The Richter Scale^®

Over the prior few years I have spent more than half of my time on the road - at trade shows, business meetings, and vacation travel. And being the gadget geek that I am, I always carry around lots of tech toys, including a cell phone or two, a Nintendo DS Lite, a notebook computer, a camera or two, my Sony Reader, and my iPod.

As anyone who travels with lots of gadgets know, you generally need a separate charger for each device, which makes for a lot of extra bulk in one’s carry-on luggage (I don’t know about you, but I would never check vital chargers in my checked luggage).

About four years ago in a Brookstone’s at the Philadelphia airport I came across something called the iGo Juice70 - a universal power supply which came with a variety of laptop charger “tips” and the ability to also charge a second smaller piece of electronics at the same time as powering the notebook computer. I bought it and was immensely pleased with my purchase. I later found that they offered a three-way splitter for powering the smaller gadgets and got that too, allowing me to charge my notebook, cell phone, iPod, and DS Lite all at the same time. Wow. Plus I can use my Juice on airplanes where there’s seat outlet power in the form of a 12VDC car charger plug.

My first Juice adapter burned out about 18 months ago, which was a disappointment, but I bought a new one immediately at the Radio Shack near my Texas office and it has worked great, all over the world.

My only frustration would be (and still is) that I frequently get newer gadgets than they have power tips for, and thus have to wait a few months for them to have compatible tips for my gadgets. And I still have to carry separate chargers for the diverse camera batteries I use as I can’t usually schedule myself to use the in-camera charge for this. But that is not a problem iGo can easily solve themselves.

The biggest overall drawback I have found so far has been the price of the tips ($9.99 for each new one) and the power adapters (the Juice70 is $129.99), and I wish I could get a short 3-inch cord to connect the gadgets to the power adapter plug instead of the bulky “cord savers” iGo presently sells, as with all my gadgets, having three sets of cord savers takes up a lot of space. A tip organizer would be nice too.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, I met with iGo’s marketing folks who showed me a smaller, sleeker version of the Juice power adapter (can’t wait for that to be readily available), and something called the iGo powerXtender (see photo above) - a dual AA battery powered charger which uses all the same iGo power tips I already use for my gadgets.

iGo sent me an evaluation unit of the powerXtender, and I have managed to put it to use a number of times when I had forgotten to recharge certain devices overnight. Most recently it was my Blackberry on Bonaire, as well as my kids Nintendo DS Lites during a long trip from New Mexico to San Juan (while the whole family was playing Uno wirelessly on four DS Lites). The powerXtender lasted for about a half-dozen charges. It doesn’t fully charge the device it’s working with (at least not in my tests), but does provide emergency power, which is what iGo promotes the powerXtender for.

For $15.99 the iGo powerXtender is a great deal for existing iGo product users, because you will likely already have all the power tips you need. For people new to the iGo product line you need to be aware that new tips are $9.99 each, so if you have several gadgets this can get costly quickly, which might be an argument to just jump in with both feet and also get the Juice70 or similar portable power adapter too.

I give the iGo Juice70 a 7.5 and the iGo powerXtender an 8.0 out of 10.0 on The Richter Scale based on my prolonged use of these devices and the drawbacks mentioned above.

As some of you know, my wife Linda suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis in her right knee. During her recent semi-annual visit back to New Hampshire to see her Rheumatologist, it was decided that it was time for her to get her knee completely replaced. That much needed surgery has now been scheduled for April 5th - just about 5 weeks from now, back in New Hampshire.

The net result is that Linda will be off-island for about 2 months for pre-surgery, surgery, recovery, and physical therapy.

And during that time, I will be both mom and dad to the kids, providing the chauffeur services that Linda normally provides (to/from school and activities).

During the week that Linda was gone in January, I learned quickly that I could manage about 3-4 hours of working time during the average day, and the rest of it was shot. And working late at night is not an option because I need to be up at 6:30am to get the kids ready and off to school.

So, in anticipation of not being able to get a lot of work done when Linda leaves towards the end of March, I had to cancel my planned press trips to attend the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in San Francisco and the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show in Las Vegas, both starting next week. As such, I will necessarily be reporting from afar. And I still have a huge backlog of blog items and other projects to work on too, so maybe it’s good that I’m not going.

