An interesting aside in Andy Selsberg’s essay “They Want Us to Look” in this month’s Believer:

VHS, unlike celluloid film or vinyl albums, is an unmourned medium. It is hard to imagine a store for cool-cat VHS aficionados opening up in Greenwich Village. Artisans don’t repurpose or pay tribute to videotapes as they do albums, cassette tapes, and film stock. The crackles and flaws of VHS aren’t viewed as signs of authenticity.[3] They are now seen as the charmless objects they are (though in their defense, they are analog and will therefore degrade more gradually than digital media).

³There is little unconditional love for new technology. People admire what the forms can deliver but not the forms themselves. Many express deep affection for their iPods, but this affection expires when a new model arrives.

I’ve only seen two of the films in question (Risky Business and Revenge of the Nerds), and there’s only one remaining on the list that I’d like to see (Fast Times at Ridgemont High). But, still, the rest of the essay is pretty interesting, too.