So today some exciting news has been released by one of the most iconic companies in the music industry, Panasonic announced that it will start to produce the Technics 1200’s again! Great news for DJ’s who preform using vinyl records and a clear sign that the old technology is rising from the grave. Vinyl sales have been up for the last few years and apparently Panasonic have been paying attention.
The turntables were first produced in 1972, multiple new models were released through the years until the product line was discontinued in the early 2000’s. New formats were introduced such as the CD and MP3 format which made life for DJ’s a lot easier since they now didn’t have to haul a crate of records to every gig.
Yet there were purists whom stuck to the old dated technology, craving the small imperfections and the warm, distinct vinyl crackles which can be heard as you drop the needle into the grooves on the vinyl slate. They bought second hand turntables and refurbished them, prices shot up as they were now a rare commodity. Technics always had a reputation for being virtually indestructible and fairly easy to repair. As the years passed and ‘vintage’ became cool, this culture started to seep into the music industry and slowly small record labels started to release and distribute music on the almost antique format. Today big name artists are also releasing their records on 12” records to cater to this ever growing loyal group of music lovers.
And this is where I stop praising this trend because Panasonic decided to price their new product around the $4000 mark, just let that sink in for a moment, 4 grand for a piece of technology which is 44 years old. It is a smack in the face of the group which supported arguably their greatest product ever when it had been abandoned by its stone faced Japanese parents. A community stood up to care for these forgotten products, nurture them back to health and restore them to their former glory.
A community which swore by their product for a decade of parental negligence has been thanked with a blatant middle finger and a fake grin.
The Rational Mindset 