Last manufacturer pulls the plug on the VCR
 

The last remaining manufacturer of VHS machines will discontinue production by the end of the month:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/83427...ever-vcr-month

Must say like in the comments, I'm surprised this is happening now and that it didn't happen years ago.

I'd go and buy the last of the VCR's, but they are crap. Funai never made anything good to write home about.

Funai machines were crap even in the 80s heyday of the VCR. I can't imagine how crappy newer ones must be....

We have a Funai built DVD/VCR combo (DVD recorder, "high end" model). It played 4 tapes before dying.. Returned, got another, that one made it 3 tapes in, and destroyed my baby video tape. Yea, I was pissed, and what did they offer me? "Using old tapes is not garanteed for playback quality". No apology or anything, just a big FU.

So would that be FU-nai?

Those Funai combos, never did play tapes well or record well. The DVD was passable, nothing special. I friend bought two and returned two, always some fault. They were Funai products, either Magnavox or Sylvania.
She paid the difference and bought a Samsung. It seems to be OK yet.
I've repaired several VHS tapes. They're easy to take apart and splice. You only lose a little bit and most of the time, they work well. :scratch2:

If the tape has not been stretched badly a gentle pull through your fingers will flatten the lumps so it is semi-playable in the damaged spot...Otherwise I splice them.

"Funai" was quite popular in Romania becuase of cheap price, otherwise the qualgty was crap.
I dind't know that somebody still made V.C.R.'s.

dieseljeep and Electronic M, I have since spliced the tape, but it ate through the part where my first birthday candle was being blown out. That's pretty hurtful. I have the part of the eaten tape somewhere in a box. Kept it in case one day it could be fixed, but it's stretched and wrinkled.

Funny part about that is Nai as used in Japanese is sorta equivalent to Not in English. It is often found at the end of Japanese sentences as say something is not the case in a similar way that young folks here will say 'this is the case, NOT!'

You know it occurs to me that funai being the last VCR maker must be the VCR equivalent of what it would be like if the last new cars to be made were Yugos...

Yeah sure. Just take a proper Videophile format like Laserdisc and leave it out in the rain you uneducated twits.

I have a Panasonic VCR, but I don't use it very much since getting an LG Blu-ray player a few years ago (I have one older Memorex DVD player in storage, but bought the Blu-ray when that format was becoming popular; turns out to be one of the best things I ever did). I use the VCR strictly to play back old VHS tapes (I have about 60 such cassettes), mostly old ('60s-'80s) TV series and movies. The rest of my favorite shows are on DVD.

The VCR is used so seldom I expect it to last at least a few more years. My Panasonic PV-4022 VCR has no belts to stretch or break (strictly gear drive), so that's another reason I'm thinking the unit will last me quite a while; yet a third is that I am slowly replacing my VHS collection with DVDs.

I see a day coming when the only VHS tapes I'll have left will be those of programs or movies I cannot find on DVD or Blu-ray. My Blu-ray player may (probably will) get very light use from now on anyway, since my Roku player allows me access to Netflix; just click on the Netflix icon on the home screen and, if you have a subscription to the service (as I do; I've had such a subscription for some time, and I use it often), you can watch any title in their library at will.

I was not surprised to see, on ZDNet.com, the announcement that the VCR (and the VHS video format) was just about dead, and in fact will be after this month. VHS was an excellent format in its day, but time and technology march on, making it obsolete. Most existing VCRs are probably being used these days just to watch old tapes, not to record, since VCRs cannot tune to DTV digital subchannels without a cable box.

Recording TV programs is not yet illegal, but the manufacturers of VHS/DVD players are required to omit RF tuners so that TV programs cannot easily be recorded. There is a law on the books now, the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which was enacted to stop illegal recording of TV shows (where the intent is to sell the tapes after they are recorded).

Long before the DMCA was enacted, there was an announcement TV stations used to make at sign on and sign off that stated, in no uncertain terms, that TV shows must not be recorded or otherwise copied, or that monetary charges, i. e. admission and/or cover charges, must not be made for viewing of such programs in public places such as bars, taverns, etc. The announcement went (in part) like this: "The programs broadcast by this station may not be used for any purpose except exhibition at the time of their broadcast . . ." This means, of course, that the shows were meant to be viewed only at the time the TV stations or networks aired them; time shifting, using VTRs (video tape recorders) was not allowed. If you missed a show, too bad.

The omission of RF tuners on all new VHS/DVD players is meant to force people to buy the DVD of any program they want to keep. The goal is to eventually stop home recording of television programs, which could be a violation of copyright laws. With just about everything being trademarked these days and movie/TV production companies becoming increasingly protective of their products, I would not be one bit surprised if recording TV programs is eventually declared illegal.

Im amazed they stayed in operation this long!! (I didnt realise anyone was still making em)

I first read about this on Steve Hoffmans site.....