I am not sure how soon I will be able to travel after Linda (our very own Bionic Woman after surgery) returns to Bonaire in late May - a lot depends on how mobile she is, and whether she can drive, but I suspect I will be staying with the kids (and home with Linda) through the end of June, which is when school ends here on Bonaire. That’s a good thing though, as I am already starting to spend part of my afternoons getting our daughter ready for home schooling (she starts 7th grade as a home schooler in August), and doing projects with our son as well. This will also be the longest contiguous stretch I have spent with the kids since 2001 or so. That part’s a bit sad in retrospect - the last few years have been a whirlwind of travel, with me typically being away more often than not, although last year we did manage to spend almost three months traveling with the kids.

I admit (and am sure have admitted before) that I am an Internet junkie. Call it an obsession. That’s why I have two data phones (a Blackberry for Bonaire, a Sidekick 3 for everywhere else), a monthly subscription to T-Mobile Spot and Boingo (for WiFi), a T-Mobile GPRS/EDGE data card for my notebook, and Cingular’s GPRS/EDGE service built into my notebook. The latter two services work fine, but they are slow to connect, slow to disconnect, and just slow in general. Enter Sprint.

I had been seeing ads for Sprint Mobile Broadband for some time in USA Today and on the recommendation of good friend and networking guru, Daniel Senie, I committed to the Sprint Mobile Broadband service while in New York City the week before Christmas.

The Pantech Wireless PC Card that the Sprint store on Broadway sold me (net cost about $65 for set-up, with a $59.99/month fee for two years) installed easily in my notebook, and a few hours after I purchased the card I was on-line in my hotel room at Times Square. All I can say is “Wow!” - the download speeds I was seeing were about as good as the wired Internet connection in my room (which was $14.95/day). And while Sprint’s detractors have suggested that Sprint’s coverage is lacking, I’ve found no such problem in all the places I have wanted to use the card: New York City, La Guardia airport, Boston, San Juan, Las Vegas (daily this past week), and Miami (right now).

The only place the card was sluggish was during a press conference at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas about five days ago during the Consumer Electronics Show, and that was no doubt due to many others on the same cell using the service. In my hotel room in Vegas the Sprint data connection performed flawlessly, at high speeds - saving me $11.95/day for hotel room Internet access. And here in Miami, I’m able to watch my Texas DirecTV connection via my Slingbox Pro (more on that in another post) without problems on the Sprint Mobile Broadband connection.

And. on top of that, the time it takes to plug in the Sprint PC Card and establish a data connection is typically less than 30 seconds, compared to 1-2 minutes at least for the Cingular data service built into my computer. Same goes for shutdown when I want to hibernate my notebook (like when the flight attendants give me stern looks to suggest that NOW is the time I need to shut off my notebook in preparation for take-off).

I think it’s time to cancel my $80/month Cingular data service. And perhaps my Boingo service too, as less and less places seem to allow roaming with Boingo. T-Mobile’s a keeper as it works at just about all Admiral’s Clubs (although in San Juan, the Sprint Mobile Broadband connection is faster), Starbucks, and Borders Bookstores, among others. The T-Mobile unlimited data service is only about $30/month, so as a back-up which will work overseas, that’s not unreasonable. I understand that Sprint will not work overseas.

It should also be noted that the Sprint PC Card I have supports the Sprint EVDO data network, using the EVDO Rev. A system. The previous generation EVDO Rev. 0 system is not as fast, which is another thing to look for if you decide to follow in my (large) footsteps.

I give the Sprint Mobile Broadband service a 9.5 out of 10.0 on The Richter Scale. The only thing that could make it better is a lower price. Bravo Sprint!

I found myself in San Francisco this week for a patent conference. During a free moment during the early part of the week I wandered over from my seminar to the Metreon - a Sony owned and operated facility which features Sony’s only west coast “PlayStation” store. On a whim I asked them if they had any PS3s, and got the expected response - “No”. But, I also got a “but, we had two shipments last week and expect at least one this week”. They gave me a phone number to call and invited me to call back during the week to check if any had come in.

Being the obsessed gamer I am (or at least, can be), I called the PlayStation store several times daily. Thursday morning, around 10:45am I heard what I had hoped - “They have arrived, get here quickly.”

Alas, I wasn’t that quick apparently, since when I arrived the line for people waiting to buy a Sony PS3 was already snaking outside the building. I estimate there were already 100 people there ahead of me. The store had not actually started selling the PS3s yet, so we all just waited. I had called my friend Ted Pollack (he runs an investment fund called the Electronic Entertainment Fund or just EE Fund) to see if he could join me and maybe even help me buy a second PS3, although with the line as long as it was, it was not clear if I would be able to buy even one PS3.

