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TIL my $60 VCR from a garage sale in 2004 taught me more about cable than any streaming app
I picked up a used VCR at a garage sale in 2004 for about $60. It came with a stack of blank tapes, and I figured I'd just use it to record movies off HBO and Showtime. What I didn't expect was how much it would change the way I watched cable. I'd set the timer to tape Late Night with Conan O'Brien or whatever was on Comedy Central, then fast forward through commercials the next day. That little machine made me feel like I had control over a schedule that was otherwise set by the cable company. I ended up recording entire seasons of shows I'd never have caught live, like The Wire on HBO back when it first aired. The tape would run out if I wasn't careful, and I'd get so mad when it cut off the last five minutes. But honestly, that hassle made me pay more attention to what I was watching. Does anyone else remember the panic of realizing you forgot to set the tape speed to EP before a two-hour special?
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