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Unread November 21st, 2006, 04:02 PM
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Post VHS Dead at 30

I suspect just about everyone here could care less that this crappy old format has bitten the bullet(for all intensive purposes, it's been dead & buried for a couple of years now anyway...), but just for the heck of it, here's one last obituary.

VHS, 30, dies of loneliness
The home-entertainment format lived a fruitful life
By DIANE GARRETT

After a long illness, the groundbreaking home-entertainment format VHS has died of natural causes in the United States. The format was 30 years old.
No services are planned.

The format had been expected to survive until January, but high-def formats and next-generation vidgame consoles hastened its final decline.

"It's pretty much over," concurred Buena Vista Home Entertainment general manager North America Lori MacPherson on Tuesday.

VHS is survived by a child, DVD, and by Tivo, VOD and DirecTV. It was preceded in death by Betamax, Divx, mini-discs and laserdiscs.

Although it had been ailing, the format's death became official in this, the video biz's all-important fourth quarter. Retailers decided to pull the plug, saying there was no longer shelf space.

As a tribute to the late, great VHS, Toys 'R' Us will continue to carry a few titles like "Barney," and some dollar video chains will still handle cassettes for those who cannot deal with the death of the format.

Born Vertical Helical Scan to parent JVC of Japan, the tape had a difficult childhood as it was forced to compete with Sony's Betamax format.

After its youthful Betamax battles, the longer-playing VHS tapes eventually became the format of choice for millions of consumers. VHS enjoyed a lucrative career, transforming the way people watched movies and changing the economics of the film biz. VHS hit its peak with "The Lion King," which sold more than 30 million vidcassettes Stateside.

The format flourished until DVDs launched in 1997. After a fruitful career, VHS tapes started to retire from center stage in 2003 when DVDs became more popular for the first time.

Since their retirement, VHS tapes have made occasional appearances in children's entertainment and as a format for collectors seeking titles not released on DVD. VHS continued to make as much as $300 million a year until this year, when studios stopped manufacturing the tapes.
  #2  
Unread November 21st, 2006, 04:04 PM
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And to think you can still find 8 track tapes at flea markets.
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Unread November 21st, 2006, 04:15 PM
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I feel honored that when I first got hired at BB, the DVD section was an endcap -- by the time I left, the whole store was DVD with no more VHS. It was a phenomenal moment in movie history to be working at Blockbuster.
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Unread November 21st, 2006, 04:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rk237 View Post
I feel honored that when I first got hired at BB, the DVD section was an endcap -- by the time I left, the whole store was DVD with no more VHS. It was a phenomenal moment in movie history to be working at Blockbuster.
my store opened VHS free

anyone remember having to prep vhs? arg...
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Unread November 21st, 2006, 05:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rk237 View Post
I feel honored that when I first got hired at BB, the DVD section was an endcap -- by the time I left, the whole store was DVD with no more VHS. It was a phenomenal moment in movie history to be working at Blockbuster.

i too have seen both worlds at bbv as an employee.
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Unread November 21st, 2006, 05:14 PM
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You know what? I never knew what VHS stood for. I had never even thought about it. Vertical Helical Scan? It's a wonder it even got off the ground.

When I started we had about three or four BSI bays for DVD, and they were experimenting with putting the Sleepy Hollow copies on the wall with the VHS. I had always said that when the reverse were true, when VHS was relegated to three bays, that's when I would move on. Oops. But technically it never worked out like that anyway, so I'm still waiting.

Ah, the rewinders. Starting them at just the right times provided a harmonic rhythmic squealing which was quite soothing.

Ah, the thick cases, when Monday morning meant a jammed drop box with movies left on the ground outside ("I'm not paying for it, I left it on your property so I returned it. I can't help it if I couldn't get it in").

Ah, The Green Mile, and other two-tapers, rubber-banded together like a book. When "closed", they were too thick to fit in the slot. People would try to return them in the morning, couldn't get them in, and brought them in after noon demanding credit. "You returned it after noon." "But I tried getting it in and it wouldn't fit!" *calmly "opens" the two cases so they're flat* "That'll be $3.72." (which is how much movies used to be)

Ah, the "fart" smell the cases adopted when sitting in the drop box on hot summer nights.

Ah, the Mondays spent splicing up defective tapes.

Ah, the Tuesdays spent field-destroying tapes (grasp with both hands, locate corner of the counter, and smashy-smashy!).

Ah, memories.
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Unread November 21st, 2006, 05:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sar94pga View Post
my store opened VHS free

anyone remember having to prep vhs? arg...
Yuk, I sure do. Having to prep them for rental was a bitch.
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Unread November 21st, 2006, 06:24 PM
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yep................
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I dont know maybe i could go to school and become a civil engineer, Design septic tanks for playgrounds.
So little kids can take a shit!
  #9  
Unread November 21st, 2006, 06:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Antithesys View Post
Ah, the Tuesdays spent field-destroying tapes (grasp with both hands, locate corner of the counter, and smashy-smashy!).

Ah, memories.
Sigh, How I miss that part, somehow disc slayer just dosen't do it for me.
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  #10  
Unread November 21st, 2006, 08:58 PM
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my store has been 100 percent VHS free for more than a year now and I couldn't be happier...but every single day I get at least one person asking for VHS.
 

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