![]() ![]() That and the threat of another Netflix-Adam Sandler collaboration hitting the streaming queue. And these days all we have to worry about is a decent Wi-Fi connection. Once the DVD and Blu-ray era arrived, we had to worry about scratched discs instead of chewed tapes. Inevitably, this would result in an unwatchable portion of the film, where the scene would transform into a nightmare landscape, as characters faces became distorted and the soundtrack started to sound like it was recorded in an as-yet unexplored portion of the ocean floor. Of course, many of us tried to salvage precious recordings by physically winding the spools ourselves until the tape went taut again. This would happen when one of the two spools within the cassette itself started rotating slower than the other, causing the tape to build up and eventually get chewed into an unwatchable mess. ![]() Was there ever a more soul-crushing sound? ‘What the hell was that?’ A phrase familiar to anyone who’s ever heard the crunch that accompanies the chewing up of a VHS tape. It was all too familiar a situation for many an early-90s kid. Or what about when you didn’t set the timer for long enough and that film you recorded off BBC Two suddenly ended – giving way to an advert from whatever random show you’d previously committed to tape? That jarring moment as Die Hard draws to a close, and John McClane prepares to dispatch Hans Gruber, only to be interrupted by Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse flogging Hula Hoops. Who among us hasn’t sat slouched teary-eyed on the living room floor, staring into Jeremy Paxman’s smug, grainy visage and swearing revenge would one day be ours? That moment of abject horror when a 10-year-old version of yourself went to watch what you thought was going to be a successfully recorded episode of The Fresh Prince only to be confronted with some insipid late-night news discussion show. But when our video players betrayed us, and that timer didn’t do its only damn job, it cut deep. When you managed to record an entire season of a show, especially when you’d also cut all the adverts out, it was a triumph the likes of which few millennials will ever know.Īnd most players came with a handy timer, allowing you to capture shows and films while you were out or asleep. Way before Netflix, in a pre-Sky era, people practised the art of recording stuff from the TV onto video tapes. Here’s a few things we’re glad have been consigned to history.ġ) You only had one job, recording timer! describes the erstwhile tech as “an electro-mechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from television on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette”.īut it’s probably better explained as the way in which most of us experienced Disney films for the first time, recorded our favourite shows, and witnessed classic movie moments – all in grainy, analogue form.ĭespite its lasting charm, there are certainly some things we don’t miss about VHS tapes and the VCR players which used to sit under all our massive CRT TVs. Many of our younger readers will be confused by the whole VCR/VHS thing. Today’s arbitrary event is National VCR Day and we at TrustedReviews are very excited for this important observance. ![]() These days it seems every day is a new national celebration of something. A look back at some of things we miss least about the wonder that was the VCR player.
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