We already gave VHS a proper burial after JVC became the last firm to shut the door on VHS player production, but there was still one nail in the coffin that wasn't quite hammered shut. Today, it all ends. The last notable distributor of VHS films -- Distribution Video Audio out of Palm Harbor, Florida -- has shipped its final truckload of tapes, probably to a small town library or a mom 'n pop shop in a place you'll never hear of. According to co-owner Ryan J. Kugler: "It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt." An unceremonious way to exit, sure, but we have a sneaking suspicion that it'll one day be able to say it made it longer than practically every other physical film format that succeeded it. Here's one last tear for the format that was -- now, time to plan a trip to the local flea market.

[Via CNET]

We were fully prepared to start harshing on VHS as a dead-end technology that never went anywhere during its time in retail (as a joke, of course), and out of nowhere, a bona fide tear slowly ran down our left cheek. Today, friends, is a day worth remembering. Today truly marks the end of an era, as so far as we can tell, JVC really was the only company still producing standalone VCRs. Of course, the outfit will continue to serve customers with a need to play back VHS tapes by offering up DVD / VHS combo units, but those looking for a shiny new slice of retro in 2008 will be out of luck after remaining inventories dry up. All told, over 900 million VCRs were produced worldwide, with 50 million of those boasting a JVC label. We simply couldn't think of a more fitting way to put the iconic VCR (which just turned 30 in 2005) to bed than by hosting up a poll and soliciting your input -- here's hoping the videocassette lives on in your domicile in one form or another, even if it's just the resident dust collector.

[Via Impress]

Now that Blu-ray has emerged as the lone HDM victor, that aging VCR is likely looking for a new home (if it wasn't already). Thankfully, we've found the perfect excuse to rip it wide open versus hauling it off to the local thrift store. In one of the more elaborate how-to guides that we've seen, Charles Palen explains how to create a wind-powered LED by using scrap parts within a VCR, one your youngster's pinwheels and a varied array of power tools, wiring and calm nerves. Notably, an unwanted CD-ROM drive can be used if you're dead set on watching those Disney classics on VHS one last time, but regardless of which apparatus you destroy, be sure and hit the read link for the step-by-step.

[Via instructables]

We can't remember the last time we even used a VCR (nor did we ever figure out how to program the clock on those blasted things), but apparently we (and probably you, too) are just a little ahead of the curve. According to a recent Nielsen study, there are finally more American households that have DVDs than have VCRs. Translated into statistics, that means that 81.2 percent of all households in the good ol' US of A have DVD players, surpassing the 79.2 percent that have VCRs. (We've got no idea how many of those are dual-use machines, however.) Nielsen's been tracking this trend since 1999, when only 6.7 percent of American households had DVD players; we take that to surely mean that by 2013 the six percent of people who have Blu-ray or HD DVD players currently will have finally settled on one of them newfangled hybrid devices that we're dying to get our hands on.

[Via PVR Wire]

Although we're huge fans of convergence around here -- i.e. packing as many functions as possible into a single device -- our love of feature-creep has never extended to VCR / DVD combo units which, with double the amount of mechanical parts, make them twice as likely to end up at the repair shop or in your attic. Well there must still be some consumer demand out there for these disasters waiting to happen, as manufacturers continue to crank them out, always looking for a way to differentiate their device from countless others. We haven't really seen too much innovation in this space for awhile, but now JVC has broken out a new unit called the DR-MV7S that not only does recording on both sides of the divide (including DVD+R and DVD-R), it actually promises to upscale your crappy old VHS tapes for better viewing on that HDTV set. The engineers at JVC must really be some miracle workers, because the MV7S's internal scaling chip apparently cranks those old home movies up to 720p or 1080i over an HDMI connection, allowing you to relive embarrassing moments from your past with even greater clarity. Other nice touches on this $270 wonder include MP3, WMA, and DivX support, bidirectional dubbing between DVD and VHS, and an iLink input for transferring newer, slightly-less humiliating footage from your DV camcorder. Supposedly this model is available immediately, but with such lofty and untested ambitions, we'd follow HDBeat's advice and make sure you buy one from a store with a long return period and no restocking fee.

[Via HDBeat]

Our peeps at Hack A Day just came across this sweet mod that combines a cell phone with a VCR -- you know, the one you've been keeping on the off-chance that you might want to watch that tape your parents shot of your vacation to Sea World back in '85. We're not sure if it's the VHS nostalgia or classic Ericsson, but something about this rig really makes us want to put away our mobile-enabled TiVos and Media Centers, and get back to basics recording our shows the hard way. It's just more rewarding that way, ok?

[Via Hack A Day]