Thanks, Hitachi!

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This week I made it official. I retired my Hitachi VT 2000A VCR.

It’s been a long time coming. I bought it in 1988, while in college. Since then, I’ve watched approximately 4 million* movies on it. And even after I migrated to a DVD player and relegated the Hitachi to the kids’ basement playroom, it’s handled, without complaint, the best my sons could throw at it: dirty fingers and hands all over the body, Hot Wheels getting stuck in the playing mechanism, attempts to yank cassettes while  the machine was operating.

It’s been the iron man, the Lou Gehrig of VCRs: Shows up every day, ready to play. It’s a testament to good engineering and, especially, good workmanship (not to mention the merits of tin-lead solder). And after 21 years, it deserves a vacation. Thanks, old friend.

*Possible exaggeration.

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About Mike

Mike Buetow is president of the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (pcea.net). He previously was editor-in-chief of Circuits Assembly magazine, the leading publication for electronics manufacturing, and PCD&F, the leading publication for printed circuit design and fabrication. He spent 21 years as vice president and editorial director of UP Media Group, for which he oversaw all editorial and production aspects. He has more than 30 years' experience in the electronics industry, including six years at IPC, an electronics trade association, at which he was a technical projects manager and communications director. He has also held editorial positions at SMT Magazine, community newspapers and in book publishing. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois. Follow Mike on Twitter: @mikebuetow

4 thoughts on “Thanks, Hitachi!”

  1. Good luck on finding any new piece of electronic equipment .. that will last as long.
    ROHS..
    what will it take?
    To make the world realize that at least parts of it are not going to make the world a better place.

  2. We have a TV that we boght in 1980*. Still works great, just can’t bring myself to trash it. Not likely to be so lucky with future (Lead-free) TVs.

    *No exaggeration.

  3. I’m not sure what to write here. My 20 yr old son with Autism found your site. He is making me write a comment. He is obsessing about Hitachi VCR’s this month, maybe he thinks you’re selling your Hitachi. I tried pointing out the date to him to no avail. If anyone has a Hitachi VCR out there who wants to get rid of it, send me an email. I’m not holding my breath! 🙂

  4. Hi Linda,

    Actually, I gave it away. I would happily have given it to your son. Good luck, and perhaps someone will see this and reply.

    I should mention, I passed it on via a Yahoo listserv known as Freecycle. Not sure what town you are in, but perhaps there is one in your area. Also, you might try Craigslist.

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