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Tag: VCR

  • A Fairly Ridiculous Amount of People Still Own VCRs

    The list of “things that killed the VCR” is pretty lengthy – I mean, just start naming semi-recent technological advancements in the way human beings consume TV and movies and you have your list right there. Digital cable, DVDs, Netflix, DVR – the VCR, though perfectly useful in its time, is simply a relic of the past.

    Right?

    Well, not exactly. Gallup recently conducted a poll concerning Americans and their tech preferences, and there’s a lot of good data there. But the most interesting piece of data (at least to me), is the one that says 58% of American adults still have a VCR. Sure, that’s dropped from 88% in 2005, but still. 58%?

    In fact, here’s a list of things that, according to the Gallup research, are found with less frequency in an American home than a VCR.

    • Desktop computers (57%)
    • Dumb phones (45%)
    • iPod (45%)
    • Gaming console (41%)
    • Streaming service (39%)
    • Tablets (38%)
    • Satellite TV (34%)
    • E-readers (26%)

    Yes, Americans apparently own VCRs at more than double the rate of Kindles.

    As you might expect, VCR viewership is more common among older adults. While only 41% of those aged 18-29 still own a VCR, 74% of those aged 65 and older do.

    I guess grandpa still needs some way to record those golf tournaments.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • The Xbox One Design Team Dodges The Question Of Why It Looks Like A VCR

    Why does the Xbox One look like a VCR? Let the folks at Microsoft tell you:

    So, what have we learned? Apparently, the Xbox One’s design reflects the power of the machine as well as the history of the Xbox brand. It’s also meant to reflect the rectangular design of the Xbox One UI. It still doesn’t really explain why it looks like a VCR, but maybe the team at Microsoft just doesn’t realize that themselves.

    Looking on the bright side, the Xbox One controller doesn’t look like a VCR. It also got rid of that annoying battery bump that was on the back of the Xbox 360 controller. At least Microsoft’s design team gets points for that.