERTAINMENT MEDIUM. Sheesh.

Mine does this too, it's some Sony player.. not sure which one.

I have to disagree on the pricing. 4-5 years ago when internet bargining was in it's hey day I was seeing prices that I could only hope for today.

Hell even retail at BB the opening week price on most major releases was $14.99. That crept up to $15.99 and now it $16.99-$17.99

Well, that has to do with Internet prices, not DVDs in particular. Yes, online prices were insanely cheap in the mid-late 1990s. And a shitload of companies went out of business because of it. You can't offer $10 off $10 coupons and stay in business for too long. But the overall MSRPs were still more expensive than they are now.

Overall retail prices of DVDs has dropped over time. You may not be getting 3 DVDs for $1 like 800.com was offering. But you can still get discs for dirt-cheap, relatively speaking.

Well, what you present is actually a need that is not being met in DVD. Maybe somebody needs to develop a DVD player where this could be an added feature? Book mark up to ten DVDs for later viewing, and when you put that DVD back in the player, the player recognizes it and knows it's in the data buffer for your book mark and resumes play right where you left off. Hell, if we can put a man on a moon, somebody must be able to come up with a few more computer chips that would allow DVD players to do that.

And if any of you invent it, cut me in on the royalty for the idea.

Such an insane deal that it's still being quoted 4 years later.

The good old days.

And some prices go down. DVDs I paid thirty dollars for years ago sell now for 9.99 or less. Sometimes it doesn't take that long for prices to go down, either. Wait just a few months these days and you can find several new titles for ten bucks or less at places like Wal Mart and Target. I am getting to the point where I am going to stop buying DVDs they day they come out unless I really, really want it and can get it for a cheap price. I bought Bubba Ho Tep for 17.99 brand new shortly after it came out and it was 7.49 at amazon.com recently. That's just one example of many I have, but there is no need to throw money away just to have a title right away unless you just have to have it for some reason. And I have enough unwatched DVDs where that's no longer an issue for me.

edit: and you use Best Buy as your example? That's a poor example because ever since they introduced their rewards card, their prices have gone up across the board. Yeah, you may get coupons every now and then if you are a rewards memeber but I will save my money on a rewards card and find my DVDs elsewhere. I have a friend who is a rewards member and saved five dollars on a box set recently, but I found it online for nearly 20.00 less than Best Buy was selling it for, so what is the point of Best Buy anymore? Even if you are a rewards member.