The video cassette recorder, mainly known as the VCR, was first developed in 1971 by Philips.  This first model used square cassettes that had a recording time of one hour.  As it had inaccurate timers (rotary dials) and was rather expensive, the VCR didn’t really catch on when it first came out.  Around 1977 European and Japanese companies came out with newer, better VCRs.  These new machines had more accurate electronic timers and had greater tape duration—the VCR became a hit.
The specific function of the VCR is to record audio and video on magnetic tape so that the information written can be played back at a later time, repeatedly.  The VCR is capable of recording the signal on a particular channel during a particular time interval (sounds familiar?  It’s what we do to record the shows we want to watch), and it also has its own tuner.  (Also see VHS.)

*Pictures from http://www.cedmagic.com/history/betamax-sl-7200-1976.jpg and http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/images/vcr.jpg, respectively

Sources:
CED Magic. Betamax. 13 Oct 2003. <http://www.cedmagic.com/history/
betamax-sl-7200-1976.jpg>

Education World. VCR. 13 Oct 2003. <http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/images/vcr.jpg>

Technical Press. A History of the VCR. 13 Oct 2003. <http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Engineering_Graphics/2003/VCR/
history.html>

 Wikipedia. Video Cassette Recorder. 13 Oct 2003. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_tape>

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