End of an era: last load of new VHS tapes shipped
updated 11:05 am EST, Tue December 23, 2008
Last load of VHS tapes
Distribution Video Audio, a Florida-based distributor of old, seemingly unwanted products such as unsold novels, forgotten fan boy memorabilia and, now, VHS tapes, has shipped the very last load of VHS tapes back in October. The format, which required VCRs to play and record, was first brought into homes with somewhat affordably-priced VCRs from a handful of manufacturers back in 1965. This marks the end of an era that allowed users to time-shift shows the old-fashioned way, by recording them to a video tape for watching later.
Ryan Kugler, the owner of Distribution Video Audio, said any leftover VHS tapes left in his warehouse will be given or thrown away.
"It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt," he said. "I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I'm done."
With the arrival of the smaller, higher quality content offered on DVDs in the late 1990s, VHS sales began slipping. JVC, a company that pioneered the Video Home System (VHS) in 1977, announced earlier this year it will no longer manufacture standalone VCRs. The last big Hollywood movie, the 2005 drama A History of Violence, was released in 2006 on VHS. [via LA Times]
