Cindy Hamilton wrote:

On Apr 30, 10:22 am, Alric Knebel wrote:


I know this thread is about converters, but I have to say, I can't
believe anybody is still using VCRs. I know some old recorded programs
are fun to archive, with the commercial breaks and all intact, and the
watching a broadcast show from ten years ago is like time traveling.
What I did was transfer a couple of these things over to DVD. I can't
see this affection for VHS.

And it should be noted that those tapes will eventually lose their
image. Tapes will glitch up, even if you don't watch them.


I use my VCR to tape stuff to watch later. It's cheap, I already have
the
stuff, and the technology is adequate to my purpose. Once I've
watched
the show, I reuse the tape for something else. Amusing though Dirty
Jobs is, I can't see archiving them for posterity.

That said, when my VCR dies I'll probably get a digital recorder of
some
sort, just so I don't get "the look" from the kid at Best Buy.

Cindy Hamilton

LOL!!!!!

About recording stuff, I had a VCR since around the mid-80s. I used to
record tons of stuff, and sometimes I'd break the tab out so as not to
record over it. Then I took enjoyment from the sheer fact that some of
these tapes were so old. Some of them would have just tidbits of
things; a segment from an obscure late-night syndicated comedy show, for
instance. The fun was the unedited broadcasts, commercials and all.

And then there's this other thing. Like you, I'd use the same tapes
over and over. Because I recorded so much stuff, I had a lot of tapes,
so I could change them out if one became full and there were still
programs on it that I hadn't watched yet. I rarely watched a show
during the actual broadcast and I've watched and recorded C-SPAN's
WASHINGTON JOURNAL since the early 90s, day after day, and I'd fill
these tapes up. Then when I recorded over them, maybe the newer program
wouldn't completely cover the previous program. As I made the
transition from VHS recording to DVD recording, I began going through
all of these tapes to find if I wanted to transfer anything to DVD.
Man, it was like an archeological dig. When a recording would end, the
image would fall downward, revealing a segment of a previously recorded
program. I found C-SPAN recordings of interviews with guests going back
to 1996. There were two intact episodes of THE FLASH, commercials and
all, from, like, 1990. And the fact that some of the tapes were
glitched up -- you know, that ribbon that appears across the image, and
drops through it -- was part of the charm. I thought all of this would
be cool to preserve, so I began transferring entire tapes to DVD.

But, alas, Katrina came along and destroyed most of the tapes.

Yes, yes, I know all this is geeky as hell, but it was so much fun.
--
_________________
Alric Knebel

http://www.ironeyefortress.com/C-SPAN_loon.html
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