Amusing messages from your parents

[Pumbaa]

More like who even has a functional VCR now? Ars Technica ran a piece back in 2016 about some Japanese company being the last VCR manufacturer on the planet and deciding the market just wasn't there any more.

As for use, if one still had a functional VCR in recent times, one might want to digitize contents of videotapes for which there was apparently no DVD version or alternate production.

That's probably about it, except for people who bumped into a freebie bookcase (or whole store shelves) full of commercial videotapes they might not have seen and who so far never had anything higher tech at home than a VCR player to begin with. But, I would think such folk are running into VCR repair issues by now.

I have one! Bought it brand new just a few years back to digitize videotapes. Mainly family recordings, but also to find and identify the occasional movie or TV-show I don’t quite remember. Got a couple of boxes full of VHS tapes to go through some day.

 

[lizkat]

I think we’ve come a long way in trying to make technology make sense in both setup and usage and a lot of times when there is a problem it’s when the user put close to zero effort into getting it to work.

Yeah it's amazing to me how many people from sub-teens to octogenarians do know how to use a search engine -- since they search for celebrity names or this year's most wanted kid's toy when it comes to shopping) -- but never go after an online user manual for their kettle or rice cooker to find out when and how to clean it.

Maybe more people now tend to dismiss the whole idea of user manuals, figuring everything should "just work" and so never need maintenance-oriented attention, just stick to boiling the water or nuking the mac'n'cheese etc.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Yeah it's amazing to me how many people from sub-teens to octogenarians do know how to use a search engine -- since they search for celebrity names or this year's most wanted kid's toy when it comes to shopping) -- but never go after an online user manual for their kettle or rice cooker to find out when and how to clean it.

Maybe more people now tend to dismiss the whole idea of user manuals, figuring everything should "just work" and so never need maintenance-oriented attention, just stick to boiling the water or nuking the mac'n'cheese etc.

I use the internet for all kinds of mundane things I probably should know but don't, or things I could probably wing like when and how to prune a specific plant, but why wing it when the info is out there.

I used to think unboxing videos were stupid, and most still are, but in the process of packing for a move I have some large format statues that disassemble into multiple pieces that then go into form molded styrofoam. If it wasn't for those unboxing videos I probably would have broken off parts that aren't supposed to be removed and then broke it further trying to force it into the wrong mold section.

 

[Clix Pix]

So, Chew Toy McCoy, you're moving from the apartment you've been in for so long? Things didn't work out well between you and the rental company? I hope that you've already got a new home on the horizon and that things will go smoothly for the move and settling into the new place!