I know some would find this completely anachronistic for a techie, but I just repaired my 10-12 year-old VCR.

The kids have quite a few VCR tapes, and for that matter, we have a couple too--like the wedding video. So, after the machine stopped accepting tapes for deposit, I figured I would take it apart to figure out what was wrong with it. And I also figured it would be a fun experience for Gabe and Max to see the innards of the thing, and feel the sense of power and accomplishment that comes from fixing things.

We laid out the machine on the kitchen table, and started our operation. After some effort, we finally discovered that a gear had broken off it's mount point. I was going to say 'very important gear' but realized that any gear in the VCR is equally important if a fully-functional VCR is what you want. [aside: It is incredible how many parts, gears, pulleys, slides, catches, springs, servos, transistors and all sorts of mechanisms are inside a VCR.] Realizing that it was not something I could fix, I looked online for a VCR parts-seller. I found exactly one, who had the part that I needed, for $10, with a clear photo of the part so I knew it was right. (IW-175 Carriage side panel + eject gear ) I ordered the part online, and received it about three days later.

We took apart the VCR again, and this time took it all the way apart. Disconnected the power supply from the main assembly, disconnected the ribbon to the head, and disconnected the main assembly from the cabinet (in order to get a look at the gears underneath.) Everything seemed OK, but no matter how I tried, the cassette would not fully load. I finally gave up, and put my hopes on the assumption that I must be missing some critical catch mechanism that only works when the unit is powered on and fully assembled.

After completely assembling it, and plugging it in, I inserted a tape. The gears sprang into motion sucking the cassette into the bowels of the device. The cassette obligingly opened it's protective door, and the tape was grabbed by automated pins and rollers as the head spun to life. The tape reels spun as the tape wound it's way through the minefield of springs, gears, circuits and mechanics. It was alive. And we did it.

I put the VCR back into it's home inside the TV cabinet, and plonked down on the sofa to watch a movie. It might have been 'old-school', but I fixed it myself. And, I have two boys, born around the turn of the millenium, who know what the inside of a VCR looks like.