Originally published December 7 2005
TiVo presides over the death of VCRs
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
At a promotional sales event, TiVo Vice President Katie Ho oversaw a mock funeral for VCRs and videocassettes, which may be a little premature, as one survey estimates that 97 million homes still use the device.
TiVo hosted a mock funeral for the VCR on Friday as part of a promotional sales event for its digital video recorders, highlighting the expanding role of emerging DVD formats.
"Today we're officially saying farewell to the VCR, goodbye to the flashing 12:00, sayonara to a product that broke new ground in home entertainment when it came to playing movies but fell far short of making it easy for consumers to record and play back television programs," said TiVo Vice President Katie Ho.
People at the event were able to get a 40-hour TiVo Series2 device for free if they traded in an old videotape and signed up for a subscription plan.
The company's lowest-priced boxes retail for $49.99 with a rebate.
While the death of VCRs and the VHS format has been long expected, it may be a bit premature to announce its arrival.
Panasonic and Toshiba still make VCRs, as do lesser-known companies such as Lite-On, a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer that sells its recorders through Wal-Mart Stores.
Brian Lucas, a spokesman for Best Buy, said that the retailer carries less than 10 models of standalone VCRs now.
"We have no plan to phase out all sales of VCR machines at this time," Lucas said.
Target said it is also phasing out sales of VHS tapes.
The increased popularity of DVDs and next-generation DVD formats--Blu-ray and HD DVD--are also having a major impact on the VHS market, according to Steve Kovsky, senior analyst at Current Analysis.
"Motion picture studios are more likely to pull the plug in 2006 because that is when HD DVD and Blu-ray formats will emerge.
The company is now looking for additional partnerships to make up for the eventual loss of its largest partner, DirecTV, which is promoting its own digital video recorder.
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