After a while a store employee came out to make an announcement which those of us in the rear could not hear. Turns out he had given stickers to people at the head of the line, and had run out about 15 people ahead of us. The stickers were effectively a guarantee that there would be a PS3 for each sticker holder. Discouraged, but not beaten, Ted and I pulled out of line, went inside near the front of the line, and I asked in a loud voice if anyone would want to sell their sticker and place in line for $200. Seconds later I was number 33 in line with a sticker.

The $200 figure was the premium I had earlier figured I would be willing to pay to get a PS3 before the end of the year. Capitalism is a wonderful thing.

I had several more offers to buy stickers from others in line, but I was tapped out, and Ted had to leave (and there was a strict policy of only selling one PS3 per person - they even did name matches with driver’s licenses to ensure that the same people could not buy more than one PS3 at that store, ever - or at least until supplies were no longer restricted).

And even as #33, I still waited. A cheer suddenly erupted from the front of the line - they had seen several carts of PS3s being wheeled into the store. The folks in line were all generally in high spirits - it was something of a party atmosphere. Names were exhanged, as were business cards. Some of my fellow PS3 squatters worked for the same local company (not mentioned here to preserve their jobs) and were all skipping work to stand in line. Others were students skipping class, much as I was skipping a session on Examiner Interviews at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. But we were all in this together, even I as the sole sticker-buying interloper. We did all share in one consternation - the PlayStation store employee had apparently told those in line that only the first 26 were guaranteed 60GB PS3s (which have a few more capabilities than the 20GB models). I figured any PS3 would be better than none, although I certainly would have preferred a 60GB model myself.

But, my concerns were for naught, as another store employee came out a short while later to announce that all the incoming PS3s were 60GB models. More cheering commenced.

After about a half hour, the line finally started moving, with the store employees taking sticker-holding squatters one at a time, offering them a range of games (a rather meager selection, sadly) and accessories, and then taking payment. The whole process, while excruciatingly slow, was very well managed, ran smoothly, and everyone was exceedingly friendly and nice.

So it came to be that about two hours and a missed seminar later, I was the proud owner of a new Sony PS3 60GB system with seven games, three extra controllers, and a reader for PS2 and PSX game cards.

Goes to show that some lines are better than others. Photos from my line squatting journey can be found Here.

My next stop was FedEx so I could send my hard earned gains home to Bonaire, as I was continuing on to the orient before going home myself. But when I get home, I will have my PS3 waiting for me. Now to go buy some Blu-Ray DVDs on Amazon…

I just finished posting the Bonaire Insider’s first ever review entry, about a fabulous dinner at the new Tex-Mex restaurant on Bonaire - Papaya Moon Cantina. You can see the full review here.

I went with my wife Linda, and our two kids, and we had a most excellent meal. I truly had never expected to have excellent Tex-Mex on Bonaire, so this was a very welcome surprise. My only dilemma is how to balance my newfound lusting after the Raspberry Lemon Tiramisu with my low-carb diet.

I give Papaya Moon Cantina a 9.0 out 10.0 on The Richter Scale.

A few weeks ago, my wife Linda and I were fortunate enough to have been invited to participate in a regional gathering of one of the organizations we belong to, the Chaine des Rotisseurs, a gastronomic association devoted to the enjoyment of fine food and wine. The regional gathering, known as a “Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs”, was organized by the Atlantic Caribbean Assemblage in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Bonaire Bailliage of the Chaine des Rotisseurs, to which Linda and I belong, is actually directly under France, and not part of the Atlantic Caribbean region of Chaine, which is part of the United States Chaine. Nevertheless, we were invited because we are in the Caribbean and knew Drs. Marcelo and Virgen Oben, two of the organizers, whom we had met at a Chaine event in Curacao three years ago.

In sum, the long weekend entailed an evening with eleven of the best chefs of San Juan at a “Taste of Puerto Rico” dinner, an amazing wine tasting the next day, followed by a black tie French Gala Dinner Dance. On the final day we had a wonderful brunch. Linda and I also took an extra day to visit the famous Bacardi rum factory and go shopping. We had a very nice and relaxing time, made some new friends, and ate and drank very well.

Kudos to the Chaine Bailliages of Puerto Rico who hosted us and did an absolutely incredible job organizing and running all these events!

Instead of boring you with more written details, I will instead point you here to my photo gallery of our time in Puerto Rico at the beginning of November.

