Day: August 20, 2005

  • Hula Visual Upgrade

    Nat shows off the sexy new interface to Hula. The screencast looks quite impressive. Hula has definitely come a long way in a short time, even though it was an awesome little project when it was released as open source.

  • The Scourge of the iPod

    This weekend I went in search of an FM modulator to finish hooking up a Delphi Roady2 to the parental minivan (yes my parents have XM. Can anyone say tipping point?). A few years back you used to be able to walk in to a Best Buy or Radio Shack and pick up a crappy little FM modulator for $15-20 or so. I mean, it’s not rocket science. Audio in and a small FM transmitter. After The iPid Revolution however, every freaking FM modulator on the shelf costs like $50 and the vast majority of them are iPod white.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that the iPod in all its variations and those other mp3 players are so dang popular. The inner gadget geek in me loves that. But the iPod economy is killing me with the acccessory inflation.

    I really am amazed that people get away with charging so much for a hunk of plastic, an audio cord, a case, or the million other overpriced widgets that you can attach to your mp3 player of choice. My only hope is that the iPod bubble can’t last forever.

    Update: Okay, I managed to find the Belkin Tunecast II, which was the one I liked in the store for about half that on Amazon. Not so bad after all. The stuff is still overpriced on the shelf though.