Blog#5 Com Tech

                                                                     The VCR

When you think of the VCR you automatically think old, ancient, and a device that now no one uses. But back in the 60s the VCR was a major hit and everyone wanted to get their hands on one. It changed media and communication forever. VCR stands for Video Cassette Recorder. 

History: The VCR was invented by Charles Paulson Ginsburg in 1956. Charles Paulson Ginsburg was known as the "father of the video cassette recorder". He was born in 1920 in San Francisco.       

 

The Idea Behind the VCR

The idea behind the VCR was a way for people to. record, store, and playback television programs on television. The earliest devices were massive and they cost thousands of dollars to have they were the size of a piano, by the Ampex Company. VCR is rectangular in shape and silver, black, or gray in color. The videotapes used in VCRs are much smaller, but also rectangular and usually black. Outside of major television studios and broadcast centers, they were unheard of. Everyone wanted a VCR even when they were so expensive.  The creation of the VCR allowed for entertainment to be fully observed instead of a one-off experience people could go back and watch the tv shows they wanted again and again as many times as they wanted as long as they recorded it. People could record up to 3 things at once and it was super convenient to have in your home. Live TV was now a thing of the past and monumental television events could now be relived over and over.  

The Impact of the VCR

The VCR made the media viewing experience easier and that's why media companies hated it. Studios were upset that people could record things on TV and share it without the studio getting a cut of the proceeds. People loved the VCR due to being able to pretty much have a home theater in their house rewatching recordings of their favorite shows and movies was so convenient right in their homes. People didn't have to leave their houses to go watch shows or movies anymore they could simply just record them. The freedom of choice was something that the world had not experienced, and little did we know we would have access to anything and everything we wanted to watch from all over the world decades later.

How the VCR Became Popular

A lot of people complained about how the VCR was so expensive so companies were able to make much more affordable VCR units, making, recording, creating, and watching home movies something that every household could now afford. VCR changed the way that people consumed media forever. With the rise of home movies, people were given the power to what they wanted to watch. VCRs gave the power back to the people.

Pros and Cons of The VCR

Pros- easy to watch from home, could record whatever you wanted, could watch what you recorded over and over, affordable in the end, a great way to consume media, a great source of entertainment, movies anytime you wanted, lasted over 60 years.

Cons- not great quality, expensive in the beginning, copyright scandal, kind of big, not very convenient after the 2000s, not everyone could afford one.

The Death of the VCR

In July 2016 the VCR officially died. It lived to be about 60 years old. With new technology on the rise people really didn't find it convenient to own a VCR anymore,  but the VCR will never be forgotten. People already thought that the VCR was being no longer used even before 2016 but Japan-based Funai Electric Company continued to manufacture the machines even as several generations of superior entertainment technology have come to the market. Executives say that a lack of demand has convinced them to cease production of the VCR. No one will forget the VCR and the impact it had on communication it will forever be missed but im so glad for on-demand and Netflix now.