While we know that media formats will come and go (be they physical or purely digital), the death of VHS is one of particular weight. Players have died, now tapes have, too.
While major retailers have long since ditched VHS for the space-friendly DVD alternative, Distribution Video Audio was the last major supplier of VHS, supporting part of their $US20 million a year business by selling mass amounts of VHS tapes on the cheap. With little fanfare last October, the company shipped their last truckload of VHS. From the company’s president:
It’s dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt. I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I’m done. Anything left in warehouse we’ll just give away or throw away.
Rather than rewrite the whole story, I’ll just point you to the LA Times and assure you that it’s a great, be it sad, read. The format that popularised replaying, archiving and sharing media is but the stuff of collections. Luckily, it’s been replaced by some pretty incredible alternatives. [LA Times and image]
Raphael Stevens
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 7:43 PMDoo yu hav lcd tev? Doovde. One doovde player and a joovce likide tev.
Doug Gordon
Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 11:52 AMVHs is as dead as vinyl and the recent record day proved that wasn’t as dead as the MEDIA would have us all believe. We still sell thousands of VHS, we get REAL cheap. Some SMART company will make a deal to put new movies on VHS, just imagine how many copies of “The Bucket List” would have sold on VHS….