58% of Americans Still Own a VCR

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
75,399
A new Gallup poll found that Americans aren't as up on the latest tech as we have been led to believe. A staggering 58% of American households still have a functional VCR and out of that number, 100% of them are still trying to figure out how to program the damn thing. :D

But a new poll from Gallup suggests that the one thing that takes even longer than adoption of new technologies is the abandonment of old ones.
Click to expand...
 
I haven't had a VCR in a couple of years now. And I held onto the last one I had for probably 6 or 7 years without actually having used it. It hadn't really been used much past 1999 when I got a DVD player.
 
When you still have Rambo: First Blood, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, and Die Hard on VHS, the classic SD version of these movies keeps the nostalgia going.
 
I missed the part where they explain why continuing to own a VCR means you don't also own newer tech.

I know many who still have a VCR hooked up. Not that they use it a ton but some still have old VHS home movies, etc that they might want to pop in every once in a while.
 
Toward the end a lot of VCRs were being built into TVs, dual DVD/VCR decks etc
 
VCR still functions, but some of my tapes aren't very healthy anymore. Full Metal jacket skips, almost not watchable. It still doesn't display the correct time, but the power goes out often enought that I don't care.
 
The only reason my parents have a VCR is that they have one built into a DVD recorder unit that could record VHS tapes to DVD. They use the Blu-ray player to play back DVDs though as it runs via HDMI rather than composite.
 
"Owning a VCR" doesn't mean "used a VCR recently." I imagine there are many people who won't bother to unplug and trash their old equipment until they move.
 
Star Wars original trilogy on VHS that has no added CG scenes or other extras that Lucas Films added in the DVD and BD releases.

That is why I still have a VHS.
 
I have a DVD/VCR combo in my TV stand now. This is next to my full HTPC and 5.1 reciever. I haven't used it in a long time though.
 
GotNoRice said:
I missed the part where they explain why continuing to own a VCR means you don't also own newer tech.

I know many who still have a VCR hooked up. Not that they use it a ton but some still have old VHS home movies, etc that they might want to pop in every once in a while.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I have lots of old home movies that were made on a camcorder that was the size of a VCR. Every once in a while I like to pop them in and watch them. Dont see that as a negative.

octoberasian said:
Star Wars original trilogy on VHS that has no added CG scenes or other extras that Lucas Films added in the DVD and BD releases.

That is why I still have a VHS.
Click to expand...

Amen! Hallelujah! Right on! Not that Im against CGI or anything but these films were made in the 70's and the CGI they stuck in there was from the late 90's when it was in its infancy and doesnt look that good. So it looks out of place on so many levels and really fucks up the movies. I wish to God that they would release the un-molested versions of Episodes 4-6 on Blu-Ray.
 
Maybe people realize that VHS is DRM free? I got plenty of other methods to get around DRM, but old fashion VCRs would also work.

youtube_vhs.jpg
 
MacLeod said:
Exactly. I have lots of old home movies that were made on a camcorder that was the size of a VCR. Every once in a while I like to pop them in and watch them. Dont see that as a negative.



Amen! Hallelujah! Right on! Not that Im against CGI or anything but these films were made in the 70's and the CGI they stuck in there was from the late 90's when it was in its infancy and doesnt look that good. So it looks out of place on so many levels and really fucks up the movies. I wish to God that they would release the un-molested versions of Episodes 4-6 on Blu-Ray.
Click to expand...

The only thing that really rubs me the wrong way is what they did to the end of Episode 6 with the party scene...it was fine the way it was. No need to fuck with it.
 
I kept a nice one, a late model JVC 6 head one in storage for a couple of years just in case I ran into a need for one but the last time I tried it it started to eat tapes. I wish I had captured some old eps of MTV AMP I used to record in the late 90s before it died. Not really for the music, but the commercials. Probably would have been good YouTube revenue.
 
A friend wanted me to watch a movie he had and asked "You still have a VCR, right?". Busted out laughing. I don't even have a DVD player anymore.
 
With new DVR, you either pay subscription fee to make it work or you pay an arm & leg and still comes short of all the channels available. Maybe if there is one company that can interface an HDMI input (from a HD cable box) and HDMI output to the TV at a price less than $200, many people will get rid of their VCR and adopt the DVR!
 
How else is anyone gonna be able to watch those classic VHS porno tapes.
 
Before digital cameras became common place how else where you supposed to make dirty movies with a girl friend? Now THAT is nostalgia viewing right there :D
 
My grandmother has a couple hundred children's movies on vhs she keeps around for when the great grandchildren come over and want to see something you can't on DVD, like say Disney's"Song of the South" which never made it to DVD because it was considered racially insensitive.
Hell my aunt still has a functioning top loader betamax. Hell of a picture on that thing for its time, better then vhs by miles.
Just goes to show superior tech isnt always the winner, its the most adopted that is.
 