Back in April, I reviewed the Otterbox iPod Video here as a nice way to protect one’s iPod from the elements and even take it swimming. But my biggest issue with it was that I was unable to find waterproof headphones that would allow me to use the Otterbox properly while in the water.

The folks at Otterbox heard my complaint and a short while later announced that they had come up with a solution - they would offer waterproof headphones from a company called H2O Audio (MSRP $39.95). H2O Audio is a company I first encountered at a diving trade show several years back in Las Vegas, and they have since expanded into more consumer electronics, these headphones among them.

Otterbox sent me a set to review some weeks ago, and I finally got to put them to the test.

The new waterproof headphones are a little unusual, as they use a conical ear piece to create a seal with one’s ear canal - sound travels well through air, but not water, so in order to listen to music underwater, you need to ensure that air remains in the ear canals between the ear drums and the miniature speakers in the head phones. The headphones come with instructions on trimming the cones to ensure the best possible seal (which I followed). They also include a spare set of cones (probably in case you mess up the trimming the first time).

The headphones also attach to your head from behind (see photo). That’s actually a good thing for swimmers, because it means the cord does not get in your way at all.

So how do they actually sound? Well - both bad and good, depending on the environment. Out of the water the sound quality is poor - the cheap plane earbud headphones that I get on my American Airlines flights sound better, and that’s not a compliment. But as soon as you get your head underwater (even just at the surface), the headphones are a delight. The sound is clear and crisp and full bodied. I suspect the difference is that as soon as you submerge, water pressure (and the general sound damping of water itself) makes the seal of the ear plugs complete, shutting out any outside noises. The result is wonderful.

However, as soon as you get your head out of water and the water seal dribbles away, or if you dive down more than a couple of feet and the seal breaks letting water into the ear, the sound quality diminishes or just goes away. For this latter problem, it is possible that I did not do a good enough job with trimming the ear plugs, or that my head is a bit larger than average, but either way, I needed to keep my head within a foot or so of the surface of the water to get the full benefit of the headphones.

That makes these new headphones ideal for snorkeling (when your ears are submerged but near the surface where there’s not too much pressure) or when swimming for sport with one of those cool front-of-the-face snorkels.

But for regular swimming, where your head goes in and out of the water, the benefit is questionable.

In order to make sure that my testing was not just the result of a single-person’s use of the new headphones, I rounded up two other volunteers (my wife and my daughter), and both, independently gave me the same feedback after using the new headphones.

What this appears to mean is that you really need two types of headphones to use the Otterbox iPod Video (and other submersible MP3 player systems) - a weatherproof set for the occasional splash of water when your head is mostly above water, and these new H2O Audio headphones for snorkeling and submerged activity. That’s not an ideal solution, but certainly better than what was available before.

I had originally given the Otterbox iPod Video an 8.0 out of 10.0 on my Richter Scale, and promised that if Otterbox themselves offered waterproof headphones, I would consider raising that score. As I have indicated, the headphones are great for a particular aquatic use - snorkeling - but still fall short of being a decent universally usable waterproof headset. But I’m not sure it’s possible to have a universal headphone for such drastic changes in environment either. If it were, someone would probably already have come up with it.

That said, I’m bumping up my previous rating for the Otterbox iPod Video to 8.5 out of 10.0.

As for the headphones - they get a dual rating on the Richter Scale - a 2.5 for above water use, and a 9.0 out of 10.0 for snorkeling.

I just returned from five weeks of travels last week, just a few before the latest air security madness originating out of England. However, as I am a frequent traveler, I monitor the latest “trends” in travel, and this morning stumbled across the latest TSA Requirement - namely shoes absolutely must be removed before going through security screening.

Mind you, shoe removal was something most folks already did at the request of TSA staff, but in the past flip-flops and thin shoes were more or less exempt. Not any more.

This, by itself, is not a big deal, but its just the latest trend in the on-going encroachment of our personal items and space by a bureaucracy that does not properly train its staff for accuracy, consistency, and efficiency. It’s all just a big charade to give people the sense of security.

In the meantime we cannot bring any liquids not already in our bodies through security, and then any we buy in a presumably secure (sterile) area need to be consumed before boarding. I can’t wait to see how long the bathroom line will be on my next flight from all the people guzzling their 32 oz. Super Sized Cokes before they boarded. I also wonder how much more responsive flight attendants will be when it comes to providing extra hydration for folks who normally travel with their own spare bottles of water (like myself).

