From June 1982 VIDEO THE MAGAZINE features Skinflicks! Videodisc! Alvin Stardust! Toni Basil! Reviews! Software! Adam Ant! Meryl Streep! Jimmy Tarbuck! Roger Daltrey! William Shatner! John Wayne! Goal Crazy World Cup! Ghouls and Gore! New Releases!📼🎞📺💥

From June 1982 VIDEO THE MAGAZINE features Skinflicks! Videodisc! Alvin Stardust! Toni Basil! Reviews! Software! Adam Ant! Meryl Streep! Jimmy Tarbuck! Roger Daltrey! William Shatner! John Wayne! Goal Crazy World Cup! Ghouls and Gore! New Releases!📼🎞📺💥

From June 1982 VIDEO THE MAGAZINE features Skinflicks! Videodisc! Alvin Stardust! Toni Basil! Reviews! Software! Adam Ant! Meryl Streep! Jimmy Tarbuck! Roger Daltrey! William Shatner! John Wayne! Goal Crazy World Cup! Ghouls and Gore! New Releases!📼🎞📺💥

From June 1982 VIDEO THE MAGAZINE features Skinflicks! Videodisc! Alvin Stardust! Toni Basil! Reviews! Software! Adam Ant! Meryl Streep! Jimmy Tarbuck! Roger Daltrey! William Shatner! John Wayne! Goal Crazy World Cup! Ghouls and Gore! New Releases!📼🎞📺💥

From June 1982 VIDEO THE MAGAZINE features Skinflicks! Videodisc! Alvin Stardust! Toni Basil! Reviews! Software! Adam Ant! Meryl Streep! Jimmy Tarbuck! Roger Daltrey! William Shatner! John Wayne! Goal Crazy World Cup! Ghouls and Gore! New Releases!📼🎞📺💥

And by gosh, I have it on two old-school great formats, Laserdisc and CED Videodisc...

Meh, I’ve seen the original Star Wars trilogy so many times on CED videodisc. At this point, the only edition I’d be interesting in going back to the cinema to see is an extended cut that includes the Biggs/Luke scene and that fat guy who was stand-in for Jabba the Hutt.

This early Philips compact disc player, featured in the nostalgic image, symbolized the dawn of the digital music era, where laser-based optical technology replaced mechanical grooves with precise digital readout. In the late 1970s, the limitations of analog formats had become increasingly apparent. Vinyl records suffered from surface noise, scratches, and progressive wear, while magnetic tapes were susceptible to hiss and demagnetization. Amid rising expectations for high-fidelity sound that could endure repeated plays without degradation, Philips engineers turned to optical systems they had honed through videodisc development. Their partnership with Sony standardized the compact disc, creating a medium that promised both exceptional audio quality and practical durability for everyday use in homes worldwide. The development required overcoming formidable obstacles in data storage and retrieval. Digital encoding demanded high density on a compact disc, reliable error correction to handle imperfections, and an optical system capable of reading information without physical contact. These innovations not only met the technological demands of the time but also aligned with a broader societal transition toward digital media, paving the way for new forms of entertainment and information preservation. Pieter Kramer at Philips Research Laboratories was inspired by the challenge of safeguarding the encoded data layer from environmental damage while ensuring accurate laser scanning. His reflective optical record carrier positioned the information beneath a transparent substrate that served as both the entry and exit path for the read beam. As the patent notes, this arrangement allowed the substrate surface to function in a way that defocused minor surface defects, preserving signal integrity. This ingenious design brought the pictured player to life, forever changing our connection to recorded music. Full patent text & diagrams: patents.google.com/patent/US…

It is hard for young folks now because back then finding a place to live and start a family was cheap. I grew up in a house where rent was $65 a month in the 80s. We also spent MORE on electronics than today. Price an RCA videodisc player in 1982. But jobs were plentiful.

I am endlessly surprised—though I probably shouldn’t be—by how easily some folks on both the left and the right are triggered by the most trivial things in life. Honestly, these people will make literally anything into a culture war dust up. Have a set of values you believe in and try to represent in your life? I have nothing but respect for that, even if I don’t agree with them. At least you live by an ethos and walk the walk instead of just posturing performatively. I have no doubt that we can find common ground. But my God—what a small worldview and delicate sensibilities you must have to be so triggered by something as trivial as movie casting (or “So-and-so said something I disagree with once, so BAD PERSON!”) that you launch an angry online crusade of grievance, axe-grinding, opinion belittling, public shaming, and cancellation. Seriously, children… grow some balls. You’re not winning life by winning an online argument. You’re not winning anything that really matters at all. No one gives a shit what you, or I, or anyone else thinks… unless they actually do. And you know what? You have to EARN that. Don’t like my opinion? Fine. My very best wishes to you. It ain’t no skin off my nose. But act like a dick and try to pick an online fight with me over it? Youngster, you’re barking up the wrong tree. I’ve been through two videodisc format wars—I’ve got chucks of guys like that in my stool. Here’s the thing: I like what I like, and I don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks. Your pre-existing agenda isn’t relevant to that. No one else makes my opinion for me but me. And I have a lifetime of confidence that comes from being comfortable in my own skin, knowing exactly who I am, and having tested myself out in the hard knocks arena of life in the real actual in-the-flesh world for nearly SIX decades. All of y’all out there spending valuable minutes of your life engaging in online culture war… I feel bad for you. You’re gonna wake up one day and realize what a waste of time it’s been. As for the rest of you, who know what actually matters in life and are out there making a real difference where it actually counts—which, I’ll bet is MOST of you: Respect, my friends. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!

I want that statue. Reason is Dad worked at RCA in the development of the videodisc system. Look at my personal photo.

I recall how my mother just stared at me when I was a child & asked if there was "a doll of Leia in this neat costume" for my toy collection when we watched Return on videodisc. Dad just laughed. That made her turn the stare on him. Mother can use silence to voice disapproval.

The Dayz: Leonard Nimoy Demonstrates the Magnavision Videodisc Player 80... youtu.be/H__8-eqFnks?si=BTxk… via @YouTube