Clothing Yourself In Technology

Sixyphe writes "Burton Snowboards has just released a very, very nice snowboarding jacket called the Analog Clone. It includes a padded pouch designed to hold a Sony MZ-N1 MiniDisc player and, more importantly, a large textile control pad on the left arm that acts as a remote control for the MD player. This pad is based on technology from SOFTswitch, a UK company. Production, 100 units, price tag, around 1000US$, MZ-N1 included. Not the first textile-based application I've seen (textile keyboards have been around for a while, I believe), but a nice one. This is cool, geeky, musical, sporty and damn useful all at once. Wow. The part I like best is where they mention that the coat is machine-washable when the MD player is removed. Thanks to minidisc.org for the tip." skratchjerk writes "Financial Times has a short article about Levi Strauss' new anti-radiation jeans. They state that 'The trousers, to be launched in the UK next year under Levi's Dockers brand, contain mobile phone pockets with "anti-radiation lining to prevent possible health risks".' I guess it's about time we protected 'the boys.'" Update: 09/13 21:13 GMT by T : The updated Burton link should make the folks at Burton happier ;)

Comments

oh goodie

[Sc00ter]

"The trousers, to be launched in the UK next year under Levi's Dockers brand, contain mobile phone pockets with "anti-radiation lining to prevent possible health risks""

And cuts off all ability to actually recive a call while in the pocket..

Levi's marketing genious

[gazuga]

"anti-radiation lining to prevent possible health risks"
I guess it's about time we protected 'the boys.'

They've just captured the entire male market precisely for the above reason. When it comes to the family jewels, better safe than sorry ;)

Hey...

[GeneralEmergency]

.

...I thought all geeks were too fat to ski!

Re:Hey...

[John Whitley]

No, they just slide down the hill on their tummies... like Tux does. ;-)

Pinky are you thinking what I'm thinking?

[theophilosophilus]

Well yeah brain but where are we gonna get lead pants our size this time of night?

They just need to include a bong somehow

[pyite69]

Maybe a hash pipe holder would be ideal.

Re:You'll kill yourself

[zulux]

This is so god-damn true...

If you are engaged in an activity that could kill you or others, you don't need to be destracted by anthing - mucic, conversation, cell-phones, naked people.

Activities such as:
Rock climbing, Autoroutes/Autobahn/Montanna, Posing on Slashot, DOD Programming deserve your full attention.

It actually galls me to think that's it's an accepted practice to have blareing music in an operating theatre. If I'm paying $2000 an hour for somebody to cut into my heart, then they better pay attention to their scalpel and not to Britney Spear's latest tean-bop.

Re:You'll kill yourself

[CaffeineAddict2001]

"oops, I did it again!
Cut a hole in your heart
and my watch fell in."

Re:You'll kill yourself

[gwernol]

Which is why deaf people don't snowboard or ski, right?
You can't navigate by sound while riding. The tunes don't really matter.

The point is not just that you can't hear what is going on around you, but that you are concentrating on something else instead of on skiing/snowboarding. Listening to music requires a certain amount of concentration which isn't available for navigation - there is a finite amount of stuff you can attend to at one time.

The good news is that the brain is relatively good at not concentrating on music when other stimuli grab its attention. Music processing is a low priority task. This is different from, for example, taking part in a conversation, which the brain will treat as a less interuptable activity. This is why talking on a cell phone while driving is considerably more dangerous than listening to music while driving - your brain will continue to concentrate on the conversation even when something else (a red light, a driver cutting into your lane, a child crossing the street) should grab your immediate attention.

So, I tend to disagree that music is a huge danger when skiing, although it does impose some burden on the listener.

And when you wipe out???

[fmaxwell]

Great idea. Put on a $1000 jacket with an expensive MiniDisc player into the pocket, put on your headphones, and then go snowboarding.

I can just see it now. You don't hear the skier/boarder behind you and you cut him off. You both wipe out hard. You're lying in the snow with headphones 15 feet behind you (entangled with your goggles) -- the cable still around your neck, the MiniDisc player crunched, and your $1000 jacket's keypad mysteriously non-functional.

Do us all a favor and don't get the radiation shielded pants. We don't need you breeding.