I can't believe this is the first I've heard of this:

Now, however, it appears that the ideal marriage of digital and analog technology has finally been made.

When [Josh] Wink arrives at Ruzyne airport for his Friday, Nov. 15 appearance at Abaton, he won't be waiting for two heavy crates of records because most of his music will be stored on his laptop computer. He will perform using Final Scratch, a new software-based system. As usual, the club will supply a mixer and two turntables, but they'll be topped with Final Scratch records: special pieces of vinyl encoded with digital signals instead of songs.

If Wink chooses not to bring any old-fashioned 12-inch singles with him, those Final Scratch records are the only two he'll need. They don't send music through the stylus — they send information to the computer about the way a DJ manipulates them. The software uses that information to change a piece of music on the laptop's hard drive accordingly and then sends it back to the mixer and out through the speakers. The setup allows needle-dropping, speed changes and even genuine-sounding scratching.

Forward-thinking DJs have been quick to embrace Final Scratch technology, formulated by a group of hackers in the Netherlands and sold to Stanton Electronics earlier this year. It hit the market in August. Wink, one of an elite group of international DJs to have access to the system before its release, has been using it since February.

"I liked the idea of being able to use a computer as my record box," he says. "I feel that I perform better as a DJ using Final Scratch because I'm not as limited by the 75 records that fit in a record box. I now have over a thousand songs to choose from using Final Scratch, and because of this I can be more versatile and creative as a DJ." [from The Parague Post Online]

Here are the FAQs from the Final Scratch site:

Q) What is Final Scratch?

A) FINAL SCRATCH is a unique and patented technology that allows real-time manipulation and even scratching of digital music files such as .wav and .MP3 by using your turntables.

Q) What are the system requirements for a computer running final scratch?

A) Standard CPU with at least 500 MHz, RAM 128 MB, OS Linux. USB port and a CD-ROM drive that is ATAPI compatible (all drives shipped last 3 years are, so all new PC's equipped with a 500 MHz CPU will).

Q) What kind of soundcard do you recommend for Final Scratch?

A) No special sound card is required because Final Scratch has its own special Scratch Amp, which eliminates the need for a high-end sound card. Your standard sound card that came with your laptop should be sufficient.

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