Vinyl record iPod touch app gives you the spins
By Laura June 
posted April 28th 2009 8:36PM
posted April 28th 2009 8:36PM
Vinyl has been on the verge of a big-time comeback for ages now (and for some of us, it never ceased to be the format of choice anyway), so we're pretty happy to see that even the land of zany iPhone / iPod apps is no longer immune to its charms. The spinning vinyl app by Theodore Watson makes use of the iPod touch's accelerometer to control the speed that the "record" is played at. The video (which is after the break) might make you a little sick when you watch it, but it sounds great. Analog rules, doesn't it?
[Via Make]
[Via Make]
I have one problem with this app, I don't mean to ruin the fun... But the iPhone doesn't have a built in directional compass...and the accelerometer doesn't pick up the direction the iPhone is facing when flat... so how is this possible (I may be wrong, if so, I'd like to know)
Accelerometer
The accelerometer picks up movement, and you're assuming in this case that its bang smack in the middle of the device, which it isn't, so the accelerometer itself is made to draw tiny circles, the inertia of which signals a false orientation.
Neat little idea - would (free) download for a laugh.
Not quite sure why he has the disc spinning on the screen, surely it would be more accurate to have the disc static, and code it to behave as such?
Next idea: Mounting my iPhone case onto a rod. Insert rod in Black & Decker
Now all this needs is an old turntable to keep it spinning...and to give you a better surface to scratch on. It'd be pretty easy to DIY too...so long as you had an old turntable around. But then...why would you use this? I think the app would have been a better idea had it just played the music and let you rub the screen to scratch and speed up/slow down/go back with the music. Less damage to teh iPhone.