Oh, heh I have to try this. I've been wanting to get speakers for my iPod but I just haven't gotten the heart to spend the money that a few of them are going for..

chareverie

Great for fresh tracks.

jdoree

ghetto

drsphincter

Now that is a hoot! Kinda reminds me of the home-made gerbil cage I made out of a sweater box, back when I was a kid. Except with more tech.

elsifer

@JohnGonzo: I'm not sure if that was tongue-in-cheek or not (hard to detect sarcasm amidst zealotry at times), so I'm going to act as though you're serious:

So just to be clear about the infernal POS above ... you do realize that since it's Voltron-ed together out of Tupperware and computer speakers, that you can use any device with a regular headphone jack, not just the iPod that you so revile? Examples:

* Sandisk Sansa
* Creative Zen
* the Walkman in your dad's closet that still has his favorite REO Speedwagon tape in it **

Activism is all well and good, and you make a few good points, but the great part about DIY is when you take a concept and think about it in the abstract.

** (apologies if, like me, you're old enough to have listened to REO Speedwagon on the radio)

It_Figures

Don't make this infernal POS. If you do, you will be tacitly supporting those nefarious capitalist dogs at Apple, their heinous iTunes/iPod cabal and everything else that's evil in the world. The iPod endorses and supports Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology. It won't play patent- and DRM-free formats like Ogg Vorbis and Theora. And iTunes is nothing more than Apple's greedy assault on our freedom... the entire iPod mafia completely blocks free software. Developers must pay an insidious tax to Apple, who becomes the sole dictatorial authority over what can and can't be on everyone's iPod. Stop encouraging the continued existence of these evil, tyrannical little machines! Lives are at stake!

JohnGonzo

@It_Figures: Completely OT - but I love REO Speedwagon. :) It's on my playlist and I have their CD.

As for the DIY above, I think this girl is better off buying something. I'll never be able to manage this. Cool though. :) (And oh, how I love Tupperware!)

wickedcupofjoe

@Cordfucious: The what?

;)

It_Figures

@It_Figures: hey hey...... Dont forget the Zune

Cordfucious

@It_Figures: JohnGonzo was referring to this article [lifehacker.com] -- def. sarcastic. Usually "Lives are a stake!" is a good tip-off.

As for the article: Has "DIY" come to mean, "Make some crappy junk that you'll just throw away tomorrow?"

rscotta

@It_Figures: I lifted too much text directly from the Free Software Foundation's recent screed on the iPhone; yes, I was kidding. And yes, zealotry is getting harder to satirize every day.

JohnGonzo

@wickedcupofjoe: High five.

It_Figures

@JohnGonzo: Fair. You played the part well. :)

@rscotta: I figured that was the case, but I've met some seriously hardcore basketcases in my time, so I guess it's been bred in me to err on the side of caution and pose a valid counterargument rather than shoot from the hip and say "you're kidding, right?"

Regarding the question of DIY becoming an abbreviation for Dispose-of It Yourself: it's exactly what you make of it. Some people will look at this and say "hey cool, this'll last me all summer." Others will look and say "not worth my time, I'll probably use it once and chuck it, so better not to create the waste in the first place."

Same with any DIY project, really. It all depends on your sensibilities where craftsmanship and durability are concerned. Personally, I like to look at things like this in the abstract. I might not like the flimsiness of dollar-store Tupperware, so I might use something else, like a toolbox from Home Depot, and build it to outlast my iPod*. Rather than lament the low-level quality, think of ways to improve upon the concept.

Just my 4¢.

* Yes, on the surface, I'm one of the sheep that submit to the will of the tyrants in Cupertino and help fund the greedy assault on our freedom. Dig deeper, though, and you'll find that I strip DRM, convert to free formats, and play them on my jailbroken iPod Touch. ;)

It_Figures

Gina, Tupperware is not sold in dollar stores. Some brand names, like "kleenex" (no title case) have made it into the lexicon for fair use.

But not all brand names.

(And, no, I don't sell it.)

wiaontha

If made a bit differently, this gadget could float in your pool or hot tub. How cool would that be?

elsifer

@elsifer: It'd be way cool.

You could have the Rocky theme playing as you're running directly into the ocean with your boombox in your hand.

SuperCollider

@JohnGonzo:

I know you were using sarcasm, but still I can play anything on my ipod, not that hard to do.

As far as any other apple products, I politely decline to give them my hard earned money ;)

liquidglass

Build this, and then advertise it with one of the 20 or so other similar devices in the Skymall airplane magazine.

rpm773