The AV-1.insider

VHS VCR Survey Results

AV-1 readers, you are awesome.

In the first of our surveys, we had 130 responses. Some of the responses were not surprising, like the fact that 79% of us have VCRs in up to 75% of our rooms.  That is a lot of VCRs.

Other results were surprising, like the fact that only 34% of us have plans in place to end of life VCRs. Do those of you with plans care to share them with the list?

Would those of you without plans talk more about your circumstances? Is it your position that the VCR will live on indefinitely?

What do you think it means that we are pretty much split 50/50 on whether general counsel or the copyright officer has been involved in analog to digital transition issues?  

Chime in (on the AV-1 list or in comments below) and let us know what you think! (Are you an in-house tech manager or planner who is not yet a member of AV-1? Please join us!)

Question 1: What percentage of classrooms have VHS players?

up to 25% 18 14% up to 50% 9 7% up to 75% 30 23% up to 100% 73 56%

 

Question 2: Do you know how large of an active collection of VHS tapes your institution has?

Yes 63 48% No 67 52%

Question 3: Do you have a plan in place to EOL (end-of-life) VHS players?

Yes 44 34% No 86 66%

Question 4: Is your plan complicated by other uses of the VHS, such as combo units with DVD players, or usage as a cable tuner?

Yes 96 74% No 34 26%

Question 5: Is/has your copyright officer or general counsel been involved in analog to digital conversion discussions, in order to ensure copyright compliance?

Yes 68 52% No 64 48%

	by Scott Tiner
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Survey: VHS End-of-Life

For more than a quarter-century, VHS tapes (and VCRs) were the kings of on-demand video (at home, school and work).  Never mind dog years, 25 tech-years are an eternity during which VHS users gleefully amassed large content collections without giving a second thought to the day of reckoning when a) dependable tape players would no longer be available and b) the medium would wear out. 

Today, VCRs are hard to find. They are costly to purchase, integrate and lifecycle.  Yet most institutions continue to rely upon pre-recorded VHS tapes, for which they have invested a small fortune. 

How do classroom planners and technology managers deal with the inevitable transition away from VHS to a digital format?  Please complete this simple survey as a means to begin this crucial dialog among your peers within the AV-1 community. We'll post a follow-up with survey results at the end of the week.

Survey now closed, see results...

	by Scott Tiner
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.