[Infowarrior] - VHS Rides Off Into The Sunset

[Richard Forno]

VHS Rides Off Into The Sunset

December 23, 2008 | by Geoff Duncan

http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/18730/vhs-rides-off-into-the-sunset

The venerable VHS tape is finally vanishing in the rear-view mirror as  
the last major supplier stop distribution.

VHS tape, the format that for better—and worse—brought video into  
untold millions of households around the world is finally going the  
way of the dinosaur…at least in the United States. After the 2008  
holiday season, Distribution Audio Video—the last major distributor of  
VHS tapes in the United States—is finally calling it quits, and will  
stop distributing VHS tapes. Although Hollywood hasn't released a  
movie in VHS format since 2006, a number of bargain retailers were  
still stocking the format, and it's also lived on in a number of  
isolated markets like cruise ships, public libraries, military bases,  
and care facilities.

"It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt,"  
said Distribution Video Audio president Ryan J. Kugler, to the L.A.  
Times. "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."

Consumers have long since indicated their preference for DVD over VHS  
tapes, and Distribution Audio Video is now in the DVD distribution  
business…although it predicts DVDs are also on their way out, to be  
replaced by Blu-ray.

Nonetheless, the shutdown of the last major VHS distributor in the  
United States doesn't mean the world has finally embraced digital  
video. Countless titles and content that have been available on VHS  
has yet to be released on DVD, whether it be classic films from pre- 
war Hollywood or simply performances by under-appreciated bands and  
artists, the amount of material available on DVD has yet to encompass  
everything that was available on VHS. And, of course, VHS will  
continue to live for some time in developing markets around the world.