Circuit City Says No To Tape (1 Viewer)

[MatS]

Circuit City is dumping VHS

 

[TonyD]

so how long does it take before they don't sell vcr's anymore?

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I thought they were going to dump DVD for DIVX!
When they first added the "music department" in their stores circa 1993, it consisted mainly of CDs and VHS movies- NO laserdiscs. Every time I went in there I'd drop a note in the comment box saying "So you now sell VHS tapes, but NO laserdiscs?? What the hell is wrong with you???"

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I doubt they'll stop carrying VCRs for a very, very long time

The media isn't selling, but the decks still will because people have a ton of VHS tapes. My VCR still gets a lot of use

 

[Robert Dunnill]

Every time I went in there I'd drop a note in the comment box saying "So you now sell VHS tapes, but NO laserdiscs?? What the hell is wrong with you???"

Wasn't laserdisc a specialty/niche product that never found favor with the vast majority of the viewing public?

RD (owner of two laserdisc players)

 

[Jeff Kleist]

They carried LD players, they could have carried some LDs

I think it was more that they had no racks designed for LDs, and media is not their target, hardware is. They price mass media cheaply to get you in to sell you hardware

 

[Frank Anderson]

Anyone want to take a guess how much longer it will be before they stop making VHS movies?

 

[Ken Garrison]

I'm glad to see VHS phasing out like that. However, when I go to my local video store, I still see a lot of people renting VHS. Also, what's sad is, after I complained about them only having the Fullscreen releason of JP3, the lady said there's only a few people that prefer OAR and most of the other customers whine and bi*** about "those stupid black bars" Know what? I'm gonna take a poster from widescreenadvocate.com and ask her if I can post it in the store so it can educated the public. Anyway, back to VHS. Glad to hear Circuit City is phasing it out. DVD players are real cheap now. So, everybody should have a DVD player now. No more fuzzy picture, no more farts and chirps on a bad part of the movie, ALMOST no more pan and scan, and NO MORE loosing the stereo signal when the tape is bad. DVD ALL THE WAY!!!!!

 

[HenrikTull]

Oh great. As we didn't have enough problems fighting against P/S product before. I can see where this is going... :rolleyes

 

[David Lambert]

Pretty soon I can imagine a combo DVD/PVR device that is specifically targeted at replacing everything a VHS unit once did. Yes, there's recordable DVD's, but people seem to prefer PVR's (I don't own one, though).
Anyway, I'm not really surprised. Recently Best Buy reduced their VHS section *again*...this time cutting it down to ONLY the titles available EXCLUSIVELY on VHS. I didn't see a single title in that section which was available on DVD. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, though...it's not like I'm gonna buy one.
As for how long it takes to stop making VHS players, well...didn't I see an HTF thread just recently that the last of the USA-sold LD players were only just now being phased out? Aren't LD players still being made in some places, like Japan? VHS will still sell at your Wal-Marts and your Targets and in the malls (i.e., Suncoast). But the change IS happening, isn't it?

 

[Jeff Pryor]

I see VHS going the way of the audio cassette: they're still available but in dwindling numbers. It will be a while before VHS disappears completely, maybe as much as 10 to 15 years.

 

[Craig_T]

Well, given the fact that you can still buy audio cassette tapes practically everywhere after CD has been dominate for over a decade now, i say decades yet. Blank tapes and players will still be sold long after prerecorded tapes become scarce.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Aren't LD players still being made in some places, like Japan?

I read an article last week that stated that Pioneer will be manufacturing the last LD player for Japan in March 2003.

Well, with VHS winding down so dramatically now, and LD moribund, I just want to know what the heck Lucas will be releasing the Star Wars '97 SE OT's to in November 2003?

As we all know, the last time Lucas released these titles to "Home Video", it was November 2000. At that time he released the '97 SE OT to VHS, VHS Widescreen, overseas LD, and overseas VCD. The DVD segment of the market (close to 10 million strong at that time) was ignored due to claimed "market considerations". It has been rumored for some time that there will be one last release of these titles to the VHS segment of the home video market in November 2003; mainly to give retailers something to sell to consumers in May 2005 when Episode 3 hits the theaters. (Of course, Lucas made all these plans back in 1997 when it was thought that DVD wouldn't even get into 10 million homes until around 2005.) That November 2003 release to VHS now seems hopeless.

Could these events, perhaps, get us a basic release of the OT in November 2003??! One can only hope!

 

[Todd Hochard]

Pretty soon I can imagine a combo DVD/PVR device that is specifically targeted at replacing everything a VHS unit once did.

You mean, like the Replay 5000 proposed for later this year?

 

[Robert Dunnill]

They carried LD players, they could have carried some LDs

In 1998, Fry's sold LD players, but I don't remember them carrying discs. I think the discs were too bulky and slow-moving to make the effort of selling them worthwhile from the chain's perspective.

RD

 

[EricCr]

I'll admit that I don't know much about PVRs but wouldn't you still need to have something like a VCR or DVD recorder if you wanted to be able to keep whatever you taped long term? Even the PVRs with lots of storage will fill up eventually and then you will have to record over stuff unless you dump it to tape/disc first.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Even the PVRs with lots of storage will fill up eventually and then you will have to record over stuff unless you dump it to tape/disc first.

That's a good point.

If they can get a good DVD-RW deck to market at around a $500 price point (2003?), then I believe that that will be the true replacement for VHS.

 

[Dave H]

Good news though to see VHS is heading in the right direction: death.

 

[Brian E]

Anyone want to take a guess how much longer it will be before they stop making VHS movies?

Quite a while I think. I do think that you'll only see new blockbusters and specific classics (Star Wars, etc.)& probably some kids titles soon. I was talking to a manager at Best Buy today and commented how they had just added another aisle and a half to the DVD section, taking that space away from VHS. He said that the would probably only be carrying about 25 or 30 titles on VHS soon. They are very happy with DVD sales and the numbers for VHS just aren't there anymore.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Dave, I like your idea of a dvd/pvr combo, but what I yearn for is a DVD+RW/TiVO combo.