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Strange iPod Accessories
abb_road writes "The desire to customize the iPod, when combined with the desire to make a quick buck, can lead to some very strange iPod accessories. While sales of iPods are lower than predicted, the accessory market is still going strong. 'In fact, iPod add-ons have gone, shall we say, fringe. There's a growing list of weird and wacky accessories that range from a leather thong case (it's not what you think) to a dock that doubles as a toilet-tissue holder.'"
"While sales of iPods are lower than predicted" I bet this is because most people believe they'll eventually win one. I don't think I've gone through an entire day in the last two years without seeing a marketing gimmick that promises to give one away...
A leather thong? Is this part of the iPod S&M series? Sweet!
http://religiousfreaks.com/I got an idea for the next big iPod accessory! It's called the Aquarium iHopper. It will be able to jump not just your home tank with your goldfish, but also the ones at Sea World filled with ferocious, man-eating sharks!
:(
Okay, I think I tried too hard with that one...
Is this really what we're supposed be looking for?
Next thing you know, you'll be covering cooking eggs on over heated laptop models.
Oh. Wait.
'tis but a scratch.
Creative and the other mp3 players get no accessories. This is an overlooked market (last time I checked, Creative holds 5% of the mp3 player market... don't say that's too small, because remember -- that's about the percentage that Apple holds in the computer market) and it makes me sad (then again, maybe I don't want any accessories if manufacturers are going to make a leather thong for my Zen).
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
I dunno. . .it was *sorta* what I thought! ;)
You are not the customer.
After reading the article and watching the slideshow, I was confused as to how the gloves were an iPod assessory; it just didn't fit with the other stuff. Any thoughts?
I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
How is the wallet "strange"? I also don't think the belt is a bad item either. I could see a hipster chick wearing the belt or having the wallet.
Woah - notice that the 'Sticky pad' is not just a 'Sticky pad' - it's a 'Sticky pad *XL*'. Once upon a time, it would have been the 'Sticky pad 2000', but after the turn of the millennium, that's old-hat and so now it's gotta be an 'XL' - that will add approximately $15 to the cost of anything. Stand by for the incredibly-similar-looking 'XL Pro' design that will be $5 more.
Oh, then there's the 'woolly' pouch thingy that's nothing special - but wait - it was 'created' by a 'designer' so that'll add $20 at least.
Gotta love consumerism!
AT&ROFLMAO
I'm guessing those who get the Powder Room Player sit down for number one.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Make sure you stop by the University of Bonn's laser tweezing center for an iBrazilian.
leather thong case (it's not what you think) to a dock that doubles as a toilet-tissue holder
Sorry, you must be thinking of accessories for the iPood.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
I can't wait for the iWip
Their slogan
"iWip you"
I'm definitely getting me one of those toilet roll holders!
[%] Cingular Ringtones
No iPod is complete without this... you know your iPod screams for a goatse.cx skin!
Scratchproof screen. Manageble (God forbid user definable) file structure.
Faith: n. -- That human impulse that drives them to steal appliances when the power goes out
It's not officially weird until there is an iPod vibrator.
And there should be an iPod vibrator. Japan, get your head in the game!
I respond to your sigs
I could see how the shoulder bag could seem strange, but my friend's wife has one and they use it to take their ipod to the beach, works great.
How is it that sales are always supposed to increase for a gadget? Doesnt the market eventually reach a point where most of the people that want one, have one? After that the market is mostly maintenance and upgrade? My understanding is thats basically what has the PC market stagnant how is the mp3 player industry any different?
Behold! the iBuzz!
The ratio of people to cake is too big.
I found the Tunebuckle to be an interesting gimmick though it wasn't for sale where they claimed it was and a shop I *did* find selling the item offered the belt for $60. Not really an impulse buy. The gloves were not a bad idea, but with this week's temperatures Winter seems like a forgotten dream. Overall, though, the list seemed like it was simply trying to get linked to digg and slashdot, which it did.
Maybe I should talk my daughter into knitting a goofy hat to hold an iPod. I can see it now. The click wheel would be smack dab suspended over the forehead like a third eye. Post the plans on my blog, submit it to digg and slashdot and bam! My Google adsense might pull in more than 3 that day. It's so Web 2.0! Add pegasus wings on the side and I could even get cuteoverload to link to it.
