The Death of the VCR

It was 1977 and Jimmy Carter was the President of the United States. The first installment of Star Wars hit theaters, and notorious TV miniseries, Roots, debuted. It was also the year that the video home system (VHS) was introduced.  The system was simply made up of tapes and the VCR, video recording system. At that time, tapes recorded up to two hours of content allowing rewinding and fast forwarding.

 This July, the last-standing producer of VCRs quietly shut its doors, ending an era of clunky VHS tapes, Hollywood Video and Blockbuster. Let’s take a look at the implications of the VCR’s past and what its demise means for the future.

 The VCR introduced us to on-demand TV.

Pre-VCR, audiences could only dream about pausing a program, or watching it at a later time. VCRs made both of those dreams a reality. With the ability to record live programs, viewers could skip commercials, fast forward, rewind and rewatch recorded programs. Thus, the wonder that is on-demand television was born.

 Death of VCR = Death of VHS = Death of Video Stores

With VCRs facing imminent death, so did the VHS, and in turn, video rental stores like Blockbuster. The once ubiquitous stores slowly phased out, like acid wash jeans or bell bottoms. However, unlike fashion trends, the VCR likely doesn’t have the chance at a resurgence. Currently, it’s easy for consumers to access movies on-demand, without so much as a DVD or Blu-Ray Disc. They can simply download or stream the content they wish to watch leaving video stores obsolete.

 The VCR initiated binge-watching

Having the power to watch content on-demand also gave us the power to watch content in rapid succession: binge watching. Think movie marathons on Friday nights with friends. The VCR gave us the power to watch content we want, when we want to, and as many times as we want.

 R.I.P, VCR. Thanks for all of the memories. We’ll never forget getting charged because we didn’t rewind a VHS before returning it.

 Have you heard about Cloud DVR?