You might be stunned to learn that mainstream watchmaker Seiko still manufactures affordable mechanical wristwatches.
One of the great thing about TiVo-type DVR's is that you can, in the words of TV junk impresario Ron Popeil, "set it and forget it". The hard drive inside can often hold dozens of hours of video. If you're a sports fan or want to record every episode of a TV series, it's a no-brainer.
I don't miss the days of having to keep a steady stock of VHS tapes around for the same purpose. I was admittedly obsessive about recording every episode of some shows, so I'd have several tapes going that I'd have to shuffle between over the course of months. My favorite record speed was "LP" the 4 hour mode; a good compromise between image quality and how much I could fit on a tape. By the 90's most VCR's weren't equipped to record in that mode anymore. Pretty much everyone was content to record at the slowest EP speed that fit six hours of smeary video onto a single cassette. I shouldn't complain. It's those long record times that helped win the war between VHS & Beta.
Here's a pre-packaged set of six TDK videos designed to capitalize on that idea. Sold as a "Special Event 6-Pack" back in 1980, this case packs a half-dozen "super avilyn" formulated VHS tapes (a tape formulation they used well into the 90's). From the graphics on the box, I think that they're cashing in on 1980 being an Olympic year. These TDK tapes were among my favorites to use back in the 80's. The tapes were really solid performers, and (I feel a little odd saying this) I really liked the cardboard sleeve. The matte cardstock and unmistakably 80's "tech" graphics looked pretty sophisticated, and there was a well though out space to list the contents of the tape. Eventually the cardboard sleeves became quite flimsy, as did the cassettes shells themselves... but back in the 6-pack days TDK's were king.
I recall blank tapes being sold at retail in packs of 2 or 3 in the late 80's, but never a six pack in elaborate branded packaging like this (with a plastic handle yet!). A six pack of tapes would have been on the expensive side in 1980. I remember paying nearly $20 for my first VHS cassette (yes... I still have it) in 1984, so what would a six-pack of a higher end brand cost?
Perhaps this pack was sold by a discount warehouse club type store back then, but I think it still would have been a pricey proposition. For this reason (and I admit to feeling silly predicting this now) when there are VHS collectors someday I think this little oddity could be interesting to them. Then again, perhaps I'm being a little too precious about a box of everyman blank media. The person who originally bought this pack wasn't thinking into the future beyond the many hours of TV he was about to record. He probably left the store with this six-pack of VHS tapes under one arm, and a six-pack of something even more fun under the other.
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VHS vs. DVD
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ION USB VCR - last chance to "be kind & rewind"
Later when I was in film school, we were still using two-piece “portapak” pro setups. It was an interesting arrangement, sort of like getting stereo components. You could mix and match your recorder unit and the camera you wanted. I started off with a very entry level camera, and moved up to something with more oomph later. This Toshiba IK-1850 would have been a nice unit back then, and there are a few lessons here even for modern camcorders.
I don't know exactly what year this is from, but I'd guess early 80's. Auto-focus was a new feature, and from the size of the AF module on the lens, this camera was probably pretty early to the party. Astonishingly the Toshiba has a removable lens, a rare feature on consumer cameras then... and still almost unheard of now.
I've learned to live without the above features when using a modern camera, but if there are any of you out there who happen to make camcorders for a living, here are the features from 20 years ago that never should have disappeared. Present on the Toshiba is a tripod mounting screw (two of them actually!) and a manual zoom lens. Some late model camcorders lack tripod mounting facilities (ghastly!), and substitute digital magnification for a real optical zoom. Digital jiggery pokery is okay, but there's a lot to be said for getting the picture right in the first place.
Even more important, this Toshiba has a mic input jack. Bliss. You don't need to be a pro to want to use a microphone that cost more than the ten cent one originally built into the camera. Remember that the best place for the camera is seldom the best place for the microphone. Wouldn't all those video bloggers out there benefit from a nice 
I'm oversimplifying, though the VCR I had up until the early 90's was a top-loader with a corded remote. I was spoiled with forward and reverse scan on mine as well as a noise-filled pause... so there. Actually what I'd like to come back is something I remember seeing done in the 90's. As TV remotes got more sophisticated, the seldom used buttons were hidden away under a cover. Some companies went as far as to provide a pair of remotes (that's TWO remotes for you to lose in the couch!), a much simplified day-to-day unit, and a Sunday-go-to-meetings fancy pants one.
Were I more of a conspiracy theorist, I'd say that these particularly unhelpful ads are to goad consumers into buying a new LCD television or subscribe to cable TV rather than buying & understanding a $20 converter box. I do read a few "behind the scenes" TV industry journals, and there are a shocking number of people surveyed who don't understand the changeover, or that they can keep their old TV's and keep getting free programming. I guess that we will all be getting phone calls next February from a technophobe friend or relative wondering where Oprah disappeared to.
