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Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

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Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#71

Post by pilom »

BlackDeath3 wrote: post #53
pilom wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got a waterproof ipod shuffle here: http://www.underwateraudio.com/waterproof-ipod-shuffle/ I would clip it to my goggle strap and swim about an hour a day 3 days a week back when I lived by a pool. The ipod shuffle really was an amazing form factor for the player as it had the clip built in which could clip to the straps. The headphones were always a different story. You need specially made earbuds which a) use a…

Do you mind linking those headphones?

I ended up with these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037Z1FRM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...

It came with 3 sizes of earbuds, I had to use different sizes in each ear. They are terrible headphones, but they stayed put in the water.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#72

Post by mbesto »

snake_plissken wrote: post #11

I'll hand it to Sony, they can come up with some sweet marketing campaigns. On a side note, do a lot of people really listen to music while swimming? In college I used to do 30 minutes of laps in the pool a couple times a week. I liked doing it precisely because you couldn't listen to music and you'd have to focus on keeping good form. It was just you and the water.

Waterproof listening devices have always been wishful thinking, but never actually implemented correctly nor have had the demand properly assessed (lots of people think they want them, but I'm not sure if they truly do)

Challenges I see:

- Cords get tangled really easily due to the nature of the sport (Solution - make them completely in ear)

- Bulkiness slows you down or at least presents issues when they fall out (see solution 1)

- There is no easy way to control volume or change the song (solution - perhaps use something in your mouth to "chew" on to change these parameters maybe?)

Swimming (especially the 3-4k I do almost daily) can be painfully dull, so the demand is sort of there, but it seems the amount of tech involved far outweighs the presumed benefit (and therefore demand).

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#73

Post by NAFV_P »

A few weeks ago my mate grabbed his Sony smartphone (I cannot recall the actual model since I'm clueless about smartphones), started recording a video, then threw it in the dog's water bowl. Great ten second video, including distorted sound.

Water ? lame. What about vodka? At times like this I will side with General Ripper from Dr Strangelove. He never drank water, because the commies were poisoning it to pacify the West.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#74

Post by DanBC »

basseq wrote: post #13

Impactful packaging, but seems gimmicky. Also, think about it from a supply chain perspective: water is heavy . Conservatively, assume the mp3 player in normal packaging is about a pound. 16oz of water is going to double that. And distribution channels for consumables is completely different from electronics. I can't imagine this is going to be widespread.

One litre of water is pretty close to one kg. It is roughly a cube 10 cm * 10 cm * 10 cm.

(I carefully put qualifiers in because this is just a rough rule of thumb and different altitudes etc make a difference).

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#75

Post by DanBC »

lucb1e wrote: post #14
snake_plissken wrote: post #11

I'll hand it to Sony, they can come up with some sweet marketing campaigns. On a side note, do a lot of people really listen to music while swimming? In college I used to do 30 minutes of laps in the pool a couple times a week. I liked doing it precisely because you couldn't listen to music and you'd have to focus on keeping good form. It was just you and the water.

> On a side note, do a lot of people really listen to music while swimming? Well, as far as I know this wasn't really possible without getting some expensive equipment (both player and earbuds). Not that I really searched for it, but just nobody does it (and so nobody even thinks of doing this or searches for it). Seeing how many people listen to music in the gym or while jogging, I wouldn't be surprised if there was…

You used to be able to buy vinyl sacks to put your sony walkman and over ear orange foam earphones in.

Probably pretty terrible.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#76

Post by [deleted] »

basseq wrote: post #13

Impactful packaging, but seems gimmicky. Also, think about it from a supply chain perspective: water is heavy . Conservatively, assume the mp3 player in normal packaging is about a pound. 16oz of water is going to double that. And distribution channels for consumables is completely different from electronics. I can't imagine this is going to be widespread.

[deleted]

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#77

Post by rmason »

visakanv wrote: post #8

"Though the device itself was launched a while ago, Sony turned to Auckland-based ad agency DraftFCB to help market the product in New Zealand. And so they came up with the Bottled Walkman, which is sold from vending machines in public places such as gyms. Check out the demo video for yourself." That's what's most interesting to me. Have we heard from anybody who's actually bought the player from a vending machine? T…

So you expect me to believe that a vending machine where I can buy a Coke for six quarters that I can also buy an MP3 player for 750 quarters? I am not buying it.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#78

Post by emhart »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #54
daigoba66 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could understand laying in a warm bathtub, but now long do your showers last? I'm normally in-and-out in less time than a typical radio song plays.

I sometimes stay up to 15 minutes. I like the warm water. But then I usually take my waterproof notepad with me to jot down ideas or brainstorm stuff (relaxing shower works wonders for creativity).

I got trapped in Seattle a couple years ago after some flight cancellations some former students of a colleague put me up for a few days. They had a waterproof notepad suctioned to the wall of their guest shower and each morning I would draw out detailed diagrams of locks & methods of attack. I found it was a bit frustrating to get a good transfer onto the pages, but really liked the novelty of being able to take "shower notes".

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#79

Post by etler »

visakanv wrote: post #8

"Though the device itself was launched a while ago, Sony turned to Auckland-based ad agency DraftFCB to help market the product in New Zealand. And so they came up with the Bottled Walkman, which is sold from vending machines in public places such as gyms. Check out the demo video for yourself." That's what's most interesting to me. Have we heard from anybody who's actually bought the player from a vending machine? T…

I doubt it would be the best distribution method :) But it would still be a good idea to put it in some high profile vending machines even if nobody buys it from them. If you saw an MP3 player while you were off to buy some Mike n' Ike, you'd definitely remember that for later if you wanted to buy an MP3 player, and also, very importantly, you'd tell all your friends.

The video probably has a higher return on investment than actually stocking some machines with it, but I can still see it being worth it to stock some vending machines in highly visible places with it.

Re: Sony sells its waterproof mp3 player inside a bottle of water

#80

Post by kevinrpope »

snake_plissken wrote: post #11

I'll hand it to Sony, they can come up with some sweet marketing campaigns. On a side note, do a lot of people really listen to music while swimming? In college I used to do 30 minutes of laps in the pool a couple times a week. I liked doing it precisely because you couldn't listen to music and you'd have to focus on keeping good form. It was just you and the water.

With respect to your side note: As someone who swam competitively throughout high school and college, having the ability to listen to music while practicing is really nice. When you're practicing 2-3 hours a day, six days a week, it can make a big difference.
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