Peter Jennings can't do it. Neither can Katie Couric. Tom Brokaw at least ! gives it a try. "Yes, I can program my VCR," he says, "but only for the 1956 version of What's My Line?"
Tipper Gore hasn't even figured out how to set the clock; she finally had to cover it with black masking tape to hide the relentless blinking -- 12:00/12:00/12:00 -- that is the unmistakable sign of a VCR illiterate. Barbara Walters has three VCRs and can't program any of them. "I'm reduced to asking friends to tape for me," she says. "I am deeply ashamed."
Ashamed, perhaps, but hardly alone. The dirty little secret of the VCR age is that almost nobody can work the darn thing -- at least for anything besides plunking in a movie from the corner video store. Much of the befuddlement, understandably, afflicts older folks who have never really cottoned to the computer age. But many younger, technology-savvy people also seem utterly defeated by the maze of buttons and pages of instructions. Authoritative statistics are not available, but estimates are that as many as 80% of all VCR owners have never learned how to set their machines to record a program.
The situation has given rise to a new industry: devising still more elaborate technology to make VCR operation less daunting. Two years ago, Gemstar Development Corp. introduced VCR Plus+, a remote control-size gadget that simplifies programming by assigning each show a code of one to eight digits. The user punches in the code numbers, which instantly program the VCR to record at the proper time and channel. Sales of VCR Plus+ have reached about 6 million worldwide, and 600 U.S. newspapers, along with TV Guide, now carry the code numbers in their TV listings. The device is being incorporated into some new VCRs. "I'm not mechanically inclined," says TV producer Dick Clark, a VCR Plus+ enthusiast. "But you just punch in the numbers, and it makes you feel like a genius."
Now comes an even more sophisticated effort to tame the VCR. The VCR Voice Programmer, a voice-activated remote-control device being launched nationally this week by Voice Powered Technology, eliminates button pushing almost entirely. Just bark commands into the microphone -- channel number, day, time -- and the machine does your bidding. A viewer can call out commands for a variety of other VCR functions as well, from "rewind" to "zap it" (whiz through the commercials).
These programming devices, of course, are hardly hassle-free. VCR Plus+ must be programmed in advance before it can respond to the codes, not a simple process. (Ken Sander, who hosts a New York City cable show and dubs himself "the Cable Doctor," will do the job for confused viewers in a $45 house call.) The VCR Voice Programmer is also complicated to set up (it must be trained to recognize the user's voice) and costs a hefty $169, nearly as much as some low-priced VCRs. The device is being sold only through a toll-free mail-order number (800-788-0800), to avoid further markup in stores.