PANASONIC TO STOP MAKING TECHNIC SL-1200 RECORD DECKS

Technics have announced that production of the SL-1200 turntable is to end, according to reports on Gizmodo.com.

Gizmodo said the announcement by Panasonic citing collapsing sales means the once industry standard turntables have a future only as ‘antiques, collectibles, curios for fanatics. The press release (translated from Japanese) said sales are nowadays less than a fifteenth of their levels ten years ago and said manufacturers are concerned they’ll be unable to service future sales due to the digitization of DJ culture. “Many key parts are no longer available as some of our suppliers stopped production or discontinued their businesses,” Panasonic reportedly said, “Also, there is the risk that some key parts’ availabilities might stop suddenly, and these parts are only being produced for our turntables.”

The news appeared just as Richie Plastikman Hawtin derided ‘lazy DJs’ for failing to take advantage of the possibilities offered by new technologies, criticising ‘the many who ‘are just playing track after track, although they are no longer bound by the constraints of two or three turntables and a mixer.’ “I also do not believe that the ‘lazy’ DJ can only be attributed to the rise of digital DJing,” Hawtin told German music portal Bermuda-Berlin.de “As I continue to see seriously boring DJs with both turntables, CD players and yes, computers,” he complained.

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