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.
https://gizmodo.com/stubborn-old-crotchety-jvc-finally-ceases-standalone-5069683
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 $20 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 popularized 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 Luckily, it’s been replaced by some pretty incredible alternatives.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]
