ruk.blog

It appears at long last JVC will stop producing standalone VHS VCRs, made from Victor Company of Japan, after a 32-year run. Not a bad lifespan in the technology world.

The company said it will still keep pumping out combo units, with three-in-one HDD/DVD/VCR and DVD/VCR players so people can at least watch old home movies and wedding tapes not yet transferred to digital yet.

More than 900 million VCRs, including 50 million from JVC, were produced, for what was definitely a “game-changer” piece of electronics when it hit the scene.

This is a further wake up call that analog videotape is quickly becoming extinct.  No only do all videotape formats have an aggressive lifespan (~10 years). But, it’s continuing to be more and more difficult to even watch videotape. 

It’s clearly time to pass the home video entertainment torch to DVD, Blu-ray Disc and other digital entertainment platforms, including the Web.