I was cleaning out the garage and found the pile of VCR tapes I had placed there over a year ago. In over the year, the girls had not watched any of these movies, making a complete switch to Tivo & DVDs.

We decided it was time for them to go and give me back some space in the garage of other crap. The girls helped set up a sales table and made some nice signs.

They were selling the old VHS tapes for $1 each. What a deal, you say? They'll be gone instantly right, I mean it's only a dollar?

Well, people would stop by to see what was for sale and invariably be upset that there were no DVDs. Who wants tapes these days they would say. In the end, the girls sold about $20 worth of movies. I gave the rest to Goodwill to end up in their old movies bin.

Mark this lesson as to the value of old media. The same movie would have been worth 10 times more if it had been on DVD. Same exact movie, different playback format.

What is the fate of DVD movies once electronic movies take root? Will the Blu-Ray & HD-9 next generation discs get traction in the marketplace? Who can tell?

Looking at the piles of worthless eight-track tapes and video cassettes across America, it's hard to imagine the cycle not continuing over and over.