I still have my JVC SVHS model. Hard to just get rid of something that cost me $750 in 1993, even if it only worked properly for a couple months. Took me almost 10 years to find the problem and fix it myself... no shop could do it when it was in warranty.

Should let it go to the recyclers, but I just don't want to right now.
 
bucketlist said:
#1 reason why I own one...
Shit load of anime VHS tapes.
Click to expand...

same reason i still have one.

i still will pick up those old sets that makes pictures if you put them next to each other.

also been trying to find one of those semi upscaling vcr's that came out right at the end, but they tend to be pricier than i can justify.

i also have a laserdisc player floating around. old tech is pretty interesting, at least as much as newer consumer tech.
 
Maybe they all are Star Wars fans and want to see Han shoot first. :D
 
jiggz said:
With new DVR, you either pay subscription fee to make it work or you pay an arm & leg and still comes short of all the channels available. Maybe if there is one company that can interface an HDMI input (from a HD cable box) and HDMI output to the TV at a price less than $200, many people will get rid of their VCR and adopt the DVR!
Click to expand...

There are methods, but none that are completely easy or cheap.

#1 Use a regular ordinary capture card. They're cheap, plentiful, and do the job. The problem is most require composite or S-Video signal, which means standard quality.

#2 HDMI capture cards are available, and do a good job. For example, this HDMI from Ebay is only $70 and would do the job perfectly. But then you run into the problem with software supports it. It does come with it's own software, but you'd rather have it work with Windows Media Center, MythTV, or MediaPortal. It's unknown if any of these programs work with the HDMI capture cards.

#3 This one is the cheapest and best ways to get HDTV captured video with next to nothing in cost. And that's Firewire. Seriously, look at the back of your cablebox, and it's has at least 1 firewire port. Not only do you get a video stream of the video in MPEG format, but you can even change the channels threw it. It's just a matter of connecting a firewire cable to your PC. Of course the Firewire port can be disabled on the box, and you need a piece of software to work it. So far I know MythTV does, but I can't get it to work with my Scientific Atlanta HD 4200 from Cablevision. I'm trying to find an alternative software to do this, but it's most likely that Cablevision disabled the firewire port.

$_3.JPG
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
But not for VHS tapes. It is for interfacing betwen my very old 19.5" Sharp CRT TV (January 1996!), old desktop PC, and DTVPal DVR.
 
I have a JVC packed away somewhere and I know my parents still have a Sony they bought new some 30 years ago for probably 500 bucks packed away. It's silver and huge. This was back when Sony actually made their products in Japan and not China, it probably still works.
 
High quality audio samples of the VCR mechanics at work, please.

I miss the "ee-ee, eeeoooeeeoooeee" our Xbox One-looking beasts used to make.
 
Obi_Kwiet said:
"Owning a VCR" doesn't mean "used a VCR recently."
Click to expand...

This.

I still have one that should still work, but it's been sitting unplug for at least a year.
Not worth enough to sell, but worth enough to hold on to in case I ever need to play an old tape.

I still have an old turn table hooked up to my stereo, haven't used it in years, but it still works.
 
jiggz said:
With new DVR, you either pay subscription fee to make it work or you pay an arm & leg and still comes short of all the channels available. Maybe if there is one company that can interface an HDMI input (from a HD cable box) and HDMI output to the TV at a price less than $200, many people will get rid of their VCR and adopt the DVR!
Click to expand...

But then how will all those poor company make money?

It cost more than $200 depending on the tuner card, but you can build a pretty cheap HTPC now days.
 
Don't own a vcr, dvd or blu-ray player. Physical media devices are dying out.
 
I miss my old hand-me-down VCR that my parents bought in '85. It finally broke a couple years ago and there are a bunch of tapes that would be difficult or simply very expensive to replace.
 
Even the far flung, post-apocalyptic future we will still be using VHS tapes! :D

230px-Ice_King%27s_tapes.png


Tape.jpg


tumblr_mch96kStho1rbavngo1_1280.gif
 
Amazing, I don't even have a DVD player in my house unless you count the XBox 360.
 
i still have and use my vcr. until everything went digital and got harder to record but i still can.


i have vcr tapes of stuff to transfer to bluray disc.
 
I still have a VCR. It's not plugged in and I haven't used it in about 5 years, but it's still there. I don't think I've bought a DVD in about 3 or 4 years either.
 
I still have a vcr player, used it recently to watch IT, Troll, Nightmare on Elm Street, Adam's Family, etc... tons of great videos from childhood, the warbely audio just makes 'em even more creepy. I also love those 80s commercials in some of these tapes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top