Railfan Technology > RIP VHS Players

From the PC World Web Site:

"A company in Japan only recently realized it was time to stop making Video Home System machines—commonly known as VHS.Japan-based Funai announced earlier in July that it would cease production of its VHS player, which was sold under various brands worldwide. The company said it decided to cease production due to difficulties in acquiring components, according to Japanese-language Nikkei. The near non-existent market for the ancient home entertainment technology was also a factor."

The link to the complete article:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3098334/hardware/rip-vhs-players-the-last-vcrs-ever-will-be-made-this-month.html?token=%23tk.PCW_nlt_pcw_bestof_html_2016-07-22&idg_eid=7265c7eb84316c8604e33a042c152506&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Best%20of%20PCWorld%202016-07-22&utm_term=pcw_bestof_html#tk.PCW_nlt_pcw_bestof_html_2016-07-22

OCV

CharlesVarnes Wrote:
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> From the PC World Web Site:
>
> "... The near non-existent
> market for the ancient home entertainment
> technology was also a factor."
>



Ya think? I personally haven't watched a VHS tape in 15+ years, not even sure if the old player in the attic still even works.

Mr. MRL

Somewhat sad to see though, it makes me feel old. The VCRs and VHS tapes changed the World in less than ten years. I guess it is time to get all my VHS tapes of train that I recorded back in the 1990s and early 2000s changed over to DVD or something.

Jim

DVD players made VCR's obsolete and now streaming video (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc.) and DVR's are making DVD's obsolete, with the masses anyway. Fewer and fewer DVD players (now mostly Blu-ray models) are featured in electronic stores, fewer and fewer DVD discs are in in stores of all kinds that once carried them by the hundreds or thousands of titles. My local Sam's Club has dropped them entirely and selection is way down in stores like Target, Walmart and Best Buy. For film collectors like myself online is the only alternative to get the non mainstream/classic titles we really want. 

Time and technology march on (sigh), sure glad I sold my Laserdisc collection when I had the chance! 


 

i have too many classsic foaming vhs tapes.  if i can find them, i am gonna have to stock up on few more vhs players........

66

Do it pretty quick. I just ordered two of them. Just in case but mostly for VHS/DVD conversion.
Have fun, be safe,
Bruce "Doc" Jones Sierra Madre CA

goneon66 Wrote:
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> i have too many classsic foaming vhs tapes.  if i
> can find them, i am gonna have to stock up on few
> more vhs players........
>
> 66

Glad I held on to my old Edison record player !

I have not viewed a VHS-DVD-or any others for a couple of years.  Am I missing something?

Just going through 65 years of slides does it for me.

I digitized my VHS tapes that I shot using one of those old VHS camcorders in the late 1980's.  I'm glad I did because the video quality was starting to deteriorate.  I almost found out the hard way that VHS tapes have a shelf life...don't wait too long.

Just to make sure, I have a DVD player, a VHS player and  streaming.   

I don't think DVD is all that dead, yet.  Indeed streaming is growing fast.  But I want to own what I watch, perhaps as irrational as it may be.  Additionally, since I am a kind of movie buff, I often learn of a title that can only be viewed on DVD.  Amazon loves me!  And there may be another reason or two out there, favoring DVD's.  Really, streaming titles are still controlled by the source, even OnDemand movies.  And finally, around a year ago there was a book title distributed by Amazon's Kindle, that was recalled.  All the copies on everybody's Kindle were deleted (unless the Kindle was kept off WiFi of course).  The same thing could happen one day to DVR's, and they remain connected to the cable or internet 24/7. 

There are a few movies out there that exist only on VHS.  "The Gray Fox" is one of them.

sphogger

I've still got, here in the UK, some of the original "Trains on location" VHS tapes. I always rated the quality of these, and only managed to get one on disc. Still play the tapes!
However, they will not copy to burn to disc, very well protected. Chris UK.

I recall the withdrawal of the book from Amazon's Kindle. At that time a number of articles about programs that would process the downloaded book to remove its DRM.

I have only purchased two ebooks. Both of them are available at my local public libraries should I need them again. 

In California one can obtain a library card at almost any public library without regard to one's city of residence. At least I have never been refused a card.

Cards from the San Francisco PL and the Alameda County PL allow me to access to a great number of specialized databases, which I find useful when I need to do some serious research.

OCV
 

There is currently more and more urgency to archiving your VHS tapes.
I digitized all my video last year and much of it in the 25 - 30 year range had visibly deteriorated.
Professionals will agree that the iron oxide coating will physically separate at a certain point in time and all the content will be lost.
This is very real and a serious looming problem for all magnetic media.
The only sure way to protect your archives is to digitize, copy to hard drive (NOT FLASH, flash drives hae a limited life) and also back up
on the cloud.
Costly and difficult, I know, but without these measures, tragedy looms for any tape-based imaging.
While you're at it, digitize your 8mm & 16mm film as well. Scratches happen and splices break. Also, with certain emulsions color dies, just like
slides -- it's all reversal film.