What's my age again?

The more time passes, the more facts as well as media recorded on VHS becomes more blurry.

Something I've been asked a lot since I started this media archiving effort, is "How long do VHS cassettes last?"

The answer isn't simple, but it is pretty well summed up as "Not long enough." Especially if it's viewed as something to be handed down, viewed often, or expected to be around and playable along with VCRs.

So let's take a look at the age, history, and functionality of the media platform of VHS cassettes.

The late 70s into the early 80s... 

Here in the United States, we got three film releases on VHS in 1977. "Patton", "Sound of Music" and "M*A*S*H" were all simultaneously released from the company Magnetic Video at prices ranging from $50 to $70 each.

As of the posting of this, that means that a lot of VHS cassettes that came out, if they are still around are nearing the 50 year mark. Including some of the original blank videocassettes, which also made their debut in 1977, manufactured by JVC. 

The first affordable stand alone personal video recorders that could use VHS came out around late 1983, which sets the standard for the age of some of the oldest directly recorded family memories on VHS media to be at the most 42 years old.

In 1978, JVC released VCRs with A/V inputs on them, allowing as some families I knew personally did, to set up projectors to play back 8/16/35mm reels and allow the projection to be recorded via video camera and to the VCR, or some years later, directly to the onboard VHS in the videocamera.

Technical difficulties through the 90s...

One of the touted aspects of VHS was it's widespread access to an ever growing catalog of commercial movie releases and the ability to store memories and record anything you wanted that was broadcast or at the other end of your video camera lens. This led to a booming market for audio/video equipment to record and playback whatever you filmed. For a good solid 15 years, the platform of VHS reigned supreme, overtaking others like LaserDisc and the earlier format, BetaMax.

But was it sustainable?

The science behind videocassettes is similar to audio cassettes and the much earlier format size of reel to reel, in that they utilize magnetic tape to capture sound and in the case of VHS, video.

Initial listening and watching of magnetic tape can indeed showcase superior sound and display, but with every replay, with each rewinding, or every over recording in the case of blank tapes, things begin to change.

The magnetic array will begin to lose clarity both in audio and in video presentation. Some of this is from wear and tear, some of this is loss of the magnetic particles from the tape itself leading to a degrading action called "shedding", which can further damage not only the video cassette but your vcrs or old video cameras.

Marketing of the era certainly promoted VHS to be a fantastic product. One that could store and keep investments of moments and movies you loved, nearby and safe in your living room, or to send to others.

I never got this when it originally came out. $60 was a LOT of money.

Whether the makers of VHS knew or not, the simple fact of the matter was that even under the best of circumstances, the nature of the manufacturing process means that even sealed copies of VHS, if opened today, have a fairly high chance of not working correctly. 

Depending on how it was stored, if there are plastic or mechanical part failures, and many other issues that can be problematic for a format that was seen as something that worked for that time as the technological marvel that it was.

A new format and a second chance at life...

In 1997, the DVD format came onto the scene. By 2003 it had overtaken the sales and place of VHS in retail and rental outlets. It also became the next format to inherit the place of keeping data of all kinds, including videos, safe and secure. All on a highly portable and storable medium that seemed far more reliable and longer lasting.

Manufacturing standards and time have shown that DVDs have a very good shot at being a way to save earlier media from films to digital video, music, photos, really almost anything... for anywhere from 30 years to upwards of 100 years. 

I started this effort up because I had a lot of older video and photos I wanted to digitize and save for posterity, for books yet written, and YouTube Channel content I plan to produce. 

Now, I'm offering this out to people as a service to help preserve what memories you have on VHS and VHS-C formats on a far more stable media. 

If you're interested or have further questions, please check out the pricing page!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue

Client work and future formats

Twenty cassettes awaiting digital conversion.

As of the writing of this entry, the website still needs a lot of work done but I've already managed to get few leads on potential clients, and started working on my first official conversion job. It's a total of 5 VHS and 16 VHS-C cassettes.

So far just with the first cassette there's been a nice surprise in that it appears to be recording of either 8 or 16mm film that had been previously converted to that VHS some years ago. And now I'm converting it over to a digital format to send back to them on CD and stored in the cloud. It's a heck of a nice way to know my first paying client really cared about recording the moments of their family way back in 1976. It also in a way reaffirms that what was years ago a passing interest for me, is now a fledgling business effort that will help get newly updated copies to the eyes of younger members of their family.

Future plans and formats

Over the course of this coming year I hope to add lot more equipment to be able to handle additional formats. Currently I am able to handle the two main North American and Japanese formats of video cassette, VHS and VHS-C. I'm currently looking for a machine to do PAL cassette transfers for videos recording in the UK as well.

