WEB : VHS Tapes (1975-2008) R.I.P - Never Forget

Sad but true, readers. As of December 2008, VHS is no longer manufactured. Running from 1975-2008, VHS brought joy into our lives for 33 amazing years.

VHS is probably the perfect format for film fans of my generation. I can say that I have a quite large collection of VHS tapes. Many of my P. Ramlee films collection, award shows, obsolete TV shows, cartoons - most of them taped from TV; are in VHS format and still occupying the TV cabinet shelves and drawers in my home. Watching these VHS is like taking a trip back to my childhood; it brought back a lot of memories.

I assume many of you would probably remember those days of VHS rental. Even when laser discs was making quite a business, many of us would prefer renting VHS simply because they were more titles to choose and the size of VHS tape is much more compact.

I can still remember back in the days, video rental store catalogs were photo albums with photos of the VHS cover art. And in late 80's, early 90's when VHS were available for purchase, the pirate manufacturers were releasing VHS in fancy clamshells, complete with printed front and back sleeves.

In the early 90's, when grunge was at the highest level of popularity, my friends and I were avid collectors of concert + live performances, and those rare and hard to get VHSes. Every kid in my school probably owned a copy of VHS tape with concerts by Green Day, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and a must-have at that time, Nirvana's 'Live, Tonight, Sold Out'. I remember during school holidays, I would 'turun KL' to find all those rare concert tapes and bring it back to Alor Setar so that I could brag to my friends. And by the time the school starts, I was probably the most popular kid in class, because all of my friends wanted to borrow the tapes. Silly I know, but popularity comes with a price..

And speaking of school, I'm definitely sure most of you guys (and some girls) remember your first experience with pornography. If you're age is between 25 to 35 years old now, I can surely bet you saw it first on VHS tapes, probably with some friends at their house when their parents weren't home. And boy was it hard to swap tapes with your friends at school, at risk of being caught by your teacher.

After the sudden popularity of VCD and the digital format, VHS is no longer considered a viable medium for releasing new films (as well as old ones). DVD has taken over and rightly so, thanks to the higher definition picture and better quality sound, not to mention the extras. The Internet and it's download availability also contributed to the fall of VHS. And sadly, the digital age killed the video star...

So this is my tribute to VHS. Thanks for the great memories. You will never be forgotten. Rest in peace.. and in our shelves.

*Picture taken from Nakatomi Stuff with great articles on VHS. They're also selling cool t-shirts to commemorate the death of VHS.