Be Kind, Rewind, One Last Time

The era of VHS is officially over
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 22, 2008 9:57 AM CST
Be Kind, Rewind, One Last Time
The era of the home movie library may not be over, but with manufacturers no longer making VHS-only players, and DVD-VHS hybrids on the bubble, tapes may become nothing more than plastic bricks.   (©axeldeviaje)

Remember those black plastic bricks you used to pop into your entertainment system to watch movies? The nostalgic might want to snap a few digital photos, because tapes won't be with us for much longer now that the last VHS supplier has made his final shipment. The LA Times rewinds the history of a format film critic Leonard Maltin recalls as a "sea change."

Videocassettes changed what Americans expected from entertainment, allowing people to choose what they wanted to see and then watch it at home, not to mention recording onto blank tapes. But thanks to DVDs and, increasingly, Blu-ray discs, the last VCRs are on shelves now. Says the last supplier standing: "I'm not sure a lot of people are going to miss VHS, but it's been good to us."
(More videotape stories.)

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