iPods have been used for advertising as well. Together with the iTrip FM transmitter they can be mini radio stations or vehicles to deliver advertising messages. Example: http://raszl.net/ambient_media/riffa_views_parking_lot
PrezBuch
· 2 years ago
..as a vibrator? I recently saw some addon for that too. :-)
Aeryn
· 2 years ago
Personally, aside from as a music player, I like to use my iPod as a DAT for smaller shows my band plays where I don't want to have to haul around my computer rig.
Troy
· 2 years ago
So the unexpected uses are that the iPod is used to listen / view Audio & Video?
Wow.... so unexpected.
iplod
· 2 years ago
of course none of what's described is particularly unique to the ipod.
phej
· 2 years ago
Listening to podcasts does not require an iPod, any mp3 player will do. I also don't think listening to audio or watching video qualifies as an unexpected use, regardless of the content.
Paul
· 2 years ago
The "they" in "As they say, be prepared" are the Boy Scouts of America. Scout Motto: Be Prepared. Just giving credit to where credit is due.
Ryan Pratt
· 2 years ago
Great list! You should put it on ListAfterList.com. There are tons of other lists just like this there.
Cheating with Ipod is getting more and more popular where I study
Mike
· 2 years ago
We recently used the RSS feature of iPODS to deliver digital dailies for the film industry. A producer in LA can subscribe to a private secure RSS feed and see the dailies that were shot in a remote location. As the feeds are archived they can be useful for doing continuity pickups as well.
devolute
· 2 years ago
#12 - Bore everyone with masses of mac-fanboyism everytime Apple fart out a new iPod version.
live television
· 2 years ago
@devolute right on the money!
IPods ...yawn, anyone who has one bought it because of the social peer pressure involved in getting it. I recommend getting an IPod only if you have $150 dollars to burn and you want to make a really stupid choice. The IPod is one of the most expensive players on the market, and it offers 1/4th the features of some of its cheaper competitive, the only reason I can see to buy it is to conform or you can be the 'non-conforming conformist' rebel.
kick52
· 2 years ago
shouldnt ipodlinux be in there?
David
· 2 years ago
Regardless of what anyone thinks of the Ipod and how useless it is....Apple was able to capitalize on the mp3 player market. They just released results boasting $770m in net income due partly to the strong demand. Quite a marketing engine they are.
The Pandora Effect
· 2 years ago
iPod has got a while range of accessories to fit together with, giving even MORE uses! talking about an iPod vibrator. incase you still dont know; seriously, it exists! haha.
best regards.
afaf
· 2 years ago
Why not change the article to "10 Unexpected Uses of MP3-players"?
It's not like the iPod is the only player out there capable of doing these things. It doesn't even to it best.
Rhett Maxwell
· 2 years ago
I've been using my ipod to study german. Not only are there books on tape available, but there are many free podcasts available as well. The ipod lets you rewind and replay difficult phrases over and over.
-=-Leneras-=-
· 2 years ago
One clear point to make here, everything you can and are about to be able to do on an ipod, you can do on many another thing, and have been able to do for a long time ;-)
Dont get me wrong ipods look snazzy and if i had the money to waste i would, but im weak to the social norm like that as are the consumers who brought one of there many versions of what essentially is a POS in a snazzy case lolol
So many problems and issues have arisen with the iPod over time, just another mac ploy to try and stamp an "i" on everything, doesnt bother me though, there over-expensive products simply encourage consumers to look elsewhere to cheaper and more efficient alternatives
Oh and iTunes..... ill leave that there
So anyways thats my opinion, iPods teh ghey and support other companies because monopolistic (or would they be an ologopoly since apple branch into different markets.... no no monopoly it is) anyways as i was saying support other companies because wasting your money on crap like this just encourages the facist bastards haha
L8rs
James (CMiYC)
· 2 years ago
I use my iPod for paperless Geocaching. Using MacCaching, I export the cache descriptions to my iPod.
Kevin
· 2 years ago
Also, a lot of people listen to audiobooks and stories -- see http://welltoldtales.com for one good example
One museum I went to (www.zkm.de) offers an audio-guide of their exhibition by USB: plug in your media player, and they will upload the MP3 audio guide into it. Clever, IMO.
Joe
· 2 years ago
It's the Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared," not just what THEY say. I realize that's kinda haughty to say, but I'm an Eagle Scout and a hardcore geek. Just thought I'd clear up that paraphrase.
