product idea t shirt with ipod

Product Idea - T-shirt with iPod Headphone Cord Guides

Have you ever made "mods" to products you have purchased? Like sewing

in a key pocket on your favorite running hat? Or maybe adding soft

rubber to the ends of your sunglasses so they stay in place? It seems

like I'm always making some sort of modification to my favorite

shirts, shoes, etc. Not that the products are bad, mind you - it most

cases they fit like a glove, and I understand a lot of design work

went into making that happen. But often the product seems to be

missing that one extra thing.

I'm going to add some entries to the blog called "Products I Would

Like to See", in hopes that by sharing some field-tested ideas, some

forward-thinking company will PLEASE MAKE THESE PRODUCTS! So Nike,

Adidas, New Balance, North Face, Mountain Hardwear, and the rest of

you, listen up - this is free customer feedback (and probably worth

every cent you paid for it)!

So here goes...

Product Idea - The Mountain Hardwear� T-Shirt with iPod Headphone Cord

Guides

You guys know I'm a huge fan of the iPod for trail running. Trail

running is one of the few sports that encourages the use of an iPod,

even during events. I just have one problem - the headphone cord that

seems to magically grab itself on every passing branch, causing an

instant "ear-ectomy". Not to mention that one out of three times your

headphones get a yank like that, they don't work for crap afterwards.

So I'm looking to a cheaper part of the ensemble - the t-shirt - to

help out.

The idea is to have two mods to the back of your favorite t-shirt.

First, a velcro loop right below the neckline that can quickly secure

your headphone cord behind you. This would make sure you have enough

"slack" to turn your head, but not so much slack that your cord is

whipping around. By keeping it close to the center of your back, the

cord has less of a chance of getting caught on passing branches.

The second addition would be a "sleeve" that runs down the arm to wear

most people wear their iPod when exercising. This would keep the cord

close to the body, and be a super-cool fashion statement. Well, to

fellow running geeks anyway. ;-) A similar sleeve could run down the

center of the back for those who carry their iPods in a fanny pack,

belt, or shorts pocket.

I've tried the velcro attachment (yes, dudes can sew!) and it worked

pretty well. It had the added feature of holding my headphones when I

wasn't using them (I just took off my headphones, reached behind me,

then gave the cord a tug, like a wetsuit zipper leash). Total weight -

2 grams. Total cost - 20 cents, plus 30 minutes of labor.

My suggested vendor for this product idea is Mountain Hardwear.

I have a lot of t-shirts (don't we all?), but always seem to reach for

the form-fitting Mountain Hardwear shirts when it comes time to race.

Plus Mountain Hardwear has limited offerings on iPod-related products.

There are alternatives to the hiding the headphone cord, but they have

limitations. Logitech makes a wireless headphone for iPod, but the

headphones are pretty bulky for running, and cost ($149) as much as

the iPod itself. There are also t-shirts with pockets for your iPod,

such as the ShuffleShirt or ScotteVest, but I will tell you, it's hard

to run if your iPod is loosely dangling in your sleeve. It's better to

have it snug against your body somehow. Perhaps the iPod Nano is small

enough that the weight isn't an issue, but to date, none of the

shirt-with-iPod-pockets have worked for me when running.

So that's the idea. If you have other mod ideas, let me know and link

to them! I'm sure the product designers at our favorite co's would

love it.

- SD