This weekend is going to go by fast. This morning I woke up early to go get a video camera that my mother wants to take along to India to give to her family. Its a Panasonic with 700x Zoom but uses VHS-c tapes. I got it for < $150 so which is a pretty good deal (original price is $229). My friend Sunny was working at the store and he was saying how VHS tapes are going to be extinct soon. The only reason that my mother wanted this specific video camera was because she has tons of VHS-c tapes so we wouldn’t really need to go out and buy those.
Sunny was suggesting to get the Samsung that requires hi-8 tapes. Even though those are the same retail value as the VHS-c tapes, they must be the newer tapes in the market. He went to on say that its good to convert all of your VHS tapes to DVDs so it might be good to buy a dual VHS/DVD recorder.
But I am reluctant to buy a DVD recorder just because I have heard that DVDs are going to be extinct as well. Has anybody else heard that? I had read somewhere that Microsoft’s Bill Gates was saying that there is even a newer technology that will be coming out that will be replacing DVDs. So is there really a point to even keep them any longer?
If anybody has any insight on that, then do comment and let me know. Technology changes so fast, sometimes its hard to know what to buy and what not to buy. 
We are really living in the fast age. 
Alvida. Jai Mata Di.
Poonu I do not know what is VHS-c Tapes:?: Anyway Bill Gates par bharosa nahi karo but that is true that technology is changing fast so most probably we can have a better tech. over DVDs in near future…True..very true!!
Tumne dekhe hain VHS-c tapes. If tumhe yaad ho toh main ek baar laayi thi par apno ko VCR India main mila nahi tha toh dekh nahi sakhe the. Yaad hai?
well one day “VHS tapes are going to be extinct soon.” very true because sooner or later they would be phased out as time passes and technology advances because I doubt if they still release movies on VHS tape now coz I remember ocne upon a time we use to get VHS to watch movies around 10-15 year ago that time CD weren?t that readily available not CD we hardly get as DVD easily available if some new thing comes then it will go but not so soon not atleast for 10-15 year DVD are here to stay
I well DVD is the format of the future:yes: it can?t become extinct at least not for near 10 year I think well its importance might become less if new format with high compress and maintains better quality in less space is found and the thing u said might be Microsoft doing some research etc to find one .. new format not sure
But DVD are here to Stay .. and I think you should think about changing the title it sounds funny it seemed very
absurd
Indian movies here are still available on VHS tapes Puneet. I will need to find that article or wherever I had read about DVDs not going to the future technology. I don’t know if they really will be around for another 10 years. The way technology changes, there are very easy chances of something replacing DVDs.
The title at all is not absurd. In fact its quite catchy.
Catchy in the sense just like it caught your eye and you wanted to read further, in the same way it will catch the eyes of other readers. 
Genius of an idea from a genius of a mind. 
DVDs – a Thing of the Past… so early
Please give me a little overview of what is going to be in near future
Right Neeraj! Bill gates pe bharosa nahin karna… Hotmail promised 200 MB MailBox, but it’s still 2 MB
I think, whatever be the advancement in the technology, VHS has it’s advantage of recording anything directly from television. I still use it
Ankur u can record directly on ne media now not only VHS.
Puneet DVD is no more the future its the present… the cost of a 16x DVD writer is around Rs5500! the media is a lil costly around Rs50 but well it can store data 4times a CD do its the same… CD’s are going to be a thing of the past in a years time… ppl will opt for DVD writers… neways rt now most of the laptops come with a combo drive which can read a DVD. so acceptance of DVD is happening at a gradual scale.
if u want to know abt the future read these 2 articles… u will get an insight to whats happn…
Sony, Toppan announce 25GB Paper Optical Disc
First link
Second link
Poonam a v smart title… u r abs right v catchy n makes one read!
abt VHS tapes… in india there are not many ppl who use it am sure… and those who do hv it converted to CD’s or DVD’s primararily the players are not available and most of them hv a CD or DVD player now at home.
DVD’s will stay for a couple of years (not more then 3) but they will evolve. also ne new technology which comes into the market will take time to gain acceptance coz its going to be expensive initially n ppl are goign to be vary if the new technology will work on not.
so one can safely invest in a DVD player/cam/… since its tried n tested n available DIRT CHEAP ! (almost)
phew :)
I am still looking for that article that I read where Bill Gates had said that, Ankur. It was very interesting. Until then Kunal has given some really good links.
I am also waiting for my Hotmail to go up to 250 megs in space, don’t konw when it will happen. :???:
Kunal, great information and nice links. DVDs have definitely taken over CDs and will continue to do so as time goes on, but its hard to think about investing in DVDs when they as well will be extinct soon. You are right in the fact that they are dirt cheap — DVD players you can get for $30. DVD recorders is what I am waiting to go down. At one time they were $600, now they are $400, and hopefully by this Christmas they might be down to $200. So by next year, they will around $75. Let’s see what happens during this Christmas shopping season.
What is great about India is you can find someone to convert your VHS tapes to DVDs or CDs. So even if you have thoes tapes, they will never be at the stage where you will not be able to watch them because someone has a dukaan in some part of the city that will convert it for you to a CD or DVD. Here in US, you don’t have that facility (and if it does exist, they over charge you). So its really better to just buy the recorder and do it yourself.
Kunal I cant say dvd writers are present yet in India they still future at least for the masses
Well coz see when many years ago I got cd writer it use to cost around 5000+ that time and that too with slow speed and now year ago I upgraded my comp and got new Samsung with High seed for just 1,500 so when they have became so cheap that now mostly all new ones come with cd writers so that’s the present but soon dvd writer would become cheaper within Few years then it would be true to call it present right now time hasn’t come there still time for it right now the Present is the CD and CDR
Also kunal well india is on the right path within few years the DVD would become the present.. when things start to change…
one Eg. i can say is well of Digit computer magazine earlier they use to give CD with there issue but now they even started giving DVD but then they haven’t STOPPED there cd which they still give along coz they know majority of there reader still got cd and not dvd but they trying to make dvd more acceptable by there this action encouraging
hey poonam,
i got my hotmail upgrade… well i found a way to get that much space… i just changed my addresss n viola i had 250MB in a few days… my other frnds who changed their address to aus got it done in a day !
Kunal, I think that’s really dumb. Are they not going to update the existing customers with 250 megs? I don’t want a new hotmail addy. I want my old addy to get updated.
Ajeeb hai yeh Bill Gates.
Hi Puneet,
where in india r u fr ?
read this u will b shocked
DVD recorders are being actively pushed at the mmt. Ppl buy CD writers coz they are so cheap n also coz everyone needs a CD rom n in bargain they get a writer… but but u chk out the num of ppl goig for COMBO Drives which play DVD’s also which are also cheap… so ppl are moving towards DVD mayb not a DVD Writer yet… but well the way things are movin n pricing crashing i would say 1 year by which DVD writer prices will come to peanuts…
poonam, here everyone earlier had a VHS player (well everyone had one wedding in a family and when u hv a wedding u hv a video walla means u hv a VHS tape). Now these guys are giving CD’s and some are giving a DVD for a lil extra… n ppl are going for DVD… so there is a shift… and a DVD player comes for like 4500 so most families opt for that…
just chk ur address which u used when u registered ur hotmail acct… its US ka na ? ok i know its dumb Q but still chk n no u dont hv to get a new address… it will be done soon…
o by ne chance can u inc the size of this box where we enter the comment… its toooooooooooooo small…
hey kunal
, well read that article it was nice but why should i be shocked it mentioned the same thing which i said before in my comment 
only point dvd writer isn?t THE thing as of now but would be within 1 year as you said
i am from mumbai
only thing i got to say is well dvd are catching up but as of now CD are the prefered choice which would soon change it hasnt changed as of now..its on the process can say
well as for the combo i personally dont have liking for it well coz my motion of dvd is when i think of it what comes to my mind is movies and i wouldn?t prefer watching it on my comp 17″ monitor as its isnt that pleasant would prefer watching on TV which more better sound and screen
as you only said you get dvd player for under 4500 i would be advisable to go for that rather then combo drive that cd writer wala…:no:
yups true what u say puneet… but a DVD player was for home use… n combo n DVD writer primararily for PC’s… ppl go for combo coz as u said magz hv started coming out with DVD plus games n stuff…
About Hotmail: I got an email couple of days ago from a friend of mine and it said that if one changes his address (not the email but location) as living in US, they get the 250 MB.
I dunno if its true or not coz I don’t use Hotmail, its too formal for me. But as Kunal also said the same thing, then it must be true.
yups yups its true gaurav… not only me but some of my other frnds in asia also did the same n got more space…
for me hotmail is v informal so i dont really use it :P just use it for messenger…
hey gaurav how do u get feeds for bollywoodmantra site?
lol @ informal. What do you mean by feeds? do u mean how do i generate this file?
Poonam: sorry for going offtopic :P
Kunal & Gaurav, my location on hotmail was already USA so I guess I will have to wait.
Hope it happens soon. 
Don’t worry about going off topic. Apun bindaas.
prolly u can change it to some other country and then change it back to US…. its more like restarting the system :P
DVD;s – a thing of the past!!! You really must be kiddin yaar.
Till now, the basic 4.7GB DVD is not very common in India, and we’re talking about DVD’s being extinct. We still have the 9GB, 10Gb and the 18GB DVD’s left to be explored. Once the normal DVD burners go extinct, the dual sided, dual layered DVD burners would come to India, so i really dont see the DVD’s going extinct for a long time.
About the Hotmail space, I had heard that if you signup for a new account by going through MSn explorer, you get 250MB of space, lekin why they havent upgraded the current users to 250MB is still a big question.
Prolly thats old American funda…. all the time the new customers get new features/prices whereas old customers pay the same price :|
You might wanna check it out
I had read it somewhere Monty that Bill Gates is going to come out with better technology than DVDs. I don’t remember where I read it or what it was about but that’s why I think that DVDs aren’t going to last. Even today when you burn a DVD on your PC, a regular desi movie won’t fit on one DVD.
Technology changes faster as time goes by so we will see what happens.
Well, I changed the countries and that didn’t work. I think I agree with Gaurav abt. the old American funda. They are really bad about doing stuff for their existing customers.
Oh well, maybe they will upgrade it someday.
Monty for new users theres only 25MB initially n not 250MB.
Poonam, Patience it will def happpn soon… currently they are migrating ppl in Oz land to 250MB accts…
phew Finally…
Poonam, here u go
Bill Gates Says DVDs Have No Future
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=17202
http://www.techspot.com/story14198.html
Kunal, I have seen screen shots of people who have got 250MB when they signed up as new users. Now if they have tampered the screen shot in a very perfect way, then I aint very sure, but i have seen screen shots from diff people and who dont know each other too, so i assume MS might be offering 250MB only.
Coming to DVD’s, and the article in theinquirer.net,
I really dont see this happening on a mass scale in India within the next 10 years. Well, DVD’s going extinct in 10 years though is very much possible, lekin 10 years is a very long time. If the article said DVD’s would be extinct in the next 1-2 years, then it would be a little hard to digest.
Poonam, regarding a Hindi movie fitting onto a single disc, you can use programs like DVD shrink to fit them onto one single sided, single layered DVD(normal DVD 4.7GB)
hey monty,
i read it when my bro logged into his hotmail acct n he still has 2MB n the msg said new users will get 25MB.
o yeah that neither do i c it happn… in india atleast its gonna take a bit longer… but then who knows… the way pc prices are falling n being accessible to a larger mass of ppl…
Kunal, today I checked my Hotmail account prior to getting to Hotmal Today page, it said that my Hotmail account has new features, so I thought great it got upgraded.
But it was not. 
I still have only 2 MB. They popped my bubble. 
Thanks Kunal. That first link was the article I had read.
You found it. 
Even Bill Gates said 10 years, but we will see what happens.
Monty, DVDS are now just getting active in India. Prior to this it was just VCDs so of course DVDs will stay longer in India then it would in US. We have had DVDs since 2000 so we could say that by 2010 it might not be the “in” technology. For India, it might still be there until 2015 or longer, who knows!
I think things gonna change by that time. They are changing already….Japs get cool cellphones about an yr. before we get them in US and prolly European/Asian cellfones hit India before they hit US markets?
Thanks Kunal for the idea
Now I have got 250 MB Hotmail Mailbox
lol…I think MS outsourced the bigger inboxes to India n ppl here @ US got nothing :P
lol… well i am also surp y ur mail boxes are not yet upgraded…
u welcome ankur… spread the word… let everyone enjoy :P
poonam try one thing change the address to some other address in USA… like ur frnds/uncles/blah blah n c if it upgrades…