Time hasn’t been kind to VHS, because VHS sucked as a format. It had so many flaws, I’m not even gonna bother to list them because anyone who was ever reliant on that format is already having PTSD flashbacks while they’re reading this sentence. We only used it because it was the best thing available at the time (other than BetaMax, of course, but the licensing fees that Sony demanded for it killed that format before it really got anywhere, and LaserDisk was absurdly expensive, and very cumbersome to handle). The instant a better format came along, we moved along with it.

VHS stood for nearly 30 years before it was credibly replaced. Just because something was eventually replaced doesn’t mean it was bad. It was an awesome format because it was affordable. You could have always mortgaged a home and purchased a professional deck. There were plenty of other formats that came and went during VHS. Many took away consumers control of content. Only when flash cards came commonplace was the VHS and the ability to make mix and match your own media replicated. You could deck to deck make your own tapes if you wanted and edit with scissors and tape.