VHS distribution grinds to a halt

We already gave VHS a proper burial after JVC became the last firm to shut the door on VHS player production, but there was still one nail in the coffin that wasn't quite hammered shut. Today, it all ends. The last notable distributor of VHS films -- Distribution Video Audio out of Palm Harbor, Florida -- has shipped its final truckload of tapes, probably to a small town library or a mom 'n pop shop in a place you'll never hear of. According to co-owner Ryan J. Kugler: "It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt." An unceremonious way to exit, sure, but we have a sneaking suspicion that it'll one day be able to say it made it longer than practically every other physical film format that succeeded it. Here's one last tear for the format that was -- now, time to plan a trip to the local flea market.

[Via CNET]

[Mike @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:17AM]

So sad... an end of an era.

[Konstantin @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:54AM]

Dude, the era ended long ago. But yeah still sort of sad...

[Aguiluz @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:57AM]

And there goes the last medium that had no DRM on it. *sigh*

[jamie_m_ @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:23AM]

VHS cassettes did have DRM... I think it was called macrovision ... to prevent home copying.

[angelwolf71885 @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:20AM]

@ Aguiluz

actuialy your wrong it was called "macrovision vhs"

o and ashes to ashes dust to dust

[Bobs @ Dec 23rd 2008 4:10AM]

Goodnight sweet prince - 1976-2008

[superhobo @ Dec 23rd 2008 4:39AM]

***Sigh***

[NHAnimator @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:16AM]

Sad indeed.

But if no one wants that copy of Better Off Dead, I'll take it.

[Flashpoint @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:35AM]

Well I hope they don't stop selling DVD players cause I've got almost as many VHS Porn Tapes as I do Gigabytes of Porn on removable HDD's.

[Camperton @ Dec 23rd 2008 9:07AM]

True story -- a friend of mine was in a Rogers video. A couple came in, probably around 40 years old. They wandered around for a while until the man finally blurted out loudly "These are all DVD"?! Then they left.

So I guess there are still plenty of people out there still holding out on buying a DVD player. The mind boggles.

[Glenn @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:17AM]

For some reason this nearly made me feel a little sad at First. Then i remembered dvd's.

[Dopefish @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:17AM]

same here, I also remembered how crap VHS's were....

[nikster @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:25AM]

For those who can't remember: VHS tapes were so bad that I never owned a VHS set, even in the absence of any competition. That's how bad it was.

[tha-don @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:03AM]

how many people have heard people refer to VCRs as VHS players? i think it's funny that people have forgotten the proper name (except for when it's in a joke about puerto ricans).

[HyperHacker @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:43AM]

VHS tapes may have been technically inferior to DVDs in just about every way, but man, I loved the feeling of shoving one of those big plastic tapes into the machine and hearing whirr to life. Discs just aren't the same.

Rewritability and durability were pluses too. I wish today's formats could be piled on the floor without care and/or erased to make way for something better. AOL CDs would have been so much cooler.

[Down @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:18AM]

So at this rate, DVD's will be phased out 2-3 years AFTER the launch of Blu-ray's successor (mass digital distribution?)

[sirpilf @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:03AM]

technically no, VHS was phased out years ago, there was just a small percentage of people who still used VHS which is funny because in small towns far from a metropolis I will still see NEW movies on VHS in gas stations and what not. but it really depends on your definition of phased out. id say VHS was phased out when the major retailers stopped selling VHS, but someone else might say it was "phased" out when this no name company was the LAST company in the world to finally shut down VHS production.

[Dave Chappelle @ Dec 24th 2008 12:43AM]

Wrong!. Blu Ray has no known successor, don't start this Digital Distribution crap just yet I will never succumb to it... A Blu Ray is thinner than any HD or any SSD and is able to hold just about the same as any SSD, and yes i do know about the 512gb SSD but don't forget the 'X' layered 400GB Pioneer Blu Ray. Oh and Disc's have Light scribe...

[alex barus @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:26AM]

Then after 2K (1080 x 1920) blu-ray, what would they called for a better HD? What resolution would be next? 4K? 6K? 8K?

[Chin-Poh @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:39AM]

What is the resolution of real life? We'll just keep forever trying to attain that limit.

