They’re still making them?
8 Responses to “They’re still making them?”
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
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July 26th, 2016 at 6:56 pm
Sucks when a format dies. Try getting 38 S&W, black powder loads at your lgs.
July 26th, 2016 at 8:03 pm
Bring back 8 tracks!!! Just kidding, they sucked.
July 27th, 2016 at 6:10 am
Crap! I’ve got a pile of VHS tapes (mostly Disney) and two young daughters… might have to buy one and put it in storage.
July 27th, 2016 at 7:17 am
I don’t think this is correct. There is at least one more company (Magnavox) making the combos unless they’ve stopped recently as well. Pretty sure emerson, toshiba, and phillips makes them too.
July 27th, 2016 at 10:54 am
I recently acquired a combo VHS/DVD player. I have no intention of tossing my VHS tapes (some of which are of family). Don’t intend to get BluRay any time soon – it is a spy conduit into your entertainment, because it has to be hooked up to the internet to keep up with the encryption changes. And the internet runs both ways. The Samsung Smart Televisions showed that. http://www.forbes.com/sites/davelewis/2015/02/10/is-your-tv-spying-on-you/#3067f49947f5
(Get off my lawn, Hollywood!)
July 27th, 2016 at 11:11 am
Ellen, you’re wrong. I’ve never had to connect any Blu-ray player to the internet. Get better tinfoil, please.
July 27th, 2016 at 11:54 am
The last time I used my VCR was to check whether Han shot first. He did.
July 27th, 2016 at 8:48 pm
Crunkomatic – I’ve use real, honest-to-God tin foil. It’s hard to get, and aluminum foil just ain’t the same.
Consumer reports discusses the reasons for connecting your blu-ray to the internet: “With any player, available services and sites could change over time if the manufacturer makes different arrangements with Internet companies. You’ll have to update the player’s software or firmware, as needed. In most cases, this happens automatically.” (Emphasis added.)
Miraizon (a company, now shuttered, that sold programs to extract content from encrypted disks) discusses the AACS encryption and decryption used on Blu-ray disks: “AACS includes a system by which the keys assigned to a particular player can be “revoked” for future Blu-ray disc releases if it is determined that those keys have been compromised. When a newer Blu-ray disc is inserted into an older drive, the drive is required to check the version of the “Media Key Block” (MKB) on the disc and, if it is newer than the one the drive has internally, to copy over to permanent non-volatile memory the newer MKB. Thus playing newer discs propagates the revoked key lists out to your player.
In short, if somebody cracks the encryption key used by your player, you might have problems playing newer disks. You might even have problems playing older disks. As Consumer Reports says, you may have to update the player’s software or firmware. This is done over the internet.
You also can play videos from Amazon, Netflix, Youtube, and a hundred other sites if you connect to the internet (and pay the fees for Amazon, Netflix,et cetera). That was a FEATURE on the Samsung Smart TVs. However, somewhere in the small print, your viewing data (and even your voice) could be recorded and sent to Samsung. And used, or sold.
I agree: it’s quite possible to use a Blu-ray player without connecting to the internet. It’s also possible to use a computer without connecting to the internet. But you can have a lot more fun if you DO connect. The fun just comes with potential drawbacks.