The VHS Thread

[MelissaY1]

I've actually never seen the movie all the way through. I've just seen the trailer a bajillion times, lol. I really should get around to it at some point!

I think it's one of the underrated live action Disney films...great cast, beautiful location shots in Washington state, etc.

 

[CensoredAlso]

OK made another interesting VHS discovery at my library, from 1991:

Teen Vid - The Teen Magazine You WATCH Instead of Read, Premiere Issue!

A VHS Magazine, interesting concept that I'm sure parents loved, lol. I honestly don't remember ever seeing one back then, anyone else? I wonder how long they lasted!

Basically, it's a collection of interviews with major pop stars, including New Kids on the Block, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tommy Puett ("Life Goes On"), Mark Slaughter (from Slaughter), Stacy Ferguson ("Kids Incorporated"), Carol-Ann Plante ("Harry & the Hendersons) and Kellie Williams ("Family Matters").

The usual stuff you heard in the early '90s: "Follow your dreams, be yourself and don't do drugs!" Unbelievable corny, but considering the tragic state of pop culture nowadays, maybe we need a little corniness!


Amazingly, the VHS still comes with the mini print mag inside which includes:

• TeenVid Music Video Contests ("Make a music video under 3 minutes and send it to us")
• Advertisements for other VHS magazines like Country Music, Metal Head, Dance and Slammin Rap
• An entry form for the TeenVid/Return to the Blue Lagoon Tropical Sweepstakes (contest ended September 20, 1991, darn I missed it!)
• An advertisement for SANYO portable audio products like a boombox with BASSXPANDER circuitry and "CD-to-Tape Synchronous Dubbing"
• An advertisement for the feature film Return to the Blue Lagoon (much not have done very well, heh.)

 

[Sgt Floyd]

And now I have a VHS/DVD combo player- and I'm not interested in upgrading to Blu-Ray.
It's gotten to the point where I'm honestly just fine with the quality of either Beta, VHS or DVD - and I would be fine with any of them. I get tired of the constant improving and constant forcing people to buy new video systems because the older ones are becoming obsolete. I can still get VHS tapes online or at thrift stores all the time and sometimes I find some good movies I'd like to see or episodes of TV shows for really cheap prices.

I completely agree with you there. I have all the movies I want on DVD. I'm not going to go and upgrade to blu ray. For one, the disks are more expensive and two, I never understood why people have to have their movies look like the action is in their living room. Honestly, Hi def tvs creep me out. We still have standard def tvs that work just fine with great picture quality. Another thing with new technology is the constant firmware updates. Man, how I hate that. Its like...I want to put the disk in and play it, not wait for my system to update in order to play it.

From what I understand, blu ray players dont have enough memory to handle all the updates needed. Of course, I read this in a comment section on a video game website, but I digress.

I do have a PS3, which can play blu ray, but I really dont have any practical purpose to go out and buy the disks when I can only watch them on my PS3 anyway. Though if I find a cheap enough combo pack I might get it. I just cant justify spending 10 to 15 dollars more for a disk with pretty much the same content.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm not interested in upgrading to Blu-Ray.
It's gotten to the point where I'm honestly just fine with the quality of either Beta, VHS or DVD - and I would be fine with any of them. I get tired of the constant improving and constant forcing people to buy new video systems because the older ones are becoming obsolete.

EXACTLY!

I feel the exact same way! And not just with home video format, but just about everything:

-- First, TVs kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, then they started getting flatter and flatter and flatter, now they keep getting wider and squished down.
-- Phones kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller, then they suddenly had to have this butt load of all these apps, and it had to be like both a phone, a personal organizer, and internet-ready computer all in, making it confusing as heck.
-- I don't have much complaint from computers right now, considering the latest version of Windows (7) allows you to format your monitors to display at the natural 4:3 screen display, like TVs can let you do.

They always called it "progress", and they always will... have any of you guys seen the commercial where various people have JUST bought what was supposed to be the latest in these products, only to be slapped in the face at the realization that it's ALREADY "obsolote" because the newer has JUST come out, and Best Buy is offering to buy back any purchase you've just made if you discover it's being "phased out" for "newer/better"? That's exactly how it is right now, it's gotten to the point people can't even learn how to use these things, because they no sooner get one newer gizmo and all of the sudden, POOF, an even NEWER gizmo comes out to replace it, and the more "advanced" they get, the more and more confusing they get as well... heck, my family and I are STILL using what are now "old fashioned" flip phones, and they still work great, but my mother still hasn't figured out how to set up her contacts, so I always have to do it for her (mainly because my sister keeps changing her number every month or so, because she keeps getting a new phone all the time).

Why can't people just figure out what it is they like, keep it, and let's all just use it and be happy?

 

[CensoredAlso]

Why can't people just figure out what it is they like, keep it, and let's all just use it and be happy?

Because the companies who make these products want to keep making money. It is a Capitalist society.

 

[D'Snowth]

It is a Capitalist society.

And it's talks like that that make us Communists.

 

[CensoredAlso]

And it's talks like that that make us Communists.

"When I feed the poor I'm called a Saint. When I ask why they're poor, I'm called a Communist."

Part of me does want to hold out on the Blu Ray because the future may very well be in online movies. On the other hand, there are bonus features that I'd really like to see that only are on Blu Ray!

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Of course, though a large part of it is monetary issues, I think I also just like to use older technology for the fun of it and to be different- lol.

 

[D'Snowth]

Of course, though a large part of it is monetary issues, I think I also just like to use older technology for the fun of it and to be different- lol.

Well, older technology is considerably simpler, BUT, if well taken care of, they can last a LONG time, AND they actually work: again, LPs and record players ARE making a comeback because so many people refuse to let go of those stacks of vinyl (I know it doesn't rhyme, but I've never seen a wax record first hand); they still make blank VHS tapes because so many people still have and use VCRs; they still make CDs because many people still use CD players (like myself); etc.

Newer isn't always better... in fact, in many cases in this day and age, it's actually a contradiction in terms.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Newer isn't always better... in fact, in many cases in this day and age, it's actually a contradiction in terms.

I'm always saying this as well. But I also want to say that I can get good experiences and memories even with the newer technologies and I'm sure the kids of today will as well. Technology changes but people haven't changed all that much.