The Technics SL 1210 – Ultimate Cult Gadget?
There have been lots of gadgets that became cult items, such as the Tamagotchi (that weird digital pet thing), the Apple iPod (love or hate them, they are everywhere), and the Commodore 64 (considered the premier home PC of its era). It is very hard to try and attribute the title of Ultimate Cult Gadget to any one item.
My choice is going to be the Technics SL 1210 turntable. Why am I choosing this as my ultimate cult gadget of all time? Simply because unlike most gadgets, this one actually did an awful lot to encourage people to develop skills and get involved in new things, instead of hanging on a key chain looking pretty.
The SL 1210, is the best known DJ turntable hands down, it is a veritable industry standard in the DJ world and is used by everyone from back bedroom wannabes to $1,000 per minute super star DJ’s. This is truly a gadget that breaks into a huge cross section of the intended target market. The sight of a pair of 1210s has become synonymous with the image of a DJ. So why are these decks so popular? Why do people love them so much?
Firstly we need to consider the design. They contain every function needed by a DJ, and supply these functions in a single, easy to operate and robust package. All of the components are of extremely high standard, these things just keep working. Because of the great value they represent, they were quickly adopted as a standard part of the average club sound system. Of course, if you are a DJ in waiting, and you want to break into the club scene, then you had better practice on something that is the same as the equipment you will eventually work on right? So within a very short space of time, every aspiring DJ had a pair of 1210s on their Christmas list. This was a typical snowball effect, and sales of the SL 1210 grew exponentially.
Getting back to why I chose this as my ultimate cult gadget of all time, we need to consider what the SL 1210 is all about. It is about mixing music, entertaining people, learning how to play a pair of decks and having fun. Other gadgets just simply allow you to do something; the SL 1210 offers you the chance to be something. From the youngest teenager with his pair of turntables plugged into some old Hi-Fi system in his bedroom, to the international DJ’s who entertain crowds in excess of 50,000 people, all of them are following a dream, and living a lifestyle, of which the Technics SL 1210 turntable is a fundamentally important building block. Can the same be said about the iPod? Not in the slightest.
So this is why the 1210 gets my vote as the ultimate cult gadget of all time, a truly exceptional product, which for many people has changed their world.