Numark's IPod DJ Mixer?

Since IPods are so popular, this seems like a neat idea. Instead of carrying crates and crates of Vinyl or many CD cases, just plug in your IPods and start playing! Great for mobile DJs, but not that great for club DJs -- it will take some time for something like this to get standardised in clubs, even if it becomes successful.

There's a couple of additions they need to include in the current model before it can realistically be used by DJs though. How will pitch control be implemented? I'd imagine the track (or a part of it) will need to be downloaded from the IPod to the device so pitch control can be simulated. The problem is, downloading will take some time, so the system may not be useable (at least with current technology) during a live performance (waiting ten seconds to get to a track on CD with my Numark CDN-36 is long enough!). From the pictures shown, it doesn't seem like there's a pitch control option on system.

Another issue is with scratching -- the track (or part of it) will again need to be downloaded and buffered first. But scratching is not really a strong requirement -- many CDJs don't support it.

A feature that would be helpful for many DJs is if the mixer can be separated from the DJ system (e.g. a rack-mounted Numark DJ kit requires the mixer to be connected separately). In this way a top of the range mixer can be connected to the IPod DJ console (that will include only the jog wheel, play etc. buttons and pitch control).

Looking forward to playing around with one of these things, whenever they become available in stores around Melbourne!