A Playlist Player Vinyl Emulator (sic...)

A novel concept and beautiful exterior make this Playlist Player vinyl emulation system a certified object of desire. The device — which plays back digital files in an apparently Serrato-like manner — attempts to simulate the classic ritual of the vinyl LP.

“There are two parts to the design: the player, and the record box containing five different coloured covers. Once the playlists are chosen and synced to the player with a memory stick, the user customises the outside of the sleeve with artwork of their choice. It could be photos of a memorable night or person or typed and hand drawn tracklists. Once the record is placed on the player, the music begins and the outer ring of lights illuminates. As the playlists plays rings of light visible through the translucent record move towards the centre of the disc, like a needle tracking on a record. These lights represent time and not the number of tracks, meaning your music must be enjoyed from start to finish with no distractions like the temptation to skip tracks, fast forward or rewind.”

Seeing people designing experiences like this is always nice, but it does illuminate the rather unsettling fact that the album format is dying. People are consuming media in ever smaller chunks and the LP experience is no longer the norm. I think this is a huge loss and an unfortunate consequence of the on-demand nature of the internet.

Although I grew up listening to 8-track, vinyl, cassette tapes, and then CDs — all of which tended to be enjoyed in album format more often than not — I must admit that I jump around a lot when consuming MP3s. I have recently begun rebuilding my music collection in lossless FLAC though and this has encouraged me to listen to more music as whole albums. If Skelly’s Playlist Player supports FLAC or WAV it might make the experience that much more enjoyable.

N.o.B. (Note of Blogger) - While thanking Mojo magazine for hinting this "ground-shaking" new and to Scott Hansen for his above thoughts, I'd wish to underline that this "memory lane" approach isn't new: Dieter Rehm's classy Braun or B & O's gears brought to perform digital instead of the glorious, simple-as-breathing analog they were made for... well, we're more or less in realm of inflating rubber women dolls... are "this" paying any kudos to women or simply and sadly, VERY sadly aberrating their shape and "functions"?

So, why not dating with real, flesh & bone gals, a much rewarding practice, and simply browsing for now sooo cheap analog turntables to enjoy your dad's Patsy Cline's disc or, why not, order - yes, you penny-pinchers around - buy the new record by "xxxx" or "yyyyyyy" - hey, they still press them and if you order a new title at your local shop you'll get it - and not using I-Pods for joggin', period?

These so-called vintage-before-it's buried marketing is like shooting the fatal bullet to a wounded soldier... let's buy vinyl, pals... let's do not moan if downloads wins over vinyl, if we for first do it wrong!

... a Certified Object of Desire?!?!? ... this freak duckling, a C.O.D.?!?!

Julie Christie in Dr. Zhivago is - definitely - a C.O.D.;-)

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