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Last Last major VHS supplier throws in the towel

arstechnica.com — Farewell, VHS... and don't let the door hit you on your way out. Though most of us have given up our VHS players by now in favor of something a little less dated, there have been the usual stragglers in the "old 'n' busted video format" department that have kept VHS alive long past its expiration date.

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 23, 2008

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  • Fuckmypooplease, on 12/23/2008, -0/+205This one time as a kid I was watching my porn VHS on the only player in the house (which was the living room) Everyone was out for a few hours so I went ahead.
    Then we had a power cut and the tape was trapped inside.
    I eventually had to try and dismantle the player, unscrewing everything on it...Then about 15 mins in the power came back on.
    I did get away with it, but I learnt a valuable lesson that day, don't watch porn on the family VHS player.
  • protogenxl, on 12/23/2008, -13/+205Yeah, hello, this is RST Video, customer number 4352, I need to place an order. Okay, I need one each of the following tapes: "Whispers in the Wind", "To Each His Own", "Put It Where It Doesn't Belong", "My Pipes Need Cleaning", "All Tit-***** Volume 8", "I Need Your *****", "Ass-Worshipping Rim-Jobbers", "My ***** Needs Shafts", "Cum Clean", "Cum-Gargling Naked Sluts", "Cum Buns III", "Cumming in Socks", "Cum On Eileen", "Huge Black ***** and Pearly White Cum", "Girls Who Crave *****", "Girls Who Crave *****", "Men Alone II: the KY Connection", "Pink Pussy Lips", and, uh, oh yeah, "All Holes Filled with Hard *****". Uh-huh...yeah...Oh, wait, and, what was that called again?
  • smacksaw, on 12/23/2008, -8/+190I hope that the gov't bails them out, too. We can't let these people go out of business. The automakers as well. Whether it's VHS or GM, we can't let obsolete technology that no one wants die!

    I still miss the horse and carriage. My family made them 100 years ago and we've never recovered. Except that we all found better jobs and businesses. But you know what I mean.
  • GorfTron, on 12/23/2008, -2/+147My dad still calls DVDs "tapes".
  • JAVandiver, on 12/23/2008, -18/+138Death to QuickTime!
  • AmyVernon, on 12/23/2008, -2/+115I had no idea anyone still sold VHS. Learn something new every day.
  • ScottMitchell, on 12/23/2008, -0/+113And people say the phone is ringing, yet there is no bell in it anymore.

    They say "turn the channel to ABC," (or whatever) but there is no longer a knob on the TV that needs to be turned to change the channel.

    People say they CC'd someone in an email, but there was no carbon in sight.

    Finally, why is the save icon a 3.5" floppy disk. When's the last time you used one of those?

  • ThePDW, on 12/23/2008, -4/+90Why hate on VHS? It was a great technology in it's time but something else came along to replace it. As happens with ALL technology.
  • diktator279, on 12/23/2008, -0/+85Now that was a sticky situation!
  • davidgohome, on 12/23/2008, -8/+74and how much crappier was VHS?!?! ALOT MORE!
  • DrVic, on 12/23/2008, -2/+66Now where am I going to get my copies of "Simple Jack" ?
  • Ki77erB, on 12/23/2008, -1/+49I remember when I was a kid, late at night, after everyone had gone to sleep. I would stick a blank tape in the VCR set the channel to record one of those soft-core porns on Cinimax (with the TV off). Sit in the dark for about 30-45 mins, and then stop it, take the tape to my room and watch it later on that week when everyone was gone. Ahh, those were the days!
  • Ki77erB, on 12/23/2008, -4/+52We call those VCR's.
  • inactive, on 12/23/2008, -0/+41Please be kind, rewind.
    I even bought a separate machine solely for the purpose of rewinding.
  • shotgunefx, on 12/23/2008, -3/+43Blu-Ray will only kill DVD when it replaces it, i.e., it costs the same for a player and discs as DVDs do today. Until then, a lot of people don't give a crap in the increase in definition.
  • berberine, on 12/23/2008, -1/+36VHS is still big in education. Unfortunately, there are many excellent quality VHS tapes that have never been transferred to DVD. My husband uses a very good one about WWI in his classes from National Geographic. We tried about two years ago to get a copy on DVD, but NatGeo would only sell a VHS copy.

    It's quite a shame as well because the VHS players at the school will eventually break and then some really good learning tools will be lost.
  • 1807, on 12/23/2008, -1/+35Blu-ray's death is down at the next block
  • PGPirate, on 12/23/2008, -0/+33At least I can still use my DVD-rewinder.....
  • novemberdream07, on 12/23/2008, -0/+33we all know VHS is still big in the grandma market.
  • Whackly, on 12/23/2008, -0/+33But these head movies make my eyes rain.
  • Browzer, on 12/23/2008, -0/+32Don't hate on VHS too much. Even in the early 2000's, they were quite useful for recording programs off of TV before TiVo, DVR's, and online streaming came around (or were affordable for most people).

