The VHS and Its Impact on Society
After World War II, Americans caught their first glimpse into a technology that would later inspire the first home-use VCR. We can trace back the first roots of the technology to the end of WW2 when the German Magnetophone was brought to the United States. This technology was used to record sound and radio, especially popular radio shows like Bing Crosby (Browne, 2000). In 1956, the Ampex Corporation created the VRX - 1000 (videotape recorder) which expanded on the concept of audio recording and tapped into video recording. With this $50,000 technology, TV stations did not have to repeat broadcasts. It featured a short-lived rotating head that captured video and audio as well as magnetic tape. Both technologies eventually inspired Sony to make a product that would record both video and audio that could be more accessible to the the average consumer.
The First Accessible VCR for Corporate Work : CV – 2000
By 1966, the videocassette recorder industry was initiated by Sony; that year, the company sold the first “cost-effective” VCR the CV – 2000 which used a black and white reel-to-reel format. Although, it wasn’t considered cost-effective for the masses—just for corporate productions. At the time, it seemed that Sony took a risk in creating a product that did not have a clear market with demanding customers. The product was sold for $800 dollars which features black and white audio and video recording for one hour (Browne, 2000). The moment the CV – 2000 reached the market, a new industry was formed creating a consumer base of individuals and companies in “education, business and medical fields” (Browne, 2000). Eventually, Sony added the portable U-Matic machine to the VCR selling for $1,000 (Browne, 2000). News stations got ahold of this new technology and used it to efficiently lower film production costs.
By 1975, Sony created the Betamax, the first VCR for home use. This model had “1/2 inch tape that was extra thin, a narrow head and reduced tape speed, and, therefore, the tape was able to fit into a less expensive cassette” (Browne, 2000). It was easy to use, cheaper and more accessible to the average American household. Its functions included recording a program while watching another show at the same time, pausing to skip commercials and could play pre-recorded tapes. As Sony notes, for families “’any time can be prime time.’” (Browne, 2000).
A year after its release, the Japan Victor Company created the VHS System using VHS tapes that could record double the Betamax’s time. For years, these two company’s where competing to see who could make technology that would record the most amount of content. Eventually, the VHS VCR overcame the Betamax and became the leading technology in the industry with low prices and long recording times (SeeThru, 2019).
Benefits of the VCR
The VCR “changed television and film viewing experiences drastically” (Browne, 2000). Videocassette recording created new ways of communication that benefited many different entities and professions, including the media. For media providers, videocassette recorders gave news reporters the ability to record live events as they unfolded. Globally, the VCR was able to provide new ways of watching video to undeveloped countries with less viewing options. Content sharing lead to more global empathy as well. In Hollywood, the VCR kickstarted “consumer electronic, entertainment and marketing industries” (Browne, 2000). New channels like Court TV, MTV music videos and video games became American pop-culture.
Downfalls of the VCR
As result of more leisure time, families were less active and prone to watching more television than usual. Issues of illegal recording and copyright law became apparent in the years following the VCR’s release such as “home recording of material broadcasts and commercial piracy” (SeeThru, 2019). Eventually, Disney and Universal sued Sony for infringing on their copyrights. Giving the consumer control, VCR companies took the hit for creating a technology that threatened theaters and broadcasters. Often governments would use it for classified info, in which the content was regulated by the VCR companies.
Sources
SeeThru: How The VHS Tape Transformed Society. (2019, October 21). Retrieved October 03, 2020,
from https://www.seethru.co.uk/2019/10/21/how-the-vhs-tape-transformed-society/
Browne, Courtenay, and Dan Johnson. "VCR development, diffusion and impact." Glendale: SMECC 15 (2000).
VCR CV- 2000 - https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/1965-sony-cv-2000-first-consumer-video-tape-recorder.255651/
VCR Betamax - https://www.southernadvantage.com/products/sony-sl-hf1000-super-betamax-vcr
VCR VHS - https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3400001/r-p-vhs-vcr-1976-2016/
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