Planned Obsolescence/End-Of-Life in DJ equipment...
Planned Obsolescence/End-Of-Life in DJ equipment... Posted on: 03.08.2012 by Matthew Yanagisawa Hello. I've been reading a lot for law school about planned obsolescence or end-of-life stuff and one of the areas it's impact is most prominent is on the electronics and appliances. DJ gear
being electronics, also get to suffer from this market design to make corporations more money, thus, doing business as usual. The thing is that DJ gear is something we expect to last as in the way it is abused at the club, by traveling, by use etc, but at the same time, it is also our musical instrument we get to learn to play and to master and becomes our instrument. So in that sense it's not like your drum set will fail or your guitar will become obsolete, but an S4 can (and will) fail and you bet your ass will become obsolete. The almighty unbreakable 1200's do continue to last and be the instrument of choice for Dj's worldwide but the more feeble, contemporary gear like the S4 if it doesnt fail due to internal components crapping out, it's tight integration with traktor can make it obsolete whenever NI wants. I've heard about Dj's having their gear for more than 10 years and still be rolling with that but on this controllerist generation, who will be using an S4 10 years from now? How long the thing can last before it craps out? I use the S4 as an example but we also include the Maschines, the Launchpads, the Synthsations etc. A Roland 808 can last for many years but a Twitch? Only time will tell but with this very aggresive way to diminishing its life to make some quick bucks will hurt us all in our pocket. Apple, the brain of most our DJ gear , takes planned obsolescence to the core of it's business (anyone remembers the Ipod 18 month battery case?) going to lengths not seen before like the user not beign able to first change the battery, then the hard drive and now the RAM. All that shit is soldered on the MoBo if anything fails at all, you must take it back to the store and if out of warraty, pay whatever they ask or buy a new one. No wonder Apple just created the least repairable laptop ever. But a computer is something that is kinda expected to replace every 5 years or so since the new software will slow your shit down to a crawl (or in my case my black Macbook wont upgrade to Mountain Lion) but DJ gear is something we expect to work for years to come as it's something expensive, delicate and something we get to learn and get familiar with. So what are your alternatives if any? Should there be an DIY approach? Anyway to save our craft from planned obsolescence? | |
| Darren Teboe 03.08.2012 |
Originally Posted by Vandalus
seriously? Vinyl degrades much faster. Even as advocate of vinyl, I can admit that. I'll give you that 1200's last probably ten fold over any other DJ tech out there, but records are extremely bad in the degradation department. Regular gigging proves that, hence the reason to buy doubles of records at times (aside from keeping gold out of the hands of other local DJ's or for battle DJ purposes). |
| Matt Kane 03.08.2012 | there |
| Rosenda Gossage 03.08.2012 |
Originally Posted by Quenepas
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| Matthew Yanagisawa 03.08.2012 | Hello. I've been reading a lot for law school about planned obsolescence or end-of-life stuff and one of the areas it's impact is most prominent is on the electronics and appliances. DJ gear
being electronics, also get to suffer from this market design to make corporations more money, thus, doing business as usual. The thing is that DJ gear is something we expect to last as in the way it is abused at the club, by traveling, by use etc, but at the same time, it is also our musical instrument we get to learn to play and to master and becomes our instrument. So in that sense it's not like your drum set will fail or your guitar will become obsolete, but an S4 can (and will) fail and you bet your ass will become obsolete. The almighty unbreakable 1200's do continue to last and be the instrument of choice for Dj's worldwide but the more feeble, contemporary gear like the S4 if it doesnt fail due to internal components crapping out, it's tight integration with traktor can make it obsolete whenever NI wants. I've heard about Dj's having their gear for more than 10 years and still be rolling with that but on this controllerist generation, who will be using an S4 10 years from now? How long the thing can last before it craps out? I use the S4 as an example but we also include the Maschines, the Launchpads, the Synthsations etc. A Roland 808 can last for many years but a Twitch? Only time will tell but with this very aggresive way to diminishing its life to make some quick bucks will hurt us all in our pocket. Apple, the brain of most our DJ gear , takes planned obsolescence to the core of it's business (anyone remembers the Ipod 18 month battery case?) going to lengths not seen before like the user not beign able to first change the battery, then the hard drive and now the RAM. All that shit is soldered on the MoBo if anything fails at all, you must take it back to the store and if out of warraty, pay whatever they ask or buy a new one. No wonder Apple just created the least repairable laptop ever. But a computer is something that is kinda expected to replace every 5 years or so since the new software will slow your shit down to a crawl (or in my case my black Macbook wont upgrade to Mountain Lion) but DJ gear is something we expect to work for years to come as it's something expensive, delicate and something we get to learn and get familiar with. So what are your alternatives if any? Should there be an DIY approach? Anyway to save our craft from planned obsolescence? |