The next two formats I hope to be able to provide digitization for are 8mm film and 35mm photo negative scanning.

When I do, I'll add the service costs and more information to the price page.

Questions asked

Shipping isn't an option yet, I'm just handling jobs in and around the KC Metro areas, as I do the media pickups/returns personally for an additional fee. I'm also going to offer drop offs at shows I would have a booth at. More information will be available soon on that aspect.

I've had one person inquire about the BetaMax format, and while that is something I'd love to get into, it might be another year before that becomes a viable platform that I can convert.

Another question I've gotten is if I plan on selling any VCRs if I refurbish them. Currently, no, I don't have plans to do so as the studio doesn't have the space for me to add that sort of operation. There would have to be a lot of preparation and on my end more education and experience to do the sort of repairs that a lot of these machines need. In some circumstances the machines can be fairly easy to repair, but the challenge becomes sourcing parts. And of course there is the whole aspect of when dealing with any sort of vintage electronics, offering them at a price that works for both the purchaser and myself. This effort, just like the BetaMax format, will more than likely be something that comes along down the line.

-Mario, the Artisan Rogue

A Lifetime of Aging Tech

Media only lasts as long as the format it is stored on stays clean, usable, and functional platforms are around to be able to view it on.

No matter what generation of technology comes along, the vast majority of it is viewed as being the latest and the greatest, the sleekest and the fastest, with promises of life enhancing aspects bundled with a hefty price tag. But even if you're somebody who doesn't frequent a lot of second hand stores, or has any interest in retro technology, I'm pretty sure you've noticed that a lot of the technology that was even prevalent in your youth is rarely seen to day in any large capacity.

Physical and mechanical ways of storing and creating media have begun to give way to aspects like purely digital media accessible on platforms or so long as your interactive device of choice keeps on running.

Since the earliest cave paintings, humanity has strived to tell our story. Whether it was just the simple handprint statement left behind on many rock walls or someone uploading a vacation video to YouTube, the thought process is still the same.

I was here. I want to leave something behind to be remembered by.

Growing up in the 70s, older members of my family had large collections of 8-tracks, vinyl records, and audio cassettes. I didn't see my first VCR until around 1983. It only enhanced the interest I had in how audio and visual media came into creation. I wondered how television shows could be shown in reruns. I wondered how TV stations were able to broadcast audio and video signals over the air to the television in my parent’s house.

The 1980s were a wild time as many kids myself included were raised on a lot of television and a lot of entertainment devices. My mother's interest as an amateur photographer got me into photography. I was obsessed with the negatives and how her 110 film camera worked.

As time went on with the advent of more advanced equipment and technology, music and video came in smaller and faster packages and methods of delivery. Along the way I kept adding to my collection of recording devices. I loved being able to film and capture moments and relive them in a way. Most of the older people in my family had large photo albums, with names written alongside dates of the photos on the back. It always seemed like such a cool way to capture something permanently. To never forget a birthday, a holiday, a favorite pet, or somewhere amazing that you would visit. It was even better if you had video of any of those.

But sometime in college as I watched computers begin to be adapted to the industries of design and art that I had hoped to work in, I realized that more and more media was being created but that storage and accessibility could someday become a problem. I used to use zip disks, to keep a lot of  artwork on, and many of those things failed. Burning to CD's was an option, but not always the best or more dependable way to do it.

It was at this time that I began to wonder about a lot of the old VHS tapes in my collection. Both commercially made ones as well as many that I had recorded events from my life on. My family still had a working VCR at the time, so I took some of the cassettes out of storage and played them. Much to my disappointment and surprise, many of them were beginning to show signs of degradation. I'd kept them in a box away from the sun, away from heat and moisture. I didn't know why the picture didn't seem so clear or why the audio had issues.

Fast forward many years, and we as a species create more digital media in one day, than anyone could possibly comprehend. To the point of it being so endless an output, that issues of storage or even ever interacting with it again, becomes a truth we face.

This is even more problematic when dealing with legacy media.

Not a lot of it was made with the idea in mind that it would last beyond 20 to 30 years. Even some of the mediums that managed to hold off time such as old photographs that are 70 years and older, can fall victim to the passage of time.

Because of that I decided to learn more and provide a service that helps people get digital versions of a lot of their older media. I'm someone that obsesses over the electronics I own, the media I created, and I am all too aware of what it feels like to lose irreplaceable images and video.

Within the next 10 to 20 years, with the exception of probably a handful of retro enthusiasts, most all the media formats from our youth will be rare and obsolete.

If you feel that something you have recorded is worth saving for future generations, or even your golden years, then I might be able to help in some way.

Nothing lasts forever, but we can make some memories survive a while longer.

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue