There isn’t much to miss about old-school VHS tapes. They are fuzzy, show static, have bad audio, and are generally difficult to navigate around — remember having to hold down the button on the VCR to rewind your favorite movies?
Perhaps the only thing about VHS tapes worth reminiscing over was the feeling of opening that giant plastic VHS cover of my favorite Disney films.
Whether you miss VHS or say prayers of thanks that they’ve become obsolete, YouTube has given us a way to relive the fuzz all over again in celebration of the 57th anniversary of the first commercial video cassette recorder, the Ampex VRX-1000.
Here’s what YouTube said about it on Google+:
Not too long ago, the video tape was the media of choice for living rooms around the world. In celebration of the 57th birthday of the first commercial video cassette recorder, check out a fun VHS mode for the YouTube player to relive the magic feel of vintage video tapes.
“Tape mode” isn’t available across the whole of YouTube, but rather only on select videos. In fact, it actually took a little while to find one. It also helps to be in Chrome.
So if you happen to see a little VHS button on the bottom bar of YouTube today, go ahead and give it a try. Sure, the 1080p video you’re watching will instantly turn to shit. But when will you get the chance to watch fuzzy, static-plagued video again?
Maybe never.