    I definitely don't miss fiddling around with the tracking, though. Damn, that was a pain...
  • lunarworks, on 12/23/2008, -0/+31I still use "tape" as a verb, even for digital cameras recording to memory chips.

    Old habit, but it's easier to say than "record" and no new term has replaced it. Movies are still "filmed", even if they're entirely digital.
  • gabeN, on 12/23/2008, -6/+36Actually, from a purely technological standpoint VHS was inferior to BETAMAX, Sony's format that it beat out. So, go figure...
  • PrometheusBorn, on 12/23/2008, -1/+31Umm.. actually, DVD made movies cheap. I remember new releases on VHS could run you upward of $80 in the late 80's. And that was many years after their debut. Even in the final years of VHS, I can remember paying $20-$30 a pop at Suncoast.

  • abbathdoom, on 12/23/2008, -2/+30Kill the .gif? :-O Clearly no one at Ars visits 4chan.
  • inactive, on 12/23/2008, -1/+29You'll see it again tonight in your head movies.
  • MikeFromAmerica, on 12/23/2008, -0/+27I predict that books will replace all video formats by 2010.
  • apothekari, on 12/23/2008, -1/+27Why do you want to know dude?
    You cruising for a piece of ass?
  • Volatile36, on 12/23/2008, -1/+26@darkism

    Masturbating to scrambled soft-core porn is where it's at.

    I spent many a night squinting at the television trying to tell what the hell was going on and then just deciding, "eh, that looks like a boob..." fapfapfap
  • SirFragsMore, on 12/23/2008, -1/+26Real Media first!
  • carve, on 12/23/2008, -2/+25I know a lot of people...even relatively young (low 30s) that say they "taped" a show when they recorded it on their DVR.
  • carve, on 12/23/2008, -1/+24Wow...a front page story about a LA Times story that made the front page a few hours ago.
  • inactive, on 12/23/2008, -8/+30It takes way too long to load and it never really goes full screen. I hate it.
  • 1807, on 12/23/2008, -0/+22Actually it was HAPPY Scrappy Hero pup because then the little kid goes HAPPY SCRAPPY!
  • replaysMike, on 12/23/2008, -16/+37...and DVD's death is around the corner.
  • axelgrease, on 12/23/2008, -17/+38That's right, here come the Blu Ray discs, blazin away. Wait lemme ask this, how much cheaper was VHS?!? ALOT!
  • ramsinks.com, on 12/23/2008, -1/+22The "disk" is next. I havn't used a "CD" in quite some time.

    "Hey, come into my car and check out my CD changer!!."
    lol
  • wertach, on 12/23/2008, -3/+23Why aren't they getting "bailout money"?
  • ScottMitchell, on 12/23/2008, -0/+19@carve: My point is that it's ok that we use dated terms for modern facilities. It's ok that it's not literally correct because everyone knows what you mean. That's what is important.
  • darkism, on 12/23/2008, -0/+19Did your family pay for Cinemax or did you have to watch it scrambled?
  • bjs3171, on 12/23/2008, -0/+18jesus. if you ever said the phone is "sounding" to me, i'd punch you in the face. or ignore you. probably the latter.
  • dissolutionman, on 12/23/2008, -6/+23DAMN IT, "ALOT" IS NOT A WORD.

    Sorry 'bout the caps, it just annoys me A LOT.
  • Shogi, on 12/23/2008, -0/+17Yes kill the gif, animated .png's ftw.
  • 1807, on 12/23/2008, -8/+24first, you shine that som bitch up REAAAAL nice, Turn it Sideways, and stick it straight up YOUR CANDY ASS!!
  • protogenxl, on 12/23/2008, -0/+16Originally Kevin Smith was toying with the idea that Randal was gay until Jeff Anderson threatened him with a Hokey-Stick during the roof scene.
  • lunarworks, on 12/23/2008, -0/+16The expensive VHS movies were usually rental copies. Some studios worked-out special deals where rental chains would get the movie for rent before availability for retail purchase. Rental tapes cost around $80 because the rental accounting systems were different, so they paid a higher up-front price instead of a slice of the rental fee like they do now.

    I remember specifically when Pulp Fiction came out. Blockbuster was selling it for somewhere between $80 and $100. But hey, why wait a few weeks for it to hit stores? :P


    But anyway, back to the original point, VHS was NOT CHEAP. The only reason Blu-ray isn't doing as well is because back then videotapes were the first home video system and the only game in town for two decades. (If you exclude Betamax.) Blu-ray has to compete with everything that came before it, and digital downloads.
  • anderzole, on 12/23/2008, -3/+19hard to find a good dvd/vcr combo these days... alas, what to do..
  • adriandb, on 12/23/2008, -5/+20Blu-ray's adoption isn't going so hot. DVD will be around longer than VHS at this rate.
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 12/23/2008, -0/+15Tell him that he keeps forgetting to rewind his movies.
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