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I completely agree with you about programming VCRs. Despite being in my teenage years around their peak usage, I found it quite easy to do.

Xerox and fax machines, on the other hand, are the work of the devil.

There's a major difference between people on this site (who likely had no issue scheduling a VCR) and the average consumer.

A sizable chunk of humanity, from my experience, is scared to even try.

I should have been more clear: Several posters here on HN indicated they struggled with VCRs, and that is what I found surprising.

My aunt used to have two VCRs and an alarm clock. She'd use the alarm to remind her to hit record. She struggled with the timer, but I don't think she trusted it to record what she asked it to.

It's now 2016. She's got two DVRs... and an alarm clock.

To clarify, I'm not claiming that programming a VCR actually is difficult. I don't know, because I'm slightly too young to have ever tried it. I was merely pointing out that "VCR programming is difficult" is or was a cultural meme.