I wonder if my daughter would do it for me if I promised her a new pony, I mean, iPod...
The Splintered Mind - Overcoming
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/16/ibuzz_ipod_vi brator.html
The sorostitutes at Arizona State are going nuts over these.
There is a commercial from a company called ISI (I think) that advertises starting your own "iPod Accessories" business. (It sounds like it might be an off-shoot of Invention Submission Corporation.)
I thought it was a parody commercial when I first heard it.
That article didn't even come close to talking about the strangest iPod accessories. I mean, come on!
How about the iBuzz?
Now that's a strange iPod accessory.
That belt is giving me "Captain N" flashbacks.
When does the hurting stop?
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
Don't those people know that the bathroom is NOT a place to be listening to music....you are only supposed to read in there.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Come on now, I've never seen any accessory or gadget that is useful, funny, and can create conversation and jokes like this one...
:P
Drum roll please.... the.. ICOPULATE !!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/icopulate.shtml
Oh yeah, its bumpy, it's pink, and it's functional!
Now if someone would just integrate the icopulate and the ibuzz.... oh wait bad gift idea for your girlfriend...you'll wonder why she stops calling...hmmmm
Tweet, tweet, all id10t's out of the gene pool, open swim is over.
Yeah, 'cause that's what every guy wants - for people to look at his crotch and say "Wow it's so tiny!"
not quite an accessory, but I got my ipod through colorware with a custon black paint job.
This was back before you could buy black ipods, but still mine's less of a piano black, instead its a metalic black.
I keep mine in a case that only exposes the controls, and there is one scratch on the controls, but it's hard to notice. similarly, it does pick up some fingerprints but theyr harder to notice than those on apples black ipods.
Even with the extra paint, touch controls work perfectly.
And besides the cool paint job, there customer service is great. they fixed my ipod when the firmware locked up so bad I couldn't rebood it (I thought it was dead, but they got it working that time) and they replaced it when the hard drive died 6-7 months after purchase. both times they did it without hasseling me at all.
http://www.colorwarepc.com/
Nathan Friedly
Hmmm. The most recent /. article I read before this one was on the Japan supercomputer.
Could it be that the actual purpose of it is to predict what iPod accessories are retarded enough to sell obscenely well?
Even more interesting, the word I have to type from the image for this message is "excrete". That really ties it all together quite well.
10 years ago it would've been the "Super Sticky Pad" (thanks to Nintendo making "super" a meaningless prefix). Nowadays I think that "Sticky Pad Extreme" would be more likely.
Boundless Expansion, Self-Transformation, Dynamic Optimism, Intelligent Technology, Spontaneous Order- BEST DO IT SO!
FTA: ...to a dock that doubles as a toilet-tissue holder.'"
When asking to borrow a friend's iPod, one must now ask if they have one of these little accessories. If your friend does, in fact, have one in his favorite upstairs bathroom. Do not, I repeat, Do not touch his iPod!
One day the toilets of the world will rise up... And I'm going to nuke them.
While most of the products on that page are ridiculous or overkill, those ipod gloves look tempting. For anyone who lives in really cold enviornments, and uses their ipod they'll know the feeling. When it's below zero outside the thought of taking off gloves to control an iPod is not fun at all. Even the 10 seconds it takes to adjust an iPod is extremely uncomfortable. I actually bought a pair of hunting mittens for the purpose of iPod control (so I could just leave my finger tips exposed when I want to control my iPod. However even this option wasn't very good, as I find mittens to be too bulky to work with, and besides I could barely get them under the handle of my coffee mug with my hands in them. I'm seriously considering these gloves for next winter. Of course that does make me wonder what the effects of subzero temperatures are on an iPod itself. I know from experience that you can't wrap up the headphones outside for fear of snapping them in that weather.
Phil
Personally, I think the gloves that let you use the click wheel are pretty cool. The wallet isn't bad either. Anyway, just more examples of the 'long tail' which is a good thing.