Incredible color wheel, color scheme computer for designers
WOW
Way cooler than the Tip Calculator by the same company.
god_mode
· 2 years ago
Technology is sure running a fast pace
Torsten
· 2 years ago
"Tour Around Great Cities:"
There are quite a few more city audio guides / podcasts, and they don't need to cost any more 12 Bucks. Podguides.net (user generated city guides), iToors and also iaudioguide.com (with 40 cities) offer free content for travelers.
Michael Price
· 2 years ago
Shopping for real estate is another unexpected use of the iPod that is catching on in a big way.
mobius
· 2 years ago
re: #4 --
when i was in germany, i visited the buchenwald concentration camp. they offered rentals of a pocket tour guide for 4 euro that consisted of an ipod nano loaded with mp3s corresponding to each of the sites at the camp.
most unexpected use of an ipod ever.
NW
· 2 years ago
If it's the audio tours that you are interested in then I have set up a site called
It is an audio tour directory so that you can find audio tours with as little fuss as possible. Because the industry is still in it's infancy, the companies producing audio tours don't always do too well in the search engine listings. We have put together lists of hundreds of tours from all over the globe, and they are really easy to track down. We don't put them on our lists so that we get commission, we put them on if they are of a good standard. I hope that if you use the site, you find it useful.
Karthik
· 2 years ago
I use the iPod to record stories for my kid who listens to it in the night before sleeping.
Carol A
· 2 years ago
The one thing I would like to see is an MP3 player with Ebook capabilities. You could read a book & listen to music, learn a language with sound for correct pronounciation, hear a lecture and see pictures or diagrams. It seems such an obvious device , but why has no-one built one? Maybe it's just being able to get a readable screen that doesn't use too much power?
zahadum
· 2 years ago
@kartkik:
courseware running on ipod - right on!
the biggest oversight by apple (after killing full pda functionality of the Newton) was to cripple the ipod with no real interactivity ...
partly his was the result (one of many) of steve jobs crippling the R&D; budget at apple - so hypercard V3 / quicktime-Interactive was cancelled.
this technology - along with what could have been salvaged from the kaleida joint venture with IBM - would have been sufficient to give apple genuinie competitive advantage for multimedia.
however this value-add has been ceeded to adobe/macromedia.
current ipods are crippled the lack of interactive technologies:
* ipods dont run java because apple has offcially disparaged any future role for java in their products (yet they are still a member of the BlueRay group);
* ipods dont run quicktime even though the mpeg4 file format is based on the apple MOV format! - so we cant have sprites, subtitles alternate language tracks, etc - or anything else that would make feedback language laearning portable (eg rosetta stone).
* ipods cant run ajax so no 'thin web client' solution is possible.
Thus it seems that we will have to wait for a further iteration of the iphone - ie a 'real' platform with os/x & quicktime etc - before any meaningful educational applications can be run on an ipod.
Given the lacklustre responce by the movie studios (which is also going to hurt appletv), perhaps apple will see that there are other types of programming that can be driven by the itunes store -- eg language learning & cultural tours (and yes, real estate) ... not to mention ebooks which is a whole different topic.
These interactive forms of content are BILLION DOLLAR market segments waiting to be developed .... but the opportunity for apple to deliver a unique user eperience is rapidly closing.
Apple missed the boat on the whole youtube thing (which shows that not paying attention to the market can derail any brilliantly crafted product planning - ie appletv) ... i fear that sony (with their new PSP-based phone, which will be launched soon with BT) or microsoft (putting the wifi part of zune to good effect for geo-based content) could easily eclipse apple if it continues to innovate at such a slow pace!
i hope apple will not be too slow to either push out an enhanced version of the ipod or a cheaper version of the iphone (they have already missed the boat on gps & av features of the iphone!) that focuses on the CONTENT aspect not the COMMUNICATION aspect of a media platform.
however, i wont hold my breath -- apple is not good at doing more than one thing at a time (witness the delay of leoaprd on account of the iphone) because they CONGENITALLY under-resource their engineering efforts .... this is part of the legacy of steve jobs mismanagement.
Erik Neelsen
· 2 years ago
Years ago during my time in the USMC, I worked on helicopters and had to carry not only the tools, but also a cumbersome manual or two at times in somewhat confined spaces. I thought it may be a good idea now in the time of Ipod to transfer manuals to an Ipod in either text with voice read back or in video. Any thoughts?
Jason
· 1 year ago
I saw a couple of mentions of using an ipod for shopping for real estate.
Can anyone clarify that for me...I mean, like how?
Ritz
· 10 months ago
I like to use my ipod to catch up on my reading for english class during the day after I've bought the audiobook!
All Comments
Wow.... so unexpected.
Check it out... it is quick and easy.
www.ListAfterList.com
right on the money!
