jukeboxes...going, going GONE!
You guys mentioned jukeboxes too. It's amazing that this once umbiquous fixture in restaruants, diners, and other hangouts is now pretty much all but dissapeared thanks to technology!
When I started working in audiovisual, I remember installing a jukebox that inside used an NSM 100 disc CD changer made in Germany connected to a Crestron automation system, a Crown audio amplifier. A coin-op box with an LCD touchscreen control panel was installed on the front to operate the unit. At the tables, there were coin-op boxes that operated on the "cresnet" system to run the jukebox.
Well, you know you've been in a business a long while when you start pulling out gear that you remember installing! That very system was just recently replaced with a box that does everything in a small 2-rack space box with NO MOVING PARTS!!!! This "jukebox" contains a digital music player like an I-pod that stores 10GB worth of music in NVRAM...about 120 CD's worth...It also contains a 300 watt per channel audio amplifier, a digital signal processor, and a small computer that gives it an IP address. The user stations at the tables have color touchscreens that show the album cover and a list of songs on that album to pick from. They connect to the music server jukebox through either wireless LAN or through CAT5 cable. The thing is that there is really no real jukebox with cool lights and graphics that sits on the floor of the restaruant...just the table controllers, which look sort of cool, but lack the retro character of the old ones! The interesting thing about them is the payment method...they just record your selections, and add it to your table bill when the waiter brings the bill! The actual jukebox music server sits in the back in an equipment cabinet, or underneath the bar out of the way. Restaruant owners have said that they sort of like this style because they can get another dining table in where a full-size jukebox used to sit!