Vidi, Vici, Veni
The "iPod Paper" is not paper at all. It is a rubber grip mat for your dashboard. The author must have interpreted "sticky pad" as iPod post-it notes.
What bugs me are the "iPod" devices that aren't just for iPods. (IE, iPod cassete adaptors that work with any portable device.) I think everyone who jumped on the "internet-compatible mouspad" bandwagon is jumping on this one as well.
No, I will not work for your startup
A couple of the accessories on that list were kinda cool, actually. The wallet for the Nano, the lock, the sticky paper. But they forgot what may be the most amazing accessory: the iBuzz, a vibrator (with attachable rubber spike ring) that pulses to the beat of whatever is playing on the iPod. I kid you not. http://www.ibuzzusa.com/. I've yet to buy my own, but then again, I don't know what good it will do me without owning an actual iPod.
"Even pirates like chocolate chip cookies." www.youtube.com/musecast5
I was looking at the weekly ad for Target on Sunday and came across an iPod compatible microwave. I can see the usefulness behind some of the others on the list, but this one left me scratching my head (maybe it is the crappy looking implementation).
Especially when it is wrong and incorrectly quote cited sources (the cited source claims 16th century, which refers to the rum-drinking, parrot wearing, arrrh-saying pirates). According to the OED, the earliest use of the word piracy in the context of unlawful reproduction of another's work is 1654. Of course, also neglecting to point out the definition of piracy that arose in the 1800s involve stream piracy, where by one stream, by headwater erosion, encroaches on the basin of another stream. Now there is the plot for a movie!
Hi, well, the problem is the other players still suck. Period. Ok, if you want a MUSIC PLAYER that can do full HD video on its 2 inch screen, but they just dont sell compared to the iPod. Pick any iPod, any one at all say the original 5GB, firewire, Mac Only, no Music Store iPod. Still sold more than your top of the line Zen and what have you.
While im on it, why do the other music players look like shit still? Dont they learn "sex sells"?
---
do you believe? iBelieve
How do you access the iPod wheel?
-=- Many seek good nights and lose good days.
According to Apple's own fiscal results report this morning, they shipped 8.11 devices, a significant increase over last year. Wow. I hope they sell 10 whole ones next quarter.
I don't really need the toilet paper player, because I make my own music in the bathroom!
'Specially after eating burritos.
i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
When I won an iPod Shuffle I hit the web to find ways to use it. One of the "Best 50 accessories" list, had mention of using an Altoids mints tin as a carrying case. I had a tin sitting around, and it fits perfectly with the headphones coiled beside it and the carrying strap even. If you drill a hole in the end of the tin, you can listen to music in the can, while people think something is "curiously wrong with you". [It's a joke based on the marketing slogan, Curiously Strong mints.] I tried it with an iPod Nano, and it didn't seem to fit, it's just a bit too long.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
...accessories that range from a leather thong case (it's not what you think)...
What the hell?? It was exactly what I thought it was...? What was I supposed to think it was?
Am I perverted or is the writer of the article perverted?
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
This list is even more insipid than I first thought. They didn't just put together an iPod article for page load whoring, they put it together hastily. I found the "Tunebuckle" (page 7) over at the featured website AND at the price point or $19.95. Oh, sure, you can spend $60 if you want a Tunebuckle, but why do that when you can buy THIS beauty for only $19.95?
One wonders if they spent any time at all putting the list together. Certainly there are odder iPod Accessories than leather wallets and functional gloves. That knitted iPod hat is sounding better and better...
The Splintered Mind - Overcoming
It's late, a few days ago it was already on other sites:
http://www.meatpipe.com/XL/?ID=7197
I had an iWallet (yes, really) for my trusty old 2nd generation iPod. It had an unbreakable belt clip from which it could be detached really easily if you knew how, but not if you didn't. Unfortunately it's way too big for my current 5th generation iPod, and when I sit down, it sometimes spontaneously falls out of the clip, so I guess I'll have to buy a replacement. I haven't seen any good 5th generation wallets yet, so I might have to buy a new wallet too.
Interesting thing is: most people think my old iWallet contained an oversized cell phone. And I usually have some money in my pocket. If I have any money on me at all, that is.