Woman Trades Streaming Subscriptions for VHS Tapes, and the Internet Is Feeling Nostalgic
Streaming prices keep climbing, and one woman has decided she’s had enough. Instead of paying another monthly bill, she’s turning back to VHS tapes, DVDs, and the kind of television that once sat in nearly every American living room.
The creator behind the Facebook account Soulinthewalls shared her retro entertainment setup after a recent price increase pushed her to rethink streaming. Her post asks a simple question: “What was so bad about tapes and dvds anyway?”
She had already purchased a box television for $75 through Facebook Marketplace but needed somewhere to put it. After some searching, she found a vintage wooden TV cabinet for free, giving her an entertainment center that looked straight out of the 1990s.
Her video struck a chord with viewers who remembered growing up with bulky televisions, stacks of movie cases, and the sound of a VCR rewinding a tape. Others saw something more practical in her decision: a way to enjoy movies without another subscription.
Back to Basics
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“This last price increase was the final straw for me,” the creator wrote. “Back to the basics we go!”
Her choice highlights one advantage of physical media. Once someone buys a DVD or VHS tape, they can watch it without paying a company each month. They also don’t need an internet connection or have to worry about a movie leaving a streaming service.
Of course, older equipment comes with its own problems. VCRs can break, tapes wear out, and finding replacement parts isn’t always easy. Still, those drawbacks didn’t seem to bother many of the people watching.
One commenter joked, “She said ‘we got Disney+ at home,'” while another celebrated the lack of buffering. A different viewer pointed to another benefit, asking, “No ads in the middle of the best part?”
Childhood Memories Return
The wooden cabinet brought back almost as many memories as the television. One viewer wondered whether everyone had owned the same stand, while another remembered using the buttons on the front of the TV instead of looking for a remote.
Some parents shared how unfamiliar the equipment looked to their children. One commenter had to explain to a four-year-old that VHS tapes weren’t books. Another said their oldest child thought the family’s old VCR came from “Pilgrim times.”
Several viewers were still holding on to their childhood collections. One person had inherited a brother’s VCR and tapes after cleaning out their grandparents’ home. Someone else joked about having too many VHS tapes to fit inside a single entertainment center.
For another commenter, nostalgia came with a practical problem. “I just wish VCRs would come back into fashion so someone could fix mine,” they wrote.
Beyond the Nostalgia
Other viewers had already started making similar changes at home. One person recently bought a Blu-ray player and children’s DVDs, while another described keeping a VCR in the living room for times when their Spectrum service goes out. So even in these times of streaming services there’s still much use for the past being used in the present and in the future.
