Another nail in VHS' coffin

For VHS, it's RIP.

Variety, the entertainment industry newspaper of record, pronounced the VHS format dead last week. The paper noted that "the format had been expected to survive until January, but high-def formats and next-generation vidgame consoles hastened its final decline."

Still, VHS managed to account for as much as $300 million a year until this year, Variety said, when studios stopped manufacturing the format. This wasn't the first eulogy for the tape technology that recorded many a Seinfeld episode; TiVo--not a disinterested party, obviously--held a mock funeral a year ago.

"VHS is survived by a child, DVD, and by TiVo, VOD and DirecTV," the paper wrote. "It was preceded in death by Betamax, Divx, mini-discs and laserdiscs."

Blog community response:

"If you don't already have a DVR or aren't using BitTorrent or iTunes to get your video, now might be a good time to enter the 21st century."
--TVSquad

"Betamax has been long gone, but it can now rest peacefully knowing the inferior technology that stomped it out has lost it's 30 year battle for survival."
--My Southern California Trail Running

"While VHS is hardly the format of choice these days, there are still many, many home movies and other favorite recordings and commercial releases still floating around in VHS. How long until VHS players themselves go the way of the 8-track player?"
--GamersCircle