Strange iPod Accessories

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Posted by ryuzaki0 on Wednesday July 19, 2006 @05:32AM from the what-no-bio-ipod-interface dept.

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.'"

16 of 136 comments (clear)

Win one... by mark0 · 2006-07-19 05:35 · Score: 4, Funny

"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...
1. Re:Win one... by timster · 2006-07-19 05:55 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  More like "submitter is making stuff up".
  
  In fact, Apple sold 8.5 million iPods in the quarter ending April 1, which of course doesn't include the holiday quarter. This is an increase of 61% over the same quarter in 2005.
  
  To include the holiday season: for the six months ending on 4/1 they sold 22.5 million, which is an increase of 128% over the same period in 2005.
  
  True, "predicted" is sort of a weasel word; some people predicted more, and some people predicted less. I'm not aware of a published consensus estimate of iPod unit sales.
  
  --
  I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
2. Re:Win one... by phookz · 2006-07-19 06:41 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  More like "submitter is using data from TFA".
  
  According to TFA, Credit Suisse analysts say Apple has shipped 7.75 million device in fiscal Q3, compared with an earlier forecast of 8.25 million.
  
  Is this accurate? I don't know, but I think it's unfair to claim the submitter is making up the statement when it's clearly there in TFA.
3. Re:Win one... by kalidasa · 2006-07-19 08:56 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  According to Apple's own fiscal results report this morning, they shipped 8.11 devices, a significant increase over last year.
UnNews-worthy by alamandrax · 2006-07-19 05:37 · Score: 5, Funny

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.
Meanwhile by MrSquirrel · 2006-07-19 05:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

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.
1. Re:Meanwhile by kfg · 2006-07-19 06:03 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  This is an overlooked market . . .
  
  Then why are you overlooking it? Get out there and do it.
  
  Here, I'll start you out. Go to K-Mart and buy two placemats made out of the same stuff as the iSticky Pad, for the same price.
  
  Cut a couple dozen ZenSticky pads out of them and sell them to your Zen owning friends for 5 bucks each, nearly half what the poor iPod suckers have to pay for one of those things.
  
  Shhhhhhhh! Don't tell anybody about the placemats.
  
  Profit!
  
  KFG
2. Re:Meanwhile by kfg · 2006-07-19 06:08 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  . . .except the bullet-proof case, *drool*
  
  Tell me where you are - so I can not go there.
  
  KFG
3. Re:Meanwhile by Golias · 2006-07-19 06:13 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Writing software for a Mac and/or Linux is a very different proposition from fabricating hardware for a niche music player.
  
  As expensive as software development is, it doesn't really compare with tooling a factory for making hardware that works with a specific MP3 player, then programming the firmware for said device.
  
  The iPod has been using pretty much the same dock connector for a couple years now, so if you make a gadget for the iPod dock connector there's damn near 50 Million potential customers out there.
  
  Creative has clawed it's way to be the biggest of "the rest of them" with the Zen, at least in terms of this year's sales, but I wouldn't be surprised if somebody came out with a statistic that said there were more iRivers out there than Zens. If you are going to go after the "not an iPod" market, your best bet is to make generic gadgets which plug into the headphone jack of any player, and don't rely on the manufacturer-specific features on one niche player.
  
  The iPod is far from perfect. It needs more RAM, and still lacks gapless playback (a major buzz-kill, IMHO), but between its market dominance and it's dock connector with standardized pin-outs, it's no surprise that it's what most manufacturers are building accessories for.
  
  If I'm the CEO of "SuperCoolOggAndMP3Players, inc.", I'd be talking to Apple about licensing the iPod dock for my player. It probably would not be a cheap deal, but it would give me a leg up over Creative and all the other also-rans out there, including the upcoming player from Microsoft.
  
  --
  Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Ah - designer stuff... by Linker3000 · 2006-07-19 05:43 · Score: 3, Funny

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... by ackthpt · 2006-07-19 05:43 · Score: 4, Funny

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
Re:Strange? by 93,000 · 2006-07-19 05:49 · Score: 5, Funny

The wallet didn't strike me as strange either. Though upon further thought I now think it's a bad idea, as a theif can now steal everything valuable on your person in one convienent pakage:

CROOK: Gimme your wallet!
YOU THINK: Crap, that has my iPod in it!

-or-

CROOK: Gimme your iPod!
YOU THINK: Crap, that has my wallet in it!

--
Sweet informative mod.
What? No mention the goatse skin? by fudgefactor7 · 2006-07-19 05:58 · Score: 5, Funny

No iPod is complete without this... you know your iPod screams for a goatse.cx skin!
Right, "strange"... by Bob+of+Dole · 2006-07-19 05:59 · Score: 4, Funny

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
Ask and ye shall receive by feldspar6 · 2006-07-19 06:05 · Score: 5, Informative

Behold! the iBuzz!

--
The ratio of people to cake is too big.
iPod sex toy attachment by LuminaireX · 2006-07-19 06:09 · Score: 4, Informative

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/16/ibuzz_ipod_vi brator.html The sorostitutes at Arizona State are going nuts over these.