I watched Only Angels Have Wings last night — on videocassette. I still own a VCR. Beyond the fact that I don’t want to subject myself to the time and expense of replacing some favorites I’ve owned since the early nineties (Blockbuster’s used movie bin was a godsend), the medium’s unwieldiness has its own attraction. When I’m at the market and want to listen to King Sunny Ade’s Aura, I can’t upload it onto my iPod or play it on my car’s CD deck — I have to get home and dig out my vinyl copy; the same goes for His Girl Friday, Tootsie, and a couple of others on VHS (Earrings of Madame De… is no longer an option, alas, thanks to this). Thus, as long as we’re not subjected to things like Be Kind, Rewind, the sad death of the VCR is (slightly) exaggerated.

Anyone else still own one?