VHS dies at the age of 30

**Bob_R** · 11.16.06, 06:45 PM

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=20&cs=1

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

VHS RIP
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.

**Hurricane Halen** · 11.16.06, 06:56 PM

RIP VHS. Sorry I always kept you flashing 12:00 your entire life.

HH <---RENT THIS SPACE-----

**HuBBs5150** · 11.16.06, 07:24 PM

Just proves that sony has no clue as to what it is doing in the format wars. I predict that blu-ray will be sitting in the next grave over from betamax.

**the_atomic_punks_rule** · 11.16.06, 08:29 PM

Blu Ray will definitely win out.

**twonabomber** · 11.16.06, 08:47 PM

nah. Sony has a history of taking it in the ass when they try to push a format. other than the memory stick, they have more misses than hits. HD DVD will win.

**Raldo** · 11.17.06, 05:36 AM

Thank you VHS for the many years of entertainment. You will be missed!

**ZeoBandit** · 11.17.06, 06:57 AM

Originally Posted by Hurricane Halen

RIP VHS. Sorry I always kept you flashing 12:00 your entire life.

HH <---RENT THIS SPACE-----

RIP VHS

**Scotty** · 11.17.06, 08:03 AM

Goodbye, and good riddance.

Purchased my very first HD television last week. I have seen the light, and it is good.

**jetguy5150** · 11.17.06, 08:16 AM

I guess I can drop "please be kind and rewind" from my vocabulary. I certainly won't be missing VHS but it certainly did a great job throughout the years.

**Scotty** · 11.17.06, 08:53 AM

Pardon my ignorance on the matter, but could someone explain to me what exactly "Blu Ray" is, and what's the major differences between that and HD DVD?

**voivod** · 11.17.06, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by scotty5150

Pardon my ignorance on the matter, but could someone explain to me what exactly "Blu Ray" is, and what's the major differences between that and HD DVD?

I'm in the same boat...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

**Scotty** · 11.17.06, 09:17 AM

Thanks, Voi.

So I'm going to have to buy ANOTHER unit to play HD DVDs?

**twonabomber** · 11.17.06, 09:17 AM

both are high-def storage formats. one holds less than the other. the big difference is the companies (and the money) behind each format.

**smithjc** · 11.17.06, 09:24 AM

That article/obituary was a very fitting tribute. My youngest watches a lot of tapes b/c I won't let him touch the dvds. He's scratched up too many so now watches vids. Now what?

I was just pondering buying a new vcr actually b/c my old one just gave out. And I was also one of the suckers who bought beta back in the day. I've still got it boxed up in the garage for sentimental reasons. So my wrestling tapes will be collector's items soon? What am I gonna record my matches on now if I can't buy tapes?

RIP.

**twonabomber** · 11.17.06, 09:30 AM

start copying your DVD's and let him ruin the copies instead of the originals.

i still need to keep my VHS for a while until i dump all the stuff to DVD. i'm almost done with the Beta stuff.