And the poor people flying in or out of the U.K.! Having to give up their reading material, electronic gadgets, and just about everything else. I’m not sure what I would do with myself on a 6+ hour flight without anything to read, work on, or play on. I would need counseling after such mental deprivation. And, ironically, the TSA tells people not to check lap-top computers and electronics in their luggage, putting them in contradiction to the U.K. rules unless one is not to travel with their electronics any more. Goodbye business travel, and hello teleconferencing.

Worse yet is that some airports - and San Juan, Puerto Rico comes immediately to mind - have such poor baggage control that luggage-handling thieves regularly abscond with sizable amounts of electronics and photographical loot. This loot then appears on eBay, indicating the thieves got it out of a secure area. If they can get it out, can’t they also get stuff into such areas? If the TSA cannot ensure the sanctity of our bags once they are screened, what good are all these other security measures other than feel-good fluff?

I’m pretty convinced things will only get worse for U.S. air travel, and it will be little things - but lots of them. Shoes now, then anything with metal buttons or zippers, writing supplies (pens have ink, and that’s a liquid, right?), and ultimately clothes. Welcome to Naked Airways.

By the way, for a humorous take on the contraband liquids issue, take a look here.

I’ll be posting a few more E3-related items here in the next week, but at present I am on a short vacation in Ft. Lauderdale with my family. The purpose of this vacation is a bit of rest and relaxation, eating, spa-ing, and binging on new and recently released movies. On Bonaire we have only a one screen movie theater and movies shown there are typically 2-4 months old. And the seats are horribly uncomfortable.

So, we look forward to our U.S. trips, where we generally squeeze in as many movies as possible in the comfort of plush reclining stadium seating. It’s not a cheap activity these days, but if you’re a movie-a-holic, it’s well worth it. We’ve only been in Ft. Lauderdale 28 hours, but have already seen three titles: Over The Hedge (6.0 out of 10.0), The Da Vinci Code (6.0 out of 10.0), and M:I3 (7.5 out 10.0) - and all at the Sunrise Cinemas Stadium 15 at Las Olas Riverfront.

And that brings me to the topic of this blog. Each of these visits, for a family of four - two adults, two children - runs $30 for movie tickets (less for a matinee) and then a bunch more for even simple munchies and refreshments.

When we went this evening to catch the 8pm showing of Mission Impossible 3 (MI3) at the Sunrise Cinemas, I asked, as I had the last two times, for two adult and two child tickets. The cashier/ticket seller, a young man named Martin, rang it up. I had already handed him $40 at this point, and was surprised to get only $8 in change, knowing from last night’s movie that I should have gotten $10 back. Turns out he made a mistake and charged me for two student tickets instead of two children’s tickets, and that’s why I got charged $2 more. $2 isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I also don’t think I should have to pay for something I didn’t ask for.

When I asked Martin for the additional $2 back, he politely explained that he had issued me student tickets, and those were a $1 more each. I politely explained in return that I had asked for childrens’ tickets and those were a $1 less. He then informed me that as I had paid and the tickets were issued, he could not correct the matter without there being a shortfall in the cash register attributed to him. As it was at this point a matter of principle, I insisted on getting my $2 back, at which point he gave me a small piece of paper with all sorts of information I would need to fill out (like my name, home address, phone number, etc.) - all to get back money which was the result of a mistake HE made in the first place.

As the movie was about to start I told him to just forget and that I would simply blog the incident. And here we are.

There are two customer service issues here that should be addressed:

1) The Sunrise Cinemas appear to have polices in place which burden the customer in the event of a staff error. That’s a major inconvenience to the customer, who only wants to pay for his or her tickets, maybe buy some refreshments, and then watch their movie.

2) The staff of the Sunrise Cinemas is either not empowered to resolve customer service matters, or not capable of coming up with solutions that would keep the customer happy. Either one is something that could be easily resolved.

These two items are classical flaw in customer service in most any business, and the businesses that have overcome them tend to stand out among their peers. The businesses that succumb to these customer service flaws lose customers.

In my case, we still have at least another three or four movies to catch before we fly home on Sunday. That’s at least another $90-120 in ticket sales alone that I will gladly give to some other movie theater in the Ft. Lauderdale area, even if I have to drive a bit further from my hotel, because I will not give any more business to the Sunrise Cinemas Stadium 15.

The lesson to be learned here is that a couple dollar mistake that is not quickly and easily corrected can cost a business a whole lot more in lost revenues and reputation.

The folks at Otter Products were nice enough to send me one of the new OtterBoxes for iPod Video (MSRP $49.95) at the end of January, to review here.

