I still watch VHS tapes in 2026 for a very good reason

Despite today’s ongoing physical media renaissance, VHS tapes haven’t experienced the sort of retro revival fanaticism as, say, vinyl records, CDs, or DVDs. On the surface, it’s easy to see why: tapes were always a bit of a troublesome format, what with their middling audiovisual quality, as well as with their propensity to degrade during repeated use.

That being said, there are still merits to the VHS tape format, especially from the perspective of someone who is intrigued by old-school storage mediums, and as someone who loves movies, television shows, and the like. With this in mind, here are three reasons why, even in 2026, I continue to hold onto my VHS library, and why I still have my VCR player connected to my 4K flat-screen smart television set.

It ensures ownership

My tapes aren’t contingent on a subscription service

More than ever before, I want to own my own media content as opposed to being beholden to rental-based subscription services. Convenience is the name of the game in today’s era of internet streaming, but I find the sacrifice of true ownership to be increasingly unpalatable.

Pragmatically, streaming services are becoming ever more expensive and hard to navigate, and free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services are filled with advertisements, to say nothing of the telemetry and data collection that so often comes with the territory.

I like the idea of owning a physical product that I paid money for. It allows me to hold something tangible in my hand, to admire its box art, to let a friend borrow it, to trade it in or resell it at a later date, or to simply display it on a shelf. It also neutralizes the potential threat of censorship, which is a plus in my books.

It adds friction

A more deliberate media consumption experience

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It sounds counterintuitive, but the added friction of purchasing a tape, getting up off the couch to insert it into a VCR player, and rewinding it to the beginning is oddly satisfying and calming. I think it’s to do with the intentionality of the whole process, which makes me more cognizant and selective about the media I choose to consume.

In a world where instant gratification is king and digital noise surrounds all aspects of life, it’s nice to be able to take a step back by grounding myself in older-era technologies from back in the day. VHS tapes and their associated VCR players fit this bill perfectly, originating from a bygone era in which doomscrolling and decision paralysis simply didn’t exist at a societal level.

It’s nostolgic

Scan lines, static, and hardware clacking aplenty

Credit: Pocket-lint / Canva

Last but certainly not least, I simply love the nostalgia factor of owning, collecting, and viewing VHS tapes. As someone who grew up in the era of Blockbuster Video, I have fond memories of visiting my local outlet on a Friday evening and picking out a tape to rent out. DVDs and Blu-ray discs are nostalgic for me as well, but not quite to the same extent as their tape-based precursor.

Everything about the tape experience brings me warm and fuzzy feelings, from the scan lines, to the static or ‘snow’ that appears on-screen, to the hardware clacking of the VCR mechanism doing its job. Just rewinding a movie or TV show is enough to temporarily bring me back to my childhood, to say nothing of the charmingly antiquated standard definition visuals and those ever-present washed-out colors on display.