| Freida Leash 01.09.2012 | I don't know I've only kind of messed with an S4, it seemed sturdy enough if you don't spill pints on it or drop it too many times or too high, or play it like it is a bongo. I'm pretty sure that the software won't completely leave it in the dust anytime soon, it is a four channel mixer, and I really don't believe dj software is going to dip into more channels, soon. I'm still on an old version of traktor and pretty happy with it, upgrading seems more appealing every time a shiny new toy comes out. I believe my current rig if I don't spill a beer on it, the kids don't do something crazy like see what a controller looks like in the microwave, should last a good long time as long as I don't crave new features and flashing lights. The system I have is working and if I wanted to I could probably dj on it for another five years. I probably won't I want more things flashing at me, then again my kit is solid and there aren't any bugs to work out, if I upgrade I've pretty much decided on a more traditional kit, with an x1, and the only reason I see to do that is because I need the gear for business purposes. I believe there is a generation that wants to shell out more money on gear, switch it up a lot, I really don't see the point if something can be done with what is already in place. |
| Chasidy Heckenbach 01.09.2012 | any class compliant midi device (like the midifighter) or one with a physical midi port will at least survive any OS updates. most controllers don't seem to have awesome build quality tho so the hardware may crap out before drivers become an issue. at least my launchpads are ok, as they seem to run fine on linux without any special driver, even tho not class compliant and physically there's not much to go wrong. any hid device tho will be fine so long as you're using something like mixxx or vdj - as you can always tweak the software to make it work. with traktor being a closed system tho you'd be out of luck if (when) they decide to stop supporting a certain controller hid in the future or midi drivers for a specific device become unavailable. |
| Charolette Nungester 01.09.2012 | Something needs to be done. I believe planned obsolescence can only be solved with nothing but laws banning the practice. |
| Darren Teboe 04.08.2012 | Then what's the point of having it? Furthermore, if it's just for display and not for "use", what does the rate of wear matter? |
| Evalyn Voges 04.08.2012 | I believe the bigger issue is the planned obsolescence of software... Think about the artificially forced feature creep in the Apple OSes. You buy Mountain Lion, so now Traktor x.x no longer works, so you have to buy that. It's getting to the point where *not* buying is a risk due to security etc. |
| Debby Ramshur 04.08.2012 | Not exactly my opinion, but playing the devil's advocate here: What if a planned end-of-life is sometimes a good thing for DJ gear ? Since Technics 1200s have already been mentioned, aren't they a perfect example for what happens if you don't make your earlier products obsolete at some point? By being so durable and indestructible the 1200s eventually killed the brand, despite vinyl sales increasing in the last few years. No one was buying new Technics because the old ones never stopped working. Also in today's economy, research and development projects are only supported by the management if a certain return on investment is guaranteed. And there are hardly any better ways to do this than guaranteeing that your new product will replace another. I acknowledge that there are some innovations coming from smaller companies (*wink* Midifighter), but on a larger scale we are still fairly reliant on the R&D departments of the big players when it comes to bringing innovation and progress to the masses. And innovation is what we want here, right? Technics again are a good example: Hardly anybody would buy MK5s when they already owned MK2s since the new features where either not needed or could be added via some fairly simple modding. MK5Gs offered a more polished look and some new features with a price tag that just seemed too high. So, how does this transfer to controllers? The Midi Fighter is actually a good example, I believe. DJTT had the option to have the MF3D completely replace the Classic at a higher price tag, because the 3D does have all the features of the classic and adds the 3D aspect. They could've just called the 3D the MF MK2, yet they decided not to end the lifecycle of the Classic. The reason could be that they actually earn more per unit of Classic MF (unlikely) or because they want the customer to have the choice. So, what strategy is better? |
| Nancey Inderlied 03.08.2012 | I see it in controllers and software, because the nature of software is to evolve and develop. But with hardware, not so much. Even the original CDJ-1000 isn't missing out on much except format options and a few extras. For people who play CDs, there's not much they're losing by playing on a working set, the same with 1200s. If CDJs engage in planned obsolescence, the concept of CDJs renders turntables completely obsolete. 1200s are reliable because they're literally the absolute most basic form of electronic device I can believe of. A table consists of a motor, a pickup/stylus wiring, and a tonearm assembly. Two of which are virtually destroyed to the point of restoration by anything more than a knock. They've "lasted since the 70s" because they aren't that hard to repair, and the technology hasn't evolved since the 70s, it's only been essentially replaced by digital players. |
| Latina Samon 03.08.2012 | I've noticed a long time ago this happens with most electronics. They'll drip feed new features in to make you keep buying. With DJ gear
I don't believe they'd purposely make something weak and prone to breaking after a certain amount of time, you just get what you pay for in that regard. But no doubt they will drip you the new stuff. Not much you can do about it though. |
| Diogo Dj Dragão 03.08.2012 |
He probably means vinyl won't degrade like CDs if it is just sitting there properly stored.
