End of an era: VCRs headed for outdated tech heaven

It amazes me that there are still people buying those in 2016.

Farewell, VCR. There are still lots of people around who never learned how to set the timer. And now they probably never will.

Being a movie collector, I still have my trusty VCR because there are some films that have not yet been released on DVD. It still works. I was one of those unfortunate consumers who went with Betamax. Then I had to convert my entire Betamax collection to VHS (thousands of tapes) and I have been slowly converting my VHS tapes to DVDs. Probably won't finish it in my lifetime.

So Japan is the last country togive up on VHS. What will Japan give up on next? The fax?

As is so often the case with many other outdated gadgets, the high-tech land of "Domo arigato Mr. Roboto" is the last to do away the VCR.

It wasn't that many years ago that many people were still renting movies in VCR format from the local video rental store.

There are shops that will convert your tapes to other formats. We haven't had a video for at least five years. There is nothing on TV worth watching, never mind recording.

Japan may have a reputation for hi-tech devices and futuristic robots, but many people still cling to seemingly outdated options including fax machines and flip phones. Cassette tapes are also still popular while major DVD rental chains can be found in Japanese cities.

BBC had an article claiming something similar. I checked 13 convenience stores and electrical goods stores in my neighborhood. Only one had a cassette tape in stock and they had only one.

In contrast cassette sales in the US are said to be booming.

http://qz.com/570954/audio-cassettes-are-back-and-here-to-stay/

I did a quick search on "DVD rental NYC" and "DVD rental London." Both cities still have a number of DVD rental shops.

If you want really retro Japanese technology, look for someone who still uses mini disks or MO computer disks.

With VCRs, if a tape gets scrambled, you can just cut and splice it, losing only a few seconds of the film. However, bad data in a digital file corrupts the whole film, and renders it un-viewable. I still have a PAL/ NTSC/ SECAM/ MESECAM VCR, and like others am slowly digitising my collection, though a few videos have copy protection. Likewise I carry both an iPhone and a 'Flip-phone'.

It amazes me that there are still people buying those in 2016.

For some people it's like vynil records, they like the nostalgia and perhaps the bad quality of the vhs tapes. I used to have a massive vhs collection, glad they moved to dvd and bluray because it took a lot of space. Getting old :(

Being a movie collector, I still have my trusty VCR because there are some films that have not yet been released on DVD.

My dad, who was kind of an "otaku," used to have a big collection and had to get rid of most of it when he got married to my mother. It just took up too much space. He still talks about that collection fondly.

He also loves computer games (it's his fault I like them too). So, he used to have boxes and boxes of floppy disks. Probably still does :)

Actually VCRs were still used by movie enthusiasts because they are now numeric, therefore no quality loss, support HD, and way cheaper and convenient than Blue rays.

I have always used new convenient Tech. like If I buy a movie I just download it and watch in on my Apple TV. The same with music I just buy what I want and download it to my iTunes Account. Large Format films are still better then Digital imagining for industry media. For printing up too 1200mm x 800mm (Poster size) your bog standard 6+ MB digital camera will do.

VCR was the easiest way to record - just pop it in and press record, doesn't matter where it starts or finishes.

It was also child-resistant - kid could drop it, kick it, dirty it, then just pop it in the VCR him/herself with no assistance and it would just start playing - no need to bother the parents, lol

Damn. Now what am I going to play my collection of French 'art' films on?

The end of an era!

Have we got a video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en5EBeHDdXA