iPod Mini Custom Installation In A Ford Explorer

Johnny Mozzarella writes "MacWorld has a nice write-up on Jesse Melchior, an amateur special effects artist and filmmaker, who used his skills to create a custom installation that is worthy of an iPod mini. The article outlines the materials he used such as latex, plaster and dental acrylic to create an integrated dock complete with blue LEDs and Apple logo in his Ford Explorer."

Comments

But it's still cumbersome to use

[Seekerofknowledge]

Ever since I got my iPod, I've dreamt and drooled over the possibility of using it in my car. But I just have never thought up a good way to really integrate it, and I mean fully, like having an easy way to choose songs to play, hit play/pause, change the volume, etc, that is just as easy to use an in dash player that supports mp3's.

Having it sit somewhere mounted is a good start, but you still would have to reach down there and twiddle the buttons. And in an big vehicle like an Explorer? That would get old, quick.

By the looks of the pictures, he is using the line out connector on the bottom. You can't change the volume that's coming out of that right? I mean not from the iPod, therefore you'd have to use the main stereo for that. So you would have two places to reach now, for different activities. You would have reach down to the iPod to change songs and pause, and reach to the stereo to change the volume. That little extra step of deciding where need to reach would be a huge burden when you're going down the interstate at 70mph.

If anybody has thought of a good way to integrate the iPod into a car, I want to know. Right now my setup is using the headphone jack to connect to the aux input of my stereo, and using the inline remote that came with it. I can at least do all functions from one place (the headphone jack can have it's volume adjusted), but I can't really charge it well, because then I'd have a connector sticking out of the bottom *and* top. What I would like is for the iPod to have a docking place like in the article, but still be able to do everything easily, from one place, without needing to look too much. Maybe I need a wireless remote? Maybe I'm asking too much. :)

Handheld/Vehicle Interfaces

[unfortunateson]

Frankly, the fact that he needed to do this shows that the aftermarket auto industry is not doing its job. My car and my handheld constellation need to talk to each other:

• Very few audio head units have a front jack for aux input. You can dangle an adapter cable out the back (on most models this means you can't use a CD changer), but that's butt-ugly. Otherwise you're at low-fi FM transmitters or cassette adapters
  
• For that matter, why shouldn't it be two-way on the audio link? Record off-the-air onto the MPS, eh?
  
• My PDA should be able to get odometer readings from the car easily for expense reports (a GPS may substitute, but it doesn't talk to my PDA well either). [Hmmm... should the Mobil Speedpass let my PDA know what it's spending on gas and McD's?]
  
• What kind of communication do I want with the car? I don't know. Perhaps just a USB 2.0 jack on the dash, although that's not peer-to-peer. IEEE 1394? Is Bluetooth good enough for hi-fi audio? Do I want all cars to be wardriving units?
  
• I hesitate to mention M$'s AutoPC. Let's just leave it at that.
  

There's obviously lots of room for Automobile-Area Networks, but few folks are doing anything about it.

ipod deck?

[ahector]

I've got the Belkin charger/line out in my car. It works well and plugs right into the stereo... but it's not that slick. I have to control the ipod to change songs, etc. and then use my cd deck to change volume. I want a deck that I can buy that acts as an ipod dock. You just slide that ipod in like an 8 track and then the deck has normal controls for volume, track selection, etc. and a display that shows song titles, etc. If it had a radio too I could care less about not having a CD player in the car. So you get to listen to the ipod, control it easily.. it gets charged... When you leave the car just eject the ipod, grab it and go! Something like this would be popular, wouldn't you think?