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| Romelia Stankard 03.08.2012 | He probably means vinyl won't degrade like CDs if it is just sitting there properly stored. |
| Darren Teboe 03.08.2012 |
Originally Posted by Vandalus
seriously? Vinyl degrades much faster. Even as advocate of vinyl, I can admit that. I'll give you that 1200's last probably ten fold over any other DJ tech out there, but records are extremely bad in the degradation department. Regular gigging proves that, hence the reason to buy doubles of records at times (aside from keeping gold out of the hands of other local DJ's or for battle DJ purposes). |
| Virginia Flaagan 04.08.2012 | speaking as a complete gear slut, i believe this is perfectly acceptable. im a hobbyist/amateur at best and i enjoy getting new controllers and random gear every 14-16 months. |
| Carmelo Politowicz 04.08.2012 | 1200's and vinyl. One great thing about Vinyl is that it doesn't degrade like CD's do. I've had my 1200's for going on 14 years now, and they still look and operate just like the day I took them out of the box. It's really pretty amazing. I'll never sell them, that's for sure. |
| Marshall Aby 03.08.2012 | And there was me believeing today that controllers and MP3s had made DJing much, much cheaper than a few years back. There's pluses and minuses of course, but you can pick up an S2 with a 3 year warranty at thomann here in Europe for half the price of a single CDJ-850. Maybe the built in obsolescence isn't so good if you want to use the same gear for the rest of your career, but if you want to keep up with the latest tech (which many seems to want to these days), then paying extra for stuff that lasts forever may not be that beneficial. |
| Darren Teboe 03.08.2012 | I don't believe technology changing/electronics EOL will have an effect on controllers as much as a lack of long term consumer satisfaction. The changing tech means that people constantly want to upgrade their stuff. It's people opening and closing their wallets that makes companies change constantly. |
| Romelia Stankard 03.08.2012 | It's really hard to say. That's one thing sad about the end of 1200s- there may be alternatives that perform fine but I laugh a little when people talk about Super OEMs, Vestax, Stanton or Numarks in the same sentence. I've had Technics from the early 70s going strong, I wouldn't really hold my breath for most of the current market TTs lasting much over a decade or so. That's nothing compared to what you are talking about with controllers though and I hear you. As software develops many controllers become obsolete in several years. There is no way people will be using S4s in a decade from now if they even last since compatibility just gets outdated and the software will evolve. They need to add more software features so they can build new controllers and sell new hardware. Even CDJs get outdated quick, you won't find anywhere using CDJ-1000 MK1s and it has been just over 10 years. I'm not sure how much this is all planned obsolescence or just technology naturally progressing, but it is a natural byproduct of these type of electronics. As for midi stuff not getting outdated- I have much more faith in stuff that uses actual midi ports. MIDI has been around for 30 years now and isn't going anywhere. Anything that has hardware midi ports and can use actual MIDI cables has a much better chance than USB midi only stuff since physical MIDI doesn't require any drivers- USB midi is dependent on a computer and periodically updated drivers. I doubt half of the products on the market now running USB will still get driver support for new OSes 10 years from now- and most DJ controllers are switching to USB only and don't bother to make 5 pin midi and option. |
| Eloy Kiepke 03.08.2012 | good thread. It's a real problem. Solution? Stop giving NI money... Don't support their business plan of selling REALLY low-quality controllers that will break in two years, that they overcharge you for because they can give them special features. For fuck's sake they don't care enough to even make their own shitty controllers work right. The S4 has been a evening mare since it came out... I don't even know how they can be that incompetent ON PURPOSE. |
| Matt Kane 03.08.2012 | there |
| Rosenda Gossage 03.08.2012 |
Originally Posted by Quenepas
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