AfterDawn: Tech news

Standalone VCRs go out of production

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Oct 2008 7:08 User comments (22)

Standalone VCRs go out of production

JVC has announced they have finally stopped production on VCR standalone players, marking the end of an era for the now dead format.
There are, of course, still other manufacturers producing combo VHS/DVD players or even combo Blu-ray and VHS players, but JVC was the last to make complete standalone VHS players.

The VCR is 33 years old, and over its lifespan 900 million VCRs were produced, 50 million by JVC.

Thanks for the memories, standalone VCRs.

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22 user comments

131.10.2008 19:43

I told 'em it wouldn't last.

231.10.2008 23:53

serves em right for never taping the match while i was out!

31.11.2008 04:22

lol where i work they are still selling blank BetaMax tapes. idk why

41.11.2008 10:56

This is the death of an era, the 80's are dead. Wow I feel old.

51.11.2008 11:24

Originally posted by o0cynix0o:
This is the death of an era, the 80's are dead. Wow I feel old.
+1 (mee too...lol)

My father has a friend that refuses to upgrade to todays' technology. He went out and bought a closet full of VCRs just so he won't get caught without having one...funny stuff, and TRUE.

61.11.2008 11:41

Beta tapes are still being sold because a beta tape is a digital tape. Think of it as a master tape that recording artists use to archive their audio recordings. Television stations use beta. I use beta the quality is exceptional. I get the blank tapes because my uncles gets them for me from the studio. A VHS tape is cheap its like any other cassette tape. Movie studios still use Sony beta equipment, even though it didn't survive against VHS among the consumer but it still has other users. Beta is only used as a closed format and still produces and sells only to exclusive organizations.

71.11.2008 13:42

Quote:
My father has a friend that refuses to upgrade to todays' technology. He went out and bought a closet full of VCRs just so he won't get caught without having one...funny stuff, and TRUE.
I still hae two Sony SLC7s that I bought when they came out, plus about 150 tapes. The first Betamax tape I bought was Vanishing Point, and it cost a fortune back then. Betamax was far superior technology, but I guess Sony got their own back eventually.

81.11.2008 14:05

Originally posted by locobrown:
Beta tapes are still being sold because a beta tape is a digital tape. Think of it as a master tape that recording artists use to archive their audio recordings. Television stations use beta. I use beta the quality is exceptional. I get the blank tapes because my uncles gets them for me from the studio. A VHS tape is cheap its like any other cassette tape. Movie studios still use Sony beta equipment, even though it didn't survive against VHS among the consumer but it still has other users. Beta is only used as a closed format and still produces and sells only to exclusive organizations.
That's pretty darn interesting. I would have never guessed that. Do you know the reason why they still use tape instead of discs? I read about billion dollar professional sports organizations sending tapes back and forth and to the league office.

91.11.2008 14:25

Don't throw away those old and blank VHS tapes yet! You can still record up to eighty hours in stereo on each tape of any kind of sound. That's more than enough for most parties. Unless, of course you party like me. LOL Just think if you have an office or own a restaurant, etc. Pipe that music of your choice.

The fidelity is probably more than passable. I've used it to record audio right off the radio.

101.11.2008 14:32

Please read eight (8)hours NOT eighty. sorry for typo

111.11.2008 15:56

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
And there was me in awe of your 80 hour partying sessions!
DUDE!

121.11.2008 20:27

poor business decision if you ask me, vhs is around to stay

131.11.2008 22:17

Right along with vinyl records, laser discs, audio cassettes, and eight track tapes.

142.11.2008 03:21

Truly an end of an Era , long live the Vhs. Btw i got a story a friend of an mine old guy, bought him a phillips dvr bout 2-3 years ago , never took it out the box , couple months back he comes calling my vcr broke u know where i can get a NEW one. anyway gave him mine and he's been happy every since. the HUGH collection of vhs xxx wont die

ps Party like a rock, Party like rockstar X3

152.11.2008 06:55

Originally posted by Peshtigo:
Right along with vinyl records, laser discs, audio cassettes, and eight track tapes.
Vinyl records aren't even close to extinct. There's still a huge demand for Techno, House, Rap ect. ect. for D.J.s / wannabe D.J.s. Most people don't have turntables in there house but there are plenty that do plus all real night clubs use them.

162.11.2008 10:44

I think I'm going to cry.

172.11.2008 11:51

Alright, so I give DVDs another eight years and Blu Ray twelve, and we'll have moved to digital distribution. Sound reasonable?

182.11.2008 21:50

Originally posted by Peshtigo:
Right along with vinyl records, laser discs, audio cassettes, and eight track tapes.
Don't forget everyones favorite the mini cd.

193.11.2008 01:22

Guess I need to go buy a couple extra VHS players in case mine breaks, before they get pulled of the shelves.
I'd hate to not be able to play my huge porn collection.
Crap was that outloud?????

203.11.2008 18:15

I guess it wasn't, most have collections of the 80's but that was during a different generation I was not around for. You can convert them to blu-ray, HD-DVD or digital files, but do that before your player breaks down. I just finished converting of my family home videos and basketball games.

217.11.2008 21:05

It's a sad day. Think any new format will last 33 years like VHS?

228.11.2008 15:19
Chroma45
Inactive

Originally posted by locobrown:
Beta tapes are still being sold because a beta tape is a digital tape. Think of it as a master tape that recording artists use to archive their audio recordings. Television stations use beta. I use beta the quality is exceptional. I get the blank tapes because my uncles gets them for me from the studio. A VHS tape is cheap its like any other cassette tape. Movie studios still use Sony beta equipment, even though it didn't survive against VHS among the consumer but it still has other users. Beta is only used as a closed format and still produces and sells only to exclusive organizations.
Not that anybody is going to read this but you are confusing 2 different Beta formats. Betamax was the home consumer format, comparable to VHS, and Betacam was for the professional market. Betacam is far superior to Betamax and is still in use with Digital Betacam and HDCam. There is also a Digital VHS, D-VHS, but it was never very widely adopted.

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