Wal-Mart dropping VHS in early 2006

All you people who bought Beta back in the day can feel better now — VHS is dead now, too. Ok, well maybe it's not quite dead yet, but Wal-Mart, the most powerful retailer the world has ever known, says that they're going to completely stop selling VCRs and VHS tapes by early next year (they want  to make room on their shelves for family-friendly DVDs). Probably not how the VCR wanted to spend its 30th birthday, but what can you do?

UPDATE: Or maybe not. Wal-Mart is denying the report.

[Lars @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

There's an article on CNN that says this is not true.

[Dom Pezzuto @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

http://www.cnn.com/money/2005/06/14/news/fortune500/walmart_vhs/index.htm?cnn=yes

Debunked

[Ijuana Poopinurface @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Ooops. Unfortunately, this isn't going to happen. Someone told a fib.

[Daniel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Sigh. Imo, it was about bloody time!

[Et Tu @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Huh? VHS is still available for sale?! Haven't seen a VHS tape for years, not even a player.

[Mongrel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Does anyone have a suggestion of how to offload my old stock of VHS tapes? Is someone in the world still willing to pay for them? I think there's a movie trading place across town (Boulder/Denver), that'll pay all of .25 - .50 a tape.

That's what it's come to, isn't it...

[matt2 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

i hope not i need a new vcr lol it saounds weird but its what hold together my whole souround sound cable box and tivo the all go into the vcr and it send it to the tv easy no need for crazy spliter routers nope good old vcr

[Betamax Investor @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I've been waiting 30 years to post this...

PWNED!!!

[Galley @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Even the "techno-phobes" that I know switched over to DVD a few years ago. Yet another reason why you shouldn't shop at Wal-Mart.

[sloopydrew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

I didn't even know that people had stopped using VCR's. I'm pretty up in technology (hence my daily visits to engadget and slashdot), but I still really like my VCR. What's not to like? I can use it as a splitter and route many of my "modern" items through it. It still records and it doesn't charge me $13.99 a month like the overhyped TIVO (nope, not a TIVO fan, cancelled it after only 2 months of use). Mix the Dish Network with a VCR and you essentially have TIVO. You can program Dish to automatically start your VCR recording every time a show airs, just one time, every other time, or whatever you'd like. So with Dish and VCR you have your very own "Season Pass," and it costs you about a 4th of the price. Plus, most of my porn is still on video. Long live the VCR!

[happy gilmore @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

what's vhs? never heard of it.

[otakucode @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Death to VHS!

Death to analog tape that degrades in quality every time it is played!

Death to dirty heads, analog signals, crappy sound, low resolution, just bad-all-around!

[World Tech Guy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

VCRs will always be available, much like LP turntables are now. Most stereo shops stock a few turntables and sell about one a month. The format will never die, it will just fade away. But for good measure, it wouldn't hurt to get a VHS/DVD-writer and archive your keepers.

[granny down east @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Yeah, I agree with otakucode, but, with vintage synths ya gotta dump the MIDI data onto tape (no onboard floppy drive). That nice wide VHS tape makes for a fairly clean signal- then record that onto a hard drive and you've saved your MIDI as a .wav file. Just feed it back to the synth tape sync inputs and you've got a winner.
/sighs
Hopefully VHS and cassette will be around for awhile for us retro-techies...

[TVtheFleshtone @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

But the stereotypical walmart customer is the most likely to still use VHS exclusively...

[Wizin y Yandel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Death to VHS
Death to BetaMAx
Death to Microsoft
Death to Apple
Death to Nintendo and Sony

And last but not least DEATH TO ENGADGET!!!

[ODB @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

What?
I love my VCR. The tapes are cheap and my 4head sharp is reliable. I tape shows all the time, nothing fancy, just pop in a tape and click record. or better still, tape the cable shows that repeat in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping.

And then, when I've finished with the latest episode of springer... rewind and tape over it, until the tape wears out. Then you pull another one out of that trusty 8 pack you bought at...Walborg

Don't get me wrong, I like my DVD too, but a recorder or tivo is not in my budget anytime soon (damn bills...)

[World Tech Guy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Don't like VHS or DVD-R? I picked up a Toshiba RD-XS32, which is a DVR/80 Gig (68 hr) and a DVD recorder all in one. It's NOT a TiVo. I refuse to pay to record TV. It works essentially like a VCR and it's great!

[izzy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Wizin y Yandel

if death to engadget and all the compaines u said then we wont have a place to meet and make stupid remarks about stupid(as in awesomely cool) technology available only in asia:(

just what would we all do in our free time?
get a life and a gf
....the hooror

[mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

damn i was just gonna say how innovative wal-mart was...

monopolizing small hick towns accross america and then expecting them to have the newest technology (er... DVD? pffft)

No one in Alabama or Arkansas want's anything to do with this 'damn newfangled Jap technology'.. called.. er.. DVD...

They'll never drop VHS...

Let's see the PC industry drop the floppy alright? Come on.. we're comin' up on the 10-year lap mark..

[Et Tu @ Dec 19th 2005 12:16AM]

Mike,

A lot of new PCs/laptops do not have floppy drives anymore due to the masses discovering bootable CDs.