So now it’s three months later, and I finally am posting my review. Why did it take so long? Well, in short - waterproof headphones. I’ll get into that subject in a moment.

OtterBoxes are well known for being good protection for one’s valuables. Here on Bonaire where I live, diving and snorkeling are tourism mainstays, and many of the watersports enthusiasts I know use generic OtterBoxes, like the OtterBox 1000, to keep their keys, credit cards, and other valuables dry when in the water, down to depths of up to 100 feet (30 meters).

As such, I was naturally intrigued when at CES I saw Otter Products introducing the OtterBox for iPod Video. I was a bit disappointed when I learned that the OtterBox for iPod Video is designed more to make the iPod weatherproof and wear resistant than to allow it to be used at great depth while diving. However, that still allows for using an iPod while snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, or walking/running/cycling in the rain - all noble pursuits.

However, if one wants to use an iPod in wet conditions, one also needs head phones which will survive those conditions. And that’s where I ran into a snag.

Otter Products does not sell waterproof headphones to go with the various audio-oriented OtterBoxes they offer (they have products for the iPod Nano, the iPod Shuffle, and others), nor do they offer any recommendations of third party waterproof headphones. Personally, I think that is a major gap in their product line, and not at least having a list of suggested products is a disservice to their clients.

I would further advise anyone looking to get another sort of case for an MP3 player for use in wet conditions to first find a set of waterproof or weatherproof headphones they like, and then look at getting cases.

My own search for waterproof headphones was fruitless at first. I finally stumbled over a set at Overtons - the LF Waterproof Headphones for $19.99. I placed the order through Amazon.com because that way I didn’t have to re-enter all my billing/shipping information. However, I was on a tight travel schedule and needed them to arrive at my hotel before I checked out. All indications were that this would work out, but then I got word that they were out of stock so I cancelled the order.

At the next available opportunity I searched a variety electronics stores during a stay in New York City, and struck out on waterproof headphones entirely. I did however come across the Sony MDR A35 water “resistant” headphones at Best Buy for $19.99 - not quite fully water proof, but they would hopefully not fry if fully submerged. According to the product description “stands up to rain, snow and occasional splashing”. That was about four weeks ago.

Last week I was vacationing with my family at the Club Med in Ixtapa, Mexico, and brought the OtterBox for iPod Video along for testing (see picture above). I used the OtterBox every day pool side, and took it swimming several times as well.

The most important result of all my real-world testing is that my 60GB iPod video never got wet, and performed flawlessly in the OtterBox, whether on land, at the water’s surface or even clipped to my swim trunks under water. The only minor issue I had with the OtterBox was that under water it was not possible to adjust the volume - I had to bring it to the surface to do that. With the optional $14.95 (MSRP) armband that would not have been an issue. I suspect that this limitation has to do with the pressure the water exerts on the membrane over the iPod’s controls, and it’s not uncommon to see similar issues with underwater housings for cameras and other devices.

However, I was not particularly thrilled with the Sony MDR A35 headphones. They certainly did work, most of the time, but when I completely submerged my head while swimming, the left channel went out, and only returned when the headphones dried out a bit later. Completely waterproof headphones would resolve that problem if only I could find a good set, I suspect.

I was also concerned about the 1 meter/3 foot depth limitation of the OtterBox for iPod Video, mostly because I am 6’ 3” tall, and in deeper water, I suspect the top of my swim trunks are perilously close to that 3 foot mark (I have not actually measured the distance from my chin to that mark though). However, even in the deeper part of the pool I did not have any flooding.

I must say, though, that swimming with music of my own choice, shutting out the ever present shrieking, shouting, and noise which follows children into pools, was blissful.

As a device to protect an iPod from the elements, I found the OtterBox for iPod Video excels. It’s now a standard part of my gear for anytime I plan to do anything outdoors with my iPod Video and I am recommending it to others for that purpose.

Based on that, I give the OtterBox for iPod Video an 8.0 out 10.0 on The Richter Scale.

In closing, I will add that as a device to use for being able to swim with an iPod, I simply cannot get over the inadequacy of waterproof headphone support. That isn’t really the fault of Otter Products, but they certainly could do a lot more to reduce the frustration of using of their products in environments the products are designed for (like in the water). At the very least they could provide a list of headphone options with links to where such headphones could be purchased. If they did something like this, or better yet, offered a selection of waterproof headphones themselves, it would increase my already high rating of the Otterbox for iPod Video a bit more.