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New Idlers, But Only On The Cheap ... Our Designers Show Their Colors ... Again. /long

Posted by J.D. (A) on August 14, 2007 at 13:23:01

Know how it is, when Manufacturers are forced to try and mount a market trend that's already in progress ? And they're not really too interested in it, their heart's not in it since it's not where they've bet the ranch, and they're certainly not invested in the idea, either financially or imaginatively... in fact by any stretch ..... ?

You know what I mean ? It's kind of like when you pick up your kid's toy whatever-it-is, and you peel back the "Lilo And Stitch" label and find the "Pocahontas" graphic underneath that?
Same toy, same cheap piece of chinese shit, but there's something kinda sneaky and disingenuous about that, don't you think ?
Something is lost when the kid realizes that, somehow, to some evil bastard, Lilo, Stitch, Pocahontas and even Hello Kitty are interchangeable fluff ...

Well, if you're from the New York / New Jersey area you certainly know what I mean.
Even though they have a kind of dimwit-mom-&-pop appeal, the makers of local brand Carvel ice cream have always used a system that is similar to the above.
Their business evolved in a different era, when ice-cream was a major event, often an excursion for the family that would be planned and spotlighted in advance, especially for a Birthday or Big Occasion. What they came up with was Ice Cream In Generic Molds, that could be decorated per the custom occasion or for seasonal events.

If you happened to be a child of four, this was great, a really special treat from your parents or grandparents for a special day.

If you happened to be a skeptical child of, say, eleven or so, schooled in the arts of parental manipulation and control, things began to become a little more transparent.
That very same "Fudgie The Whale" icecream cake that was great fun at your birthday looked a lot like the exact same shape as the Santa Claus cake for christmas, just re-oriented, so the whale-face was redecorated as St Nick's face, and the whale's tail could be decorated in red for santa's hat. This became suspicious.

When Easter rolled around, the whale-tail was redecorated this time as Bunny Ears, and well, you get the idea. Downright insulting was the late-spring "To A Whale Of A Dad" icecream cake, for Father's Day, that brought us back full-circle again. Don't even ask what was up with "Cookie Puss" or "Winnie The Witch". And what they might have in common. With whales.

This was almost begging the observant adolescent to infer that there was diabolical fakery being practised, at the expense of innocent children everywhere. And to extend that inference ---to the Adult World in general.

Keep that in mind when we consider Idler Drive Turntable Technology.
The prevailing wisdom is / was : No Manufacturer Today Would Seriously Undertake The R&D And Tooling Expenses Required ---to once again produce the complex, clockwork-like precision idler system seen on classic turntables of years back. Have a look at an Emt 927 for an example of same.

Funny things happen though, when there is lots of internet chat about vintage gear that doesn't net current manufacturers any profit.
Well, guess what ? Looks like we have a Big Surprise and also, a simultaneous appearance, of No Surprise There --- also known, to some observant former adolescents, as "Fudgie The Whale".

The Big surprise is that at least two manufacturers are taking a whack at the Idler Drive. Just imagine ! Todays technology and materials applied to.... hold it right there.
The No-Surprise-There moment, the big Fudgie The Whale Award, goes to these same 'designers' who simply figured they'd take their pre-existing motors and, without benefit of an Actual Idler Mechanism --- well, let's just see what happens if we kind of lean it against the platter--- put it right on the Internet, to see if it drums up any demand. Or is able to co-opt any of the no-net-gain Idler chitchat.... but this time with a current Brand Name.

This bears some emphasisizing.
Rather than expending the time effort & money required to set up a real Idler Drive mechanism ---with it's attendant sprung intermediate-wheel carriages and motor suspension elements--- our pioneering designers have decided to be really bold.
And being truly bold in this case entails : no new motor, no new idler mechanism, nothing really newly engineered at all, really. And certainly no new turntable. Either a pre-existing motor-flywheel, in one case, or a pre-existing directdrive motor in the other.... And then, as mentioned, well, just kind of leaning the motor against the platter.
You know, simpler-is-better, less-is-more, no-out-of-pocket costs... something profound like that.

And, at least in one case, post full-color photos on Vinyl Asylum--- to run it up the flag-pole and see if anybody salutes.
This is convenience and Freedom-From-R&D-Cost that other industries only dream about.

Unless those Industries just happen to be in the business of relentlessy re-Badging Fudgie The Whale.
I wonder if Carvel could make up an Ice Cream Cake to commemorate "Fudging The Details, A Whale Of A Product Research Cost-Savings" ...

I'm just going to step up and say that I bet they could.

J.D.

Edits: 08/14/07

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Kimber Kable

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