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The Obsolescence Conundrum
December 5, 2008
In a move that will likely suprise no one, JVC -- the last producer of the stand-alone VHS videocassette players -- is now ceasing production of such devices. You will still be able to find (at least for now), machines that combine a VHS player with a DVD recorder, for those who are trying to salvage their investment in VHS, but no longer will you be able to buy a new stand-alone VHS machine.
This must surely be a poster child for the problem of technology obsolescence in libraries. How many libraries have collections of VHS tapes that will increasingly be marginalized? With the switch-over to digital broadcast TV, many more people will have HD-capable TVs for which a VHS tape will no longer make the grade. Blu-ray will soon make even the familiar DVD an object of scorn by a culture that is more wedded to its TV than to just about anything.
Libraries, of course, are caught in the cross-fire. Collections of VHS tapes will not be worth transferring to a new format. The best that libraries can do is to start buying content on the latest format and slowly phase out the older formats as demand declines. The problem with this, of course, is that libraries may actually have to buy the very same content all over again but in a new format. And how long will Blu-Ray last until something better comes along? There must be a better way.
Note: Thanks to my colleague Eric Childress for the heads-up.
Posted by Roy Tennant on December 5, 2008 | Comments (0)
