It is cheaper to stamp out discs than it is to dub tapes. All of this is such good news to rental video houses. Blockbuster comes to mind. Good news for viewers. DVD solves the dirty secret of videotape.
Video cassettes have at best a fifty, maybe at best a seventy year lifespan.
In time, the glue binding the magnetic oxide to the plastic backing dries out and a tape full of memories becomes a pile of oxide signifying nothing. This is true of all tape regardless of format or brand. Dust to dust, they say. Clearly DVD will be a lifeboat technology that will save a lot of videotape based images and sounds. With DVD around, VHS has become the DOS of video.