Quote from: Slim on November 03, 2022, 01:00:25 PMQuote from: Matt2112 on November 03, 2022, 11:17:03 AMI remember our household taking delivery of a VHS recorder just before the '82 World Cup and being mesmerised when I first saw how enormous the cassettes were.
And the thrill and novelty of taping programmes while we watched a different channel - and using a remote control attached by a long lead..!
A three hour cassette cost £10 in 1981 when we got our first VHS recorder. Quite a lot of money back then.
I like to use the Mars Bar method for calculating real terms costs. So:
- A Mars Bar cost 16p in 1981
- A Mars Bar costs 65p now
Therefore in real present day terms, an E180 cassette cost the equivalent of 65/16 x £10 = £40.63
And that's ignoring the fact that Mars Bars are smaller now.
That's incredible. I'd forgotten how expensive the tapes were. That must be why I used to send requests for demo tapes of items like Yamaha or Casio keyboards. I remember I would Sellotape over the space on the casing so that I could record over them. They were usually 30 minute tapes so very useful for recording a TV programme. They were hard times financially for me, my mum and sister as my dad had died two years earlier. On this exact date 42 years ago. It makes me feel guilty that I'm now 11 years older now than he was then. He was a fit and healthy man but caught an infection helping his new employer clean out old premises as part of the company's move to new premises. It was so sad. He was ecstatic about returning to the newspaper industry after a miserable time following the Daily Express switching production to Manchester. Alas, he lost his life just as he had got it back. I suppose my life would have been very different if he had lived. University probably and who knows what else but that's a pointless thought process. I can't honestly remember how this subject began without looking back, but it was thought provoking for me. Oh yes, Channel 4!
