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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...
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.
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
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.
No iPod is complete without this... you know your iPod screams for a goatse.cx skin!
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
Behold! the iBuzz!
The ratio of people to cake is too big.
. . .except the bullet-proof case, *drool*
Tell me where you are - so I can not go there.
KFG
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/16/ibuzz_ipod_vi brator.html
The sorostitutes at Arizona State are going nuts over these.
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.