Anyways, I'm always intrigued to see what old electrical media they have in, largely to check whether VHS is still clinging on to dear life!
So I was pleasantly surprised to see two nice VHS players in this store. Neither of them where better than the three I have [I'm a VHS tape collector after all!] but it was great to see.
Big Charity outlets like these are great repositories of dead tech and I always have a gander.
Two more items on my 'I'd love to see Them Again' list are a Laserdisc player, which I've never seen in one and a Bang and Olufson Beogram 4004, the one with the amazing linear tracking stylus. It always made me think of 2001 A Space Odyssey or UFO when I saw them in the 80's.
Have you or had you any of these wondrous sonic gadgets readers? The Beogram, the Laserdisc or the Minidisc Player? Pictures and stories welcomed!
I have never even seen either a laser disc, or a laser disc player. I have no idea if they were available in NZ. All I recall are Beta and VHS video machines. I only ever had VHS, including a dual VHS recorder/DVD recorder. DVD recorders were never common, mostly just players. Alas, mine gave up the ghost years ago. Granted I was never 'into' tech, so I may have missed many things that were around, and might not have known what something was even if I had seen it.
ReplyDeleteDo you still have your VHS player and cassettes Paul?
DeleteYes, although not all the players are in working order. I have about 3 or 4, including the dual DVD recorder/VHS recorder, plus DVD players including one built in to the TV set. No Blu-ray. A few VHS tapes, but I was never a serious collector. My collecting really dates from the arrival of DVD, especially once prices came down, and they became cheap and widely available. Now hardly anyone has DVD any more.
ReplyDeleteI have the impression that DVD didn't last long as a technology but I bet its decades! I've never been drawn to it in the way I was VHS/ You can't even sell DVD's now second hand. Streaming is king!
DeleteDVD first appeared around 1997, so actually not all that long ago. Replaced video in the early 2000s. I was watching Honey West on You Tube for free, but I wanted to own my own copy of the series, that I could watch any time I wanted - sitting up in bed, all nice and cozy on a cold winter evening, so I bought the DVD set. I love DVD boxed sets, with all the extras they usually have. The various extras from the DVDs (extras of this sort first appeared on Laser Disc, and less frequently on video) might be available on line, but with DVDs you get everything in one place. Most of my Bond movies are the two-disc versions, which are much better than the single-disc editions. Only a few shops still have them, and the selection is much more limited than it was just a few years ago. The result is that the collection is only growing at a modest pace these days.
ReplyDelete1997 eh Paul. So DVD is about 23 years old, which is probably quite good for any technology and may even equal VHS's life. Congrats on getting the DVD Honey box set. Box sets may become scarce soon. DVD's can be as cheap as 5 for a £1 at local car boot sales. Not sure they're selling although we have bought some for our Grandson to watch when he's here with us. Stuart Little was one.
DeleteI went through several VCRs but have 3 still working. Two identical high end Sony units and can't remember the other atm. Never got the VHS to dvd copy unit. I sure could use one so I could thin out my several hundred tapes. Above them sits my ancient Pioneer top loading laser disc player. It is either a 1st or 2nd generation machine, no remote and th 1st remotes were wired just like early VCRs. We've a dvd player as well but it isn't Bluray. My desktop PC has a ultimate bluray drive. It can play vcd (was a popular format at many if th asian video stores I used to frequent) plus hd dvd which lost out to bluray. It also handle 3d easily. The last laptop I purchased did not include an optical drive so I have a USB one that is bluray for when I was out on the road.
ReplyDeleteHere we have a company called Half Price Books which is a second hand book store that also handles records, dvds, some magazines, various video games etc. Thy have some deals but stock varies by location since they buy off people who bring stuff in.
Fascinating Lance. I never had a Laserdisc player but find the actual discs really alluring when I see them at media fairs and sense they could be very collactable. Never heard of vcd. That's a new one on me.
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