[Soulsaber @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:57AM]

I heard that the eye is 576 megapixels (from deviantart lol)

[andres @ Dec 23rd 2008 4:58AM]

@soulsaber
i would beleive you, but you ended your sentence in lol. really, why would you laugh at 576 megapixels.

[Paris @ Dec 23rd 2008 5:32AM]

It's actually weird that when I look at a 1080p screen it looks better than real life.

[maxter @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:58AM]

@Paris

Have you ever thought about using glasses?

[Companion Cube @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:09AM]

Thats because your looking for the Detail in it, in real life you just look and dont take it all in, when ur looking at a tv, your not just looking, your examining the image for quality.

[HyperHacker @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:47AM]

I believe it was Wikipedia, but possibly some other site, that told me the eye works much different from a camera, and has no "refresh rate" or "resolution". Every photon that enters is, as I understand, processed instantly.

Though there's still the question "what resolution/refresh rate would be completely indistinguishable from reality by the naked eye?", so the point is not completely moot.

[Camperton @ Dec 23rd 2008 9:07AM]

As far as most movies filmed on 35mm 1920 x1080 is more than adequate I think.

[Platinum_Skeet @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:41PM]

Limits of the human eye is 74 Megapixels...

[Platinum_Skeet @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:45PM]

just playing Soulsaber was right its 576 Megapixels but his lol was probably how impossible it is to reach with todays technology...

[reader @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:27AM]

So long VHS, I salute you for your many years of service!

[Orappa @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:30AM]

no more of all thi sgreat VHS porn... well back to Betamax

[Jon Nelson @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:39AM]

Aw, RIP, VHS.

LOLWTFBBQJK





...Sorry, I just felt like I needed more acronyms.

[Marc @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:40AM]

I have no idea why I'm sentimental about VHS. I love DVD, and I will probably switch over to blu-ray in the near future. To be honest, I don't even have a VHS player or any tapes anymore... but this still makes me a little sad.

[(01) @ Dec 23rd 2008 10:51AM]

I still have a stack of about 40 VHS tapes that I've been carting around with me for the last 3 moves. I also have a VHS/DVD combo player to watch them, even though it's been over a year since I popped one in.

[)law( @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:40AM]

Will the age old question of how to adjust the clock on VCR ever be answered???

[Garst @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:03AM]

You still have one of those old machines with numerous knobs and levers? You need to upgrade. Most of the new ones set themselves. That or take a page out of automotive repair and take a piece of duct tape and cover up the blinking "12:00."

[poematik14 @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:45AM]

I think DVDs have another 3-4 years.

[Garst @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:07AM]

Is that you're prediction when Hollywood will stop putting out movies of even poor quality? Because I can't even remember the last time I went to the theater to see a movie I was only remotely interested in.

[Steve @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:50AM]

VHS is alive and well and going into full production next year

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/12/16/new-croatian-vhs-assault-rifle/

;)

[Henry @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:54AM]

Haha, that's what I thought of too.

[Arkenklo @ Dec 29th 2008 2:16AM]

Haha, I thought the link was about a rifle made from vhs:s.

That would be totally awesome.

[)law( @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:08AM]

Oh snap Real genius FTW also loving the monty python

[Xee @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:17AM]

I wonder if their is a community out there that sees VHS's as being the epitome of video quality, akin to the vinyl crowd in the audiophile community.

[Robot @ Dec 23rd 2008 5:37AM]

That's not even remotely analogous.

See what I did there?

[Rollins @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:16PM]

+1 for you, Robot. Witty comments that are actually witty are a rarity around these parts.

[bernardino @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:33PM]

-1 for Robot for saying "See what I did there?" instead of letting someone else say "I see what you did there!"

[unicode787plus @ Jan 16th 2009 12:19AM]

No, the epitome of video quality is 70-mm film (not exactly video, but beats video several times over and over, and still beats Blu-ray in terms of visual resolution which is in terms of grains and not pixels)

[Patrick Joseph @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:18AM]

damn! what took so long? there were still people buying VHS tapes up to now, WTF!

[angelwolf71885 @ Dec 23rd 2008 3:26AM]

Japan hell thay still use beta max and lazier disk hell thay probably still have HD-DVD @_@

[Lowest Ranked @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:29PM]

They never really used VHS casettes, they mostly had VCD players.

And what the hell is a lazier disk? The one that just sits there collecting dust?