The video cassette recorder (VCR) forever changed the way the world consumed media and would eventually pave the way for technological advancements like the DVD player, blu-ray, and even cultural giants like Netflix and Blockbuster. Originally for the ultra rich with a price tag of $50,000 ($400,000+ with today's inflation), the VCR quickly became a household staple that would eventually become another casualty to the ever changing media world. In the 1980's the VCR ranged from $600-$1,200 making it one of the most affordable pieces of technology for its era.
Invented in Japan, the VCR was originally priced at $50,000 and about the size of a small European car. In just under 10 years, the VCR would be mass produced by Sony Corporation and just ten years after that would be made widely available to the average citizen. It was not until the 1980s that the VCR would become so mainstream that its influence on American culture would be truly understood.
The 1980's was a decade of pomp and circumstance where to be rich was to be expected. Television series such as "Dallas" and "Dynasty" took America by storm as the ultra rich became normal people. This led to the VCR's prime era where television recording was introduced to the world. People of all demographics would record these shows to rewatch at a later time. The VCR was the DVR of the 1980s.
The 1990s ushered in a new era of media consumption in the United States and the VCR was at the center. Companies like Blockbuster and Netflix began mass renting VHS movies and television shows to Americans. Television shows like "Seinfeld" and "Friends" normalized VCR rentals with episodes centered around movie rental stores where characters would find love partners or run into an enemy from the past as part of the plot line.
The mid-1990s brought forth a worthy competitor to the VCR that would eventually lead to the technology's death. The DVD player ushered in a new era for video consumption and led to new innovations such as blu-ray. The United States also saw the introduction of video gaming systems that were a 2-in-1 console that would play video games and DVDs. The VCR tried to adapt by introducing the VCR/DVD combination but the tech industry was just evolving too quickly. Soon video cameras would take DVDs or memory cards making the VHS and VCR obsolete for home video production.
In 2016, the world saw the last VCR sold. In its final year on the market, the VCR still sold 750,000 units around the world. The market finally sealed the coffin to one of the most influential pieces of technology to ever be produced. The influence of the VCR may be forgotten the impact of them will forever be a part of our cultural evolution. The VCR ushered in an era of technological evolution that forever changed American society.
Though many Gen Z and millennials do not remember much about the VCR, it helped transform us and make us into the people that we are today. Dreamworks, Pixar, and Disney transformed the media market and utilized the mass popularity and accessibility of the VCR to change the market and influence American culture for nearly half a century. With inventions like the DVD player, Blu-ray player, and gaming consoles, the VCR gave birth to the idea of at home media consumption that would later produce some of the world's most innovative and competitive forms of technology.
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