Month: December 2006

The iPod case designers at iFrogz have come up with a cool, smart case for kids. Called the Tadpole (US$25), it covers your precious Pod in a protective clear plastic sheet (protecting the screen and click-wheel from kid goo), and then wraps a silicone case around the whole business, with two handles for kids to hold the iPod while watching vids or for carrying it around. The Tadpole looks substantial enough to protect the player from the kind of torment the little polliwogs might put it through, making it a great way to be able to safely turn your iPod over to the youngins without worrying too much about it.

One of Street Tech’s Muse-Men is Kevin Kelly, co-founder of the Hacker’s Conference, WELL board member, CoEvolution/Whole Earth Review editor, Wired co-founder, author of Out of Control, the list just goes on and on. Kevin has a unique intellect and a passion for exploring the interface between humans and their tools (the same place where I focus a lot of my attention).

Anyhoo… one of his latest projects is the very Whole Earth Catalog/Review-reminiscent Cool Tools e-list and site. I consistently find new and interesting tech and tips with nearly every emailing. The latest issue includes a rundown of some of Kevin’s recommended gadget gift guides. In his intro, he nails what I fumblingly try to say each year in introducing our guide and what’s hopefully different about it:

“Since I’m in the gear business, I pay attention to the many End of the year Gift Guides that pop up now. Most of these collections are filled with stuff that doesn’t interest me. For some reason editors, and maybe consumers, are entranced by gear that looks cool. You know, very design-y. These fashionable objects don’t work better, and often work worse, than what is already out there. As utility objects they are junk. Most often the editors haven’t even handled, let alone used, the object they are listing. It’s inclusion is simply based on the clever look and concept. And what is not fashionable, is electronic. Most holiday lists are full of all kinds of the latest cell phone/camera/DVD player/PDA and so on. As far as I can tell these items are selected for their features — as listed on the product’s spec sheet — and not by any trial or use. Their supposed advantage in reality has a half-life of about 3 months, as their feature list is topped by the next model.

“There are a few seasonal lists that don’t get sucked in by these temptations and actually try hard to uncover new cool tools. Here are a few that I find have a high ratio of hits to junk. The primary quality they share is that the reviews have used the thing and demonstrate some passion and intelligence for it.”

We were very thrilled and flattered to see Street Tech’s Gift Guide on his, sadly, short list. We also really like some of the others he listed, such as Uncle Mark’s (PDF) and Wired’s Test (We think the best thing Wired has done since launching Wired News). We would also add the MAKE Open Source Gift Guide.

Here’s a link to Part 1 of our Guide.
Here’s a link to Part 2.