Eric J. Gruber

After 30 years, Variety is reporting that VHS is dead.

Granted, I don’t consider Variety the authority on this issue (just because you’ve got an office in New York doesn’t mean you have insight into everything), but I have to agree on this one.

I’ve never liked the VCR, or VHS tapes for that matter. There is a strong likelihood that Ember will never get food or toys stuck in our VCR player, because I’m hoping to give it the boot before she starts walking. We never use it, and when I want to use it to record something, I never have blanks tapes. Not to mention, I hate using it. I’m no dummy, but man I hate telling a VCR what to do. It has, in my humble opinion, the least intuitive interface of all consumer products.

However, there are two redeeming qualities about VHS that I’ll miss.

The first is the packaging. DVDs waste so much. A lot of plastic goes into making DVD cases, which don’t typically get recycled. How many DVD cases have you owned that had those little teeth broken out of them? Do you recycle the case? Probably not. It usually just gets trashed and you go buy another case. With VHS tapes, all you had (most of the time) was a paper-based cover that could easily be recycled. Or, if you threw it away, at least it would be biodegradable. I wish DVD makers would use the same jewel box cases being used for CDs and computer games. Just think of all the space savings on the shelves too!
The other great quality VHS had going for it was the capability to copy programs, movies, etc., with little hassle. As the technology to reproduce digital items improves, we’ll start to see (and already do) more restrictions on how, what and how many times digital content can be copied. Welcome to the world of Digital Rights Management.

But with VHS that wasn’t such a concern because the quality didn’t closely match the original. Sure, the industry wasn’t thrilled about copying items onto VHS, but you could always spot a VHS copied program because it looked a little crappy. No so anymore.

Even with these reasons, it’s good to put VHS to bed. Although, I know of one place where I’ll need to have a spare VHS tape lying around if I want to keep my sanity: the hospital where Amy gave birth to Ember. It hasn’t exactly caught up to the DVD age yet.

Not long ago my wife and I were at the World Market and I noticed a book at the counter called “101 things to do before you die,” by Richard Home.

I flipped through it in the checkout line. Then I dismissed it as nothing more than a marketing gimmick; just another impulse buy. But now I’m not so sure.

One of the items on the list of 101 things was write a book.

Yesterday I met someone who wrote a book. It won’t be an Amazon best seller. I’m positive you haven’t heard of it. I’m even more positive it’s not in print.

Still, the guy along with his wife, wrote a book. I’ve wanted to write a book for awhile now. But I’ve been busy and I’m not sure what I’d write. Still, I want to do it.

What do you want to do before you die?