The VCR, debuted at CES in 1970. On October 27, 2008 JVC stopped producing VHS-format videocassette players and will end global sales when existing inventories run out.

On December 23, 2008, the last major supplier of pre-recorded VHS tapes, Distribution Video Audio Inc. of Palm Harbor, Florida, shipped its final truckload. Without new decks or media, these events signal the end of VHS as a supported format. The VHS format remains the public’s first experience with the era of video recording. As an analog format, it recorded images on magnetic tape wound on a spool. The VHS cassette tape was born.

“Panasonic Corp. (TSE:6752) and others no longer make the once-ubiquitous machines, so JVC’s exit rings the curtain down on major Japanese manufacturers’ presence in the VCR market.” JVC CEASES PRODUCTION OF STAND-ALONE VCRS, MARKING END OF ERA, tradingmarkets.com, [27 Oct 2008]

“The last major Hollywood movie to be released on VHS was “A History of Violence” in 2006. By that point major retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart were already well on their way to evicting all the VHS tapes from their shelves so the valuable real estate could go to the sleeker and smaller DVDs and, in more recent seasons, the latest upstart, Blu-ray discs. Kugler ended up buying back as much VHS inventory as he could from retailers, distributors and studios; he then sold more than 4 million VHS videotapes over the last two years.” VHS era is winding down, Geoff Boucher latimes.com, [22 Dec 2008]

Now maybe beta can sleep easy.