IPods ...yawn, anyone who has one bought it because of the social peer pressure involved in getting it. I recommend getting an IPod only if you have $150 dollars to burn and you want to make a really stupid choice. The IPod is one of the most expensive players on the market, and it offers 1/4th the features of some of its cheaper competitive, the only reason I can see to buy it is to conform or you can be the 'non-conforming conformist' rebel.
best regards.
It's not like the iPod is the only player out there capable of doing these things. It doesn't even to it best.
Dont get me wrong ipods look snazzy and if i had the money to waste i would, but im weak to the social norm like that as are the consumers who brought one of there many versions of what essentially is a POS in a snazzy case lolol
So many problems and issues have arisen with the iPod over time, just another mac ploy to try and stamp an "i" on everything, doesnt bother me though, there over-expensive products simply encourage consumers to look elsewhere to cheaper and more efficient alternatives
Oh and iTunes..... ill leave that there
So anyways thats my opinion, iPods teh ghey and support other companies because monopolistic (or would they be an ologopoly since apple branch into different markets.... no no monopoly it is) anyways as i was saying support other companies because wasting your money on crap like this just encourages the facist bastards haha
L8rs
Do you understand Podcasting?
http://www.az10.com/content/internet/news/00002/do-you-understand-podcasting.shtml
(also)
iAudio all the way!
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2002/11/56223
KOLORWHEEL!!!!!!
Incredible color wheel, color scheme computer for designers
WOW
Way cooler than the Tip Calculator by the same company.
There are quite a few more city audio guides / podcasts, and they don't need to cost any more 12 Bucks. Podguides.net (user generated city guides), iToors and also iaudioguide.com (with 40 cities) offer free content for travelers.
when i was in germany, i visited the buchenwald concentration camp. they offered rentals of a pocket tour guide for 4 euro that consisted of an ipod nano loaded with mp3s corresponding to each of the sites at the camp.
most unexpected use of an ipod ever.
www.tourdio.com
It is an audio tour directory so that you can find audio tours with as little fuss as possible.
Because the industry is still in it's infancy, the companies producing audio tours don't always do too well in the search engine listings.
We have put together lists of hundreds of tours from all over the globe, and they are really easy to track down. We don't put them on our lists so that we get commission, we put them on if they are of a good standard.
I hope that if you use the site, you find it useful.
courseware running on ipod - right on!
the biggest oversight by apple (after killing full pda functionality of the Newton) was to cripple the ipod with no real interactivity ...
partly his was the result (one of many) of steve jobs crippling the R&D; budget at apple - so hypercard V3 / quicktime-Interactive was cancelled.
this technology - along with what could have been salvaged from the kaleida joint venture with IBM - would have been sufficient to give apple genuinie competitive advantage for multimedia.
however this value-add has been ceeded to adobe/macromedia.
current ipods are crippled the lack of interactive technologies:
* ipods dont run java because apple has offcially disparaged any future role for java in their products (yet they are still a member of the BlueRay group);
* ipods dont run quicktime even though the mpeg4 file format is based on the apple MOV format! - so we cant have sprites, subtitles alternate language tracks, etc - or anything else that would make feedback language laearning portable (eg rosetta stone).
* ipods cant run ajax so no 'thin web client' solution is possible.
Thus it seems that we will have to wait for a further iteration of the iphone - ie a 'real' platform with os/x & quicktime etc - before any meaningful educational applications can be run on an ipod.
Given the lacklustre responce by the movie studios (which is also going to hurt appletv), perhaps apple will see that there are other types of programming that can be driven by the itunes store -- eg language learning & cultural tours (and yes, real estate) ... not to mention ebooks which is a whole different topic.
These interactive forms of content are BILLION DOLLAR market segments waiting to be developed .... but the opportunity for apple to deliver a unique user eperience is rapidly closing.
Apple missed the boat on the whole youtube thing (which shows that not paying attention to the market can derail any brilliantly crafted product planning - ie appletv) ... i fear that sony (with their new PSP-based phone, which will be launched soon with BT) or microsoft (putting the wifi part of zune to good effect for geo-based content) could easily eclipse apple if it continues to innovate at such a slow pace!
i hope apple will not be too slow to either push out an enhanced version of the ipod or a cheaper version of the iphone (they have already missed the boat on gps & av features of the iphone!) that focuses on the CONTENT aspect not the COMMUNICATION aspect of a media platform.
however, i wont hold my breath -- apple is not good at doing more than one thing at a time (witness the delay of leoaprd on account of the iphone) because they CONGENITALLY under-resource their engineering efforts .... this is part of the legacy of steve jobs mismanagement.
Can anyone clarify that for me...I mean, like how?