Everything old is new again

Talk about music, movies, television, books, and other media. No religious or political discussion allowed.
CharlieR
Posts: 429
Joined: April 23rd, 2016, 8:04 am

Everything old is new again

Postby CharlieR » December 19th, 2016, 8:55 am

Outside the world or video games, there have also been other older thing to regain popularity lately. One form of media that was popular even before retro games came back to popularity was vinyl records. Even new albums have come out on vinyl, and I've even seen new cassettes! The one old form of media I use very often that is out of style are VHS tapes. Frankly, these are way better than dvd's in my opinion. Just pop it in and play. It's kind of like a retro game where you don't have to sit through menus. They are also way more durable, if a DVD gets a scratch, that is pretty much the end, but a VHS tape can last for years. I have Simpsons tapes that are over 20 years old that work great!

This also applies to toys. Barnes and Noble has a section for retro toys. Anybody else notice retro stuff coming back in style?

User avatar
astrodomekid
Posts: 183
Joined: September 10th, 2016, 12:48 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby astrodomekid » December 19th, 2016, 12:50 pm

I heartfully agree with VHS, and I really wish it would make a comeback. I have very fond memories of watching films like Babe, Stuart Little, Star Wars, Rugrats in Paris, Toy Story, and A Bug's Life just to name a few. Even the distributor logos were so much better, as newer logos cannot match the charm of the old days IMO. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LxNMR5t820s

snakeboy
Posts: 308
Joined: April 30th, 2015, 3:40 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby snakeboy » December 19th, 2016, 10:15 pm

CharlieR wrote:The one old form of media I use very often that is out of style are VHS tapes. Frankly, these are way better than dvd's in my opinion. Just pop it in and play. It's kind of like a retro game where you don't have to sit through menus.


Funny thing is, when DVD's first came out, they actually had a big advantage over VHS in this regard. When you put a DVD in, it might take you to a menu screen, but as soon as you pressed play, you were right into the movie, as opposed to VHS where you had to fast forward through previews. Now, whenever you insert a DVD or Bluray, it will almost always immediately take you to previews - some of them unskippable, though you can usually fast forward through them.

So, yeah, I suppose you're right: everything old is indeed new again!

Robotrek
Posts: 638
Joined: June 6th, 2016, 9:24 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby Robotrek » December 20th, 2016, 1:08 am

I can't agree with VHS. My parents had a laserdisc unit back in the 80s, and the picture quality was simply unmatched at the time. VHS couldn't come CLOSE. And laserdiscs were MORE convenient than VHS. Granted, VHS was much better than CED (which we had first, and would watch the Wizard of Oz on. Also, it was a bird, not a hanging munchkin.) which was also analog, but VHS simply had too many flaws. Same with Vinyl, sure, vinyl is fun, but the whole "Vinyl sounds better" nonsense needs to go away, as CD's CLEARLY have an edge in terms of clarity. However, I didn't listen to CD's until the mid 90s when I got a CD drive for my PC, and bought my first CD (which was Rage Against The Machine's first album, if you're wondering).

bluenote
Posts: 290
Joined: August 14th, 2015, 5:16 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby bluenote » December 20th, 2016, 10:38 am

Robotrek wrote:I can't agree with VHS. My parents had a laserdisc unit back in the 80s, and the picture quality was simply unmatched at the time. VHS couldn't come CLOSE. And laserdiscs were MORE convenient than VHS. Granted, VHS was much better than CED (which we had first, and would watch the Wizard of Oz on. Also, it was a bird, not a hanging munchkin.) which was also analog, but VHS simply had too many flaws. Same with Vinyl, sure, vinyl is fun, but the whole "Vinyl sounds better" nonsense needs to go away, as CD's CLEARLY have an edge in terms of clarity. However, I didn't listen to CD's until the mid 90s when I got a CD drive for my PC, and bought my first CD (which was Rage Against The Machine's first album, if you're wondering).


