Zoe's Techno Rewind Tuesday: VHS Tapes

I can't imagine livin' in the days before DVR.

So, yeah, Friends.  I've decided to make this Techno Rewind a thing.  I'm gonna talk about ancient technology from Way Before I Was Born every Tuesday now, until I get tired of it.  That means this could be our Tuesday date from now until I go to kindergarten, or just until Mommy finally starts taping Sheriff Callie for me off from Disney, Junior on the television like Gramma does.

Speakin' of taping things from the television set, Friends, that's my topic of inquiry for today's Techno Rewind Tuesday.  Vee Eitch Ess Tapes.  The VCR.

Imagine how shocked I was to learn that you Big People didn't have the ability to pause live television until sometime last decade.  Imagine how bad for you I felt when I learned that you couldn't just say "I like this show!  I'm gonna record it!" and hit a few buttons and be done with it, but instead, you had to drag out a big VHS tape, load it into your VCR, make sure the television was on Channel 3, and the program you wanted to record was on the channel being pulled through the VCR (which makes it sound like taffy, and I understand taffy was NOT something you wanted to put in your VCR, along with grilled cheese sandwiches, butter knives, or Legos) and then you'd hit record, but by the time you went through all that rigamarole, your program you wanted to tape was likely well into its first or second commercial break.

So you'd hafta do this really crazy thing and pull out your weekly copy of TV Guide, which apparently at the time contained scheduling grids or matrices detailing which show aired when and on what channel, and also gave a clue as to the frequency with which one could expect their chosen program to appear on the television set.

I mention this TV Guide device because it plays a large and important role in recording all of a favored series.  In this day and age, I just get to type, say, Sesame Street into the Menu on my television, hit "Record Series," choose whether I want all episodes or just the first-runs, and I'm good to go.  You poor grownups, on the other hand, had to set your VCR to record at the appointed day, time, and channel, AND make sure you had the proper blank videotape loaded into your VCR, or if you were trying to get all your shows from one series on the same tape without just having a buncha different shows on one tape, you had to make sure your videotape was correctly wound to the next available blank spot before the show would record.

And THEN, say everything went as planned and the heavens aligned and you got your shows all nicey recorded on a tape, just like you wanted.  THEN you had to store those big, clunky bad boys!  People usedta have whole entire CABINETS made to house their VHS collections.  Great care was taken to index, catalog, and organize these VHS tapes.  If a tape broke, it was an occasion to wail and gnash your teeth.  Possibly to shave your head and rip your clothes, too.

Big People, I sure do appreciate the struggles you struggled with.  That's why I'm celebrating you and your archaic technology on Zoe's Techno Rewind Tuesdays.  I hope my attention span holds out so I can explore all of this wonderful technology from yesteryear with you for many Tuesdays to come. I hope you enjoy it half as much as I do!

I love ya lots, Friends!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!