ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Compact Video Cassette

A compact video cassette is like a small box that you can put a movie or a TV show on. It's like a smaller version of a VHS tape that you might have seen before.

The cassette has a special tape inside that is coated with tiny magnets. When you put the cassette in a special machine called a VCR, or video cassette recorder, the machine takes the tape out of the cassette and moves it past a little machine that reads those tiny magnets on the tape.

This reading machine turns those magnets into pictures and sounds that you can see and hear on your TV. So, the movie or TV show that was on the tape is now on your TV, and you can watch it at home whenever you want!

Compact video cassettes were a popular way to watch movies and TV shows in the past, but now, people use things like DVDs, Blu-ray, or streaming to watch their favorite shows and movies.