I don't know anybody who still owns a VCR, but I do know a few people who still have cassette decks.

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VHS is still the main method of recording television programs in my family (Beta was also the main method of recording, and my Dad would still be recording on Beta if the fuse on his SL-2400 didn't blow on the PS), although my parents are considering going the way of the PVR later this year. I have a video library spanning over 600 tapes from 1996 (when I started recording programs) to current date, and some early BASF/Scotch tapes from the 80s, which I inherited from my grandfather after he passed away in 2004. My mother has loads of radio recordings from the late 70s onwards- even those from when my grandfather would broadcast from CHIN radio (a multicultural station based in Toronto). Many seem to have withstood the test of time, and play well, although the Ampex Educator-series tapes seem to have become brittle, and some of the Scotch-branded tapes are sticky. The Maxell UD-XLII (now just XLII), TDK SA+SA-X, and the BASF Chrome Series (even some of the Type-1 LH series) work fine, and still play. I have a good stereo system (a early-80s Sony system- I will get back to you on the model numbers), and the cassette deck has never given me any problems, as it is maintained on a consistent basis.

VHS tapes from 1989 look and sound terrible. Even movies I bought. In addition, I probably only had about 4-6 cassette tapes over my life eaten by tape decks. I have lost over a dozen VHS tapes to VCRs in the 15 years I used them, mainly in the early days when they were cutting corners to sell them for less.

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Well, my father has always owned a Hi-fi recording deck, and his tapes, which consist of mainly high-grade JVCs, BASFs, Maxells, Sonys, etc. all work perfectly. The sound/picture quality is still very good, and it is remarkable when I play them on my AG-1980.

With my experience in recording tapes, I have only lost two VHS tapes (this was caused by a cheap, but somewhat reliable RCA VCR from the mid-90s, which lasted until 2002), and about five, or six audiocassettes (all eaten during playback- not caused by the Sony, but my portable Realistic Minisette-18, now retired).

Remember the tracking adjustment knob!?

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TBC baby! But yes, I do recall manual tracking (I still use it). I should take a picture of the tracking knob on my 1979 Quasar. It's big, but I've never had severe tracking issues with any of my tapes. Same with my parents, and my grandparents. It kind of begs the question what recording deck you were using in 89 to have so many problems.

There were even instructional LPs in the 70s, so people would not have found this unusual.

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I forgot to mention LPs. Why didn't Apple stick with vinyls? Now that would have been something!

By the time VCRs might have made sense, at least economically, the Mac was capable of running A/V demos, and thats the directional Apple chose, which kept them user experience directly connected to the Mac.

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Weird, because I still have some instructional/promotional VHS tapes from Apple circa 1995-96.