# How did the phrase "VHS player" become popular **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 1, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361 "2013-07-01T16:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/41 "2013-07-04T22:48:02Z")
> [@Stormcrow](#): > > I’d say all VCR’s have been a dead format for a good decade. I came from the world of video production so a VCR (to me) can also mean 3/4", Betacam SP, Digital Betacam, D2, D1, DV, SVHS, HDV, 8mm, hi-8, and probably a good handful of other formats that I’m forgetting right at the moment. When I worked in TV / video production I don’t think I ever heard the term “V **C** R” used. Unless someone was referring to what they used at home to record stuff on VHS tapes. The playback/record decks we used for work we called V **T** Rs, or more commonly just “decks” (e.g. a Beta deck; a DigiBeta deck; a DVC-Pro deck; a three-quarter deck; etc…). But never VCR. Ahhh, the fun of jargon! ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/42 "2013-07-06T02:15:41Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > It is dumb and I am tired of hearing it > > The device is called a VCR Which plays cassettes in the **V** ideo **H** ome **S** ystem format, as opposed to Beta (the other competing format - and both are well and truly defunct anyway). They were known as “Video players” or “Video recorders” (even though they could all record) when I was growing up in New Zealand - I don’t remember anyone calling them a “VCR”. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/43 "2013-07-06T15:47:01Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > The playback/record decks we used for work we called V **T** Rs, or more commonly just “decks” (e.g. a Beta deck; a DigiBeta deck; a DVC-Pro deck; a three-quarter deck; etc…). But never VCR. [Buggles, _Radio Killed the Video Star_.] Put the blame on VTR. [/Buggles, _Radio Killed the Video Star_.] (Not VCR as too many people mis-hear it.) Yet Another Quibble: Betamax wasn’t the format. Beta was. Only Sony’s were Betamaxes. Other manufacturers put out Beta machines, such as Sanyo (“Betacords”). As to the OP: Chill, dude. If you want to get upset about old terminology, how about those old commercials saying something was available “… on video and VHS.” Where “video” meant “DVD”. Umm, you’re selling a video. On both formats. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/44 "2013-07-06T16:23:42Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > [Buggles, _Radio Killed the Video Star_.] > Put the blame on VTR. > [/Buggles, _Radio Killed the Video Star_.] > > (Not VCR as too many people mis-hear it.) That’s because VCR is a [trademark owned by Phillips](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_recorder_scheduling_code#Branding) in Europe and can’t be legally used as a generic term there. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/45 "2013-07-08T02:11:53Z")
My grandkids call VHS cassettes “Fat Movies”, since they are so much bigger than DVDs. It is hilarious to hear them ask to watch a fat movie. ---
**Author:** ![flapflip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@flapflip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapflip)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/46 "2013-07-09T06:11:46Z")
In related news, my neighbors (an elderly couple) house got broken into about a month ago and they left the flatscreen because it was anchored into the wall, but they stole an old gateway desktop with Win95 and a VCR. Desperate ass theives lol. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/47 "2013-07-09T06:26:17Z")
[Sony disagrees](http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/select-system.pl?model_type_group_id=1) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/48 "2013-07-10T08:45:19Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > As to the OP: Chill, dude. If you want to get upset about old terminology, how about those old commercials saying something was available “… on video and VHS.” Where “video” meant “DVD”. Umm, you’re selling a video. On both formats. I don’t remember that. I do remember “out now on video and DVD”, which doesn’t make a lot more sense but sort of did in the days when people referred to a VHS tape as “a video”. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/49 "2013-07-10T10:47:28Z")
While reading this thread, out of sheer curiosity I searched Amazon for “vhs tapes” and found a number of brands for sale. I’m talking about blank recordable tapes, not prerecorded movies. They have both “new” and “used” listed. So now I’m wondering if the new are simply remaining unopened stock or is someone still manufacturing these things? I wonder how much of a market there is for them. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/50 "2013-07-10T12:14:43Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > They have both “new” and “used” listed. So now I’m wondering if the new are simply remaining unopened stock or is someone still manufacturing these things? > > I wonder how much of a market there is for them. They’re still made new and there’s a reasonable market for them, mainly because there’s a _lot_ of perfectly functional VHS machines out there which people use for taping stuff off telly when they’re out and watching later. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/51 "2013-07-10T12:55:06Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > They’re still made new and there’s a reasonable market for them, mainly because there’s a _lot_ of perfectly functional VHS machines out there which people use for taping stuff off telly when they’re out and watching later. Yep, I still know a lot of people who do their time-shifting on VHS “players.” Looks like [Maxell](http://www.maxell-usa.com/index.aspx?id=1;56;297;298) and [TDK](http://www.tdkperformance.com/en-eu/Storage-Media/VHS-Tape/HS-High-Standard-Grade/) still makes them. Kind of reminds me of how I could get new 8" floppy discs from Memorex as late as 1994. Even as use of a format goes down, as manufacturers drop out, the remaining manufacturers can maintain profitable sales since they get a bigger percentage of that smaller market. Instead of competing with 20 other brands for a 5% share of a million users, now they can get 50% of 20,000 users. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/52 "2013-07-10T17:37:46Z")
The term for unopened old stuff is “New old stock” or NOS. E.g., one can get 40+ year old vacuum tubes that have never been used. Those are NOS. And they wouldn’t be marketed as used. I wouldn’t touch used VHS blanks tapes with a ten foot pole. Even 20 year old NOS tapes might be a really bad idea, given the uncertainty of how they were stored. Tapes really don’t last long unless stored right. As a tad lapsed Beta-phile, I still have a supply of unopened Beta tapes. But all I’m doing now is converting old tapes to digital. No new recording in 4-5 years. When I used to sell Betas on eBay I’d throw one in with each sale. Don’t think I have enough left to be worth putting on eBay. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/53 "2013-07-12T00:04:49Z")
I have a combination DVD player / VCR that I bought way back when DVDs were the newest thing. Every once in a rare while there will be two things that I want to see that are on at the same time and at a time when I can’t watch either of them. My TIVO will only record one thing at a time, so I grab one of the old VHS tapes I have lying around, plug a cable box into the VCR and record the second show that way. Of course that’s been happening a lot less often since so much stuff is now available with my cable provider’s On Demand service. One advantage of tapes is the portability. You can tape something and then physically lend it to someone. I’m sure with the right hardware you could do this with solid state devices like thumb drives. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/54 "2013-07-12T15:24:33Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > It is dumb and I am tired of hearing it > > The device is called a VCR This post is dumb. And no you are not tired of hearing it because no one has ever called it that. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361/55 "2013-07-12T15:32:03Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > How’s trying to dictate common parlance been working out for you so far? > > Smartassery aside, it’s pretty easy to see how the convention arose: > Blu-ray player > DVD player > CD player > VHS player > > VHS players (along with LASER lights, VIN numbers, LCD displays, ATM machines, and PIN numbers) are here to stay. You may as well resign yourself to the new NWO of English, my friend. :eek: Are you under the impression that “VHS player” is redundant? The “system” refers to the format, not to the machines that play them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-phrase-vhs-player-become-popular/662361.md?page=2)