There are many more factors that come into play with the whole vinyl vs cd debate. Audiophiles will debate this until the end of time, there really is no clearcut answer. Some records I've listened to really do sound better than their cd counterpart, but more times than not, this comes down to mastering, and not the medium itself. You are right though, clarity usually wins for CD.

Regarding VHS, I really don't see why anyone would want to revisit that technology. It was great at the time, but man, compared to DVD, they are awful. They don't last, (the tape would get tangled, degrade, etc), you had to rewind them, and the picture quality was terrible compared to dvd.

To each their own, but I would never watch another movie on VHS.

Sut
Posts: 845
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 4:23 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby Sut » December 20th, 2016, 11:42 am

I would never go back to VHS having to watch 15 minutes of adverts before the movie. Oh wait - will still do ! no wonder people download films, it cuts all the crap out.

Seriously though the video quality is really poor, I don't think you can go back especially in the HD era.
Reliability improved but I remember having to get the Video repair man round every couple of years to sort the tape heads or motor out.

User avatar
scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby scotland » December 20th, 2016, 12:02 pm

bluenote wrote: Regarding VHS, I really don't see why anyone would want to revisit that technology. It was great at the time, but man, compared to DVD, they are awful. They don't last, (the tape would get tangled, degrade, etc), you had to rewind them, and the picture quality was terrible compared to dvd. To each their own, but I would never watch another movie on VHS.


I am also solidly in the "No More VHS group."

Video tape opened up the whole idea of recording live tv, renting movies, direct to video movie, work out videos, 'video nasties', the supreme court case that said 'delayed viewing is totally okay', etc. I totally get wanting to preserve 1980s and 1990s stuff that was on VHS but never digitized. Preservation is one thing, but preferring VHS to digital as being better quality just doesn't seem a solid argument. Tapes are never going to be as good or clear as the original they were made from, the tapes stretched, they are sensitive to heat and humidity, the heads get dirty, there is some mold that eats the tape, and Macrovision. Plus they take up a lot of room.

Now, retro toys are another thing.

User avatar
Rev
Posts: 1487
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:31 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby Rev » December 20th, 2016, 4:46 pm

The only perk of VHS is that a lot of movies were never released on DVD so if you want to own a copy of them you either can A.) get the VHS or B.) try and find a download. So for collectors VHS does have some perks. I know for certain horror movie collectors they own a lot of VHS tapes for this reason.

Voor
Posts: 1555
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby Voor » December 20th, 2016, 8:46 pm

I was tempted to get into vinyl, mainly for the coolness factor, but decided that the expense and hassle wasn't worth it--vinyl is usually double the cost and a decent player is $150. I do like having a physical copy (as oppose to everything on my phone), so CDs are a good compromise to me. I'm not as worried about sound quality as others are. So....I'm taking the money that would have went into a record player and am getting a new CD player and a decent set of headphones.

Regarding VHS. Nothing to add other than the fact that it produced one of the craziest products ever: the VHS tape rewinder!!! That thing's only fiction was to rewind the tapes (to help you avoid paying a $3 fine.....what?!?)

User avatar
scotland
Posts: 2561
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

Re: Everything old is new again

Postby scotland » December 21st, 2016, 1:42 am

Voor wrote: Regarding VHS. Nothing to add other than the fact that it produced one of the craziest products ever: the VHS tape rewinder!!! That thing's only fiction was to rewind the tapes (to help you avoid paying a $3 fine.....what?!?)


The story was that it saved some wear and tear on your VCR too, and made cheap christmas gifts to grandpa and uncle paul. VCRs also always let you know what time it was - 12:00.

Another plus of VCRs was its the only way to play some Sonic Fury on your Action Max! (and remember, the good guys have two tail pipes!) Talk about double retro - you need a CRT and a VCR to play this. I don't think you can emulate this kinda of '80s sweetness.

Image


Return to “Other Media”