The spindle keeps it centered and plumb. In my opinion, any claims to a non-spindled TT is bull-shit. Think about it. You cue the record and the damn thing would wobble. Plus the center of gravity would change as the tonearm travels to the center. And how would they compensate (assuming the more obvious issues are resolved) for different tone arms and cartridges in terms of their mass and tracking force? The variables are infinite. Plus -- the motor drive -- HOW? Speed control -- HOW? Overcoming inertia and hysteresis -- HOW?
Frankly I believe that WEBsite raising invention money is nothing more than a scam. Maybe the "inventor" is using Unobtanium in a constant bath of liquid nitrogen. WOO-HOO!
Besides -- a well-executed thrust bearing gets the job done. My Denon DL-59L needs an electronic brake to stop. If I shut the power off, rather than hit the stop button while it is running, it takes close to three minutes for it to finally stop.
It's always fun to speculate -- like why in the hell are we still rockets to leave Earth? Why not anti-gravity?
Just thinkin'.
