TBT: The VCR and Betamax

Yesterday, June 7th, was the 42nd anniversary of when Sony introduced the Betamax recorder, and TV watching would never be the same.

The introduction of the Betamax was a game changer at the the time, but it's heyday was short lived. It was only a year later that the VHS tape hit the market.

VHS tapes allowed for a longer recording time, and the machines they played in were cheaper to produce and buy than the betamax.

I bought my first VCR in 1985 with the sole purpose of recording 'Late Night with David Letterman'. I was, and will always be, a huge David Letterman fan.

I recorded just about all of those Letterman shows and later, when he moved to CBS, I recorded most of those as well until about 2001.

The video cassette recorder was a must have. Did you know anyone who didn't own one? It was the perfect invention. You no longer had to be a slave to the TV in order to watch your favorite show.

I remember a time when if you missed a show, you had to wait for the rerun to catch it. If you missed a daily of nightly show, forget it. It was gone. Then the VCR came along.

Honestly, it's what the i-pad is today. Once you got one, you couldn't imagine ever living without one. I have close to 100 VCR tapes with many of those Letterman shows and some other favorites in my basement, as well as 2 VCR's that still worked the last time I checked.

The last time I checked was back in 2001. DVR's came along and no thus no reason to hook up the VCR to record, just to watch. And I don't even do that anymore.

But I'll keep my tapes, because they are like photo albums to me. And I'll keep the machines so if I get the urge to see what Dave was doing in 1985, I can.