We must be about the same age. The VCR was a game changer. As I recall, the answering machine came just before it, and it's kind of amazing how fundamentally that changed things, too. People from more recent generations just don't get what a different paradigm it was when you couldn't necessarily contact your friends. You'd call their house, but if there wasn't an answer that didn't necessarily mean much. They might be outside, or maybe not home. Maybe they were on their bike heading to your house.