VHS, 30, Dies of Loneliness...

Variety ^ | 11/27/2006 | Diane Garret

[MarkL]

A lot of people are setting up large hard disks with all their movies on it. Basically, a large movie jukebox.

But it's true, the RIAA/MPAA/TV industry are rabidly fighting this trend and I don't have a lot of confidence in our representatives resisting them.

I don't have a use for that personally, but when I buy a CD or DVD now, I immediately burn a copy of it, and only use that. I learned my lesson when my car was broken into, and they stole a brand new copy of "The Lord of the Rings" unabridged audio book, and I hadn't even gotten a chance to listen to it. I still have the box and receipt at home, and thinking that I had licensed the content, I sent the company a letter, and photocopies of the box cover, the receipt, and the police report. While this might sound silly, IIRC, I paid around $150 for that audiobook, and my auto insurance doesn't kick in with coverage until the loss is $500 (plus I really didn't want to turn it in to my insurance). Basicly, I hoped that I could buy another copy at a discount. I never received a reply. And ever since then, I've burned copies of my media for myself. And I do the same thing with my DVDs... It also motivated me to get a car CD player that understands MP3s, so now I can cruise in my car for 7 or 8 hours at a time without having to change the CD... Of course, I have to fill the gas tank about every 5 hours or so...

Mark

[sportutegrl]

I'm sitting on about 1000 worth of disney dvds and wondering if hd dvd or Sony's Blu Ray will be the next big thing. Does anyone want to guess which one will come out on top?

[King Moonracer]

Excellent. More cheap chinese crap for the landfill.

[Salgak]

Well, that's also the porno connection. . .

It IS, after all, all about how long it is. . . .

(diving for cover, grinning like hell)

[Crolis]

That's a great idea. I'm thinking of doing something similar. It's a lot easier to transport copies and not worry about theft because the originals are safely locked away. I was also thinking of getting the CD/MP3 module for my car. It's great to be able to listen to everything without changing CDs.

[Renegade]

They now have DJ systems that replicate the sound of doing that with a record digitally .( without a record )

[atomicpossum]

We have a little TV-VCR combo in my twins' room. It's pretty easy to find kid vids on tape still, and it's easier for 3-year-olds to handle tapes over DVDs, which would be destroyed in mere moments...

[durasell]

The Djs don't seem to like the digital thing. But most of them are a half-generation removed from young people who grew up with iPods, etc.

[50sDad]

Buggy whips will always have a niche market, silly. Now, rotary phones and 78 rpm records...

[50sDad]

Is that at the same store where you bought your 4 yards of calico, 2 pounds of crackers, three pounds of beef jerky and a penny bag of sorghum candy?

Yep, sure was. And you had to walk uphill both ways to get there! In the blinding snow. Year round! And we liked it that way!

[JCEccles]

DVD killed the VHS star.

[50sDad]

Excellent. More cheap chinese crap for the landfill.

BTW, aren't we about five years away from the complete cessation of standard TV broadcasting? What will happen to the billions of regular TV's when those who can afford to finally buy up to cheap HDTV's?

[Malsua]

I don't have a use for that personally, but when I buy a CD or DVD now, I immediately burn a copy of it, and only use that.

Ditto. I do it for the "youngin" problem. My niece has a tendency to trash DVDs. I buy a movie, immediately rip/re-author just as the main movie. Put the movie in the player and it starts immediately.

As to your issues with the Audio book theft, I'd suggest seeing if it makes it up onto a torrent somewhere. You've certainly got a right to it in my opinion.

[Varda]

As the previous poster said that's because of the way disks are authored not the format. However I've never had a disk I couldn't fast forward through everything except the FBI warning (using chapter skip). Maybe you need a different DVD player.

[King Moonracer]

I'm thinking Mecca. Bury it under a pile of old televisions, 100 feet deep.

[Pablo64]

"It wont let you fast forward through the crap they put at the front of the movie."

Try using the "Skip" button instead of the Fast Forward. It doesn't always work, but a lot of times it will.

[MadIvan]

After a while, we'll say the same about regular DVDs. Time moves on. I for one won't mourn the passing of phenomena such as having a tape tangled in the player.

Regards, Ivan

[Dane]

Lokks like the life expectancy of new technology is declining faster than Russia's.

The 33 1/3 LP
1948-mid 1990's

The rotary phone

Appx: 1920's-1980's

[DAC22]

" My fear is that the discs will go bad faster than the tapes will."

DVD-RAM disk are supposed to last up to 100 years in theory. I don't know if any of the recorders offer that recording format. It is becoming pretty common on computer DVD burners. Disks are cheap, but they will come down in price eventually.

[showme_the_Glory]

unplug it