Do I really need a remote for my iPod?
Would a wireless remote control for my iPod really make listening to the iPod on the train less uncomfortable?
A nearby CompUSA store is on the verge of closing, and the past few months have witnessed a series of slippery-slope markdowns on merchandise there. I've scored some nice geektoys at reasonable to significant discounts: a sleeve for the MacBook, a small UPS box, tech books. But did I really need to buy a remote for my iPod?
My normal iPod usage is commute-driven: listening on the train on the way to and from work. There is a certain awkwardness about futzing with the iPod securely esconced in my inside jacket pocket while cramped amongst a crowd of people on a packed train. If I want to skip a song, or re-listen to a passage from an audiobook that I didn't quite hear amidst the noise, reaching contortedly around into my inside jacket pocket in a cramped space is precisely what I would have to do. (Even when sitting, this is uncomfortable both for me and for those I'm sitting next to.)
The alternative is to attach a wireless remote to the iPod resting comfortably in my jacket pocket, and skip songs or rewind audiobooks with the remote which sits in my outside jacket pocket.
It seemed like a good idea.
The particular unit I found at CompUSA (for a great price) was the Griffin AirClick. It works pretty well, with the transmitter connecting to the dock port on the bottom and the iPod. The remote control provides a play/pause button, backwards and forwards buttons, and volume up and down buttons. The backwards and forwards button double, as you'd expect, as "jump to beginning of this track/next track" and "rewind/fast forward", depending on whether you just tap the buttons or hold them down. There is a lock button on the side of the remote as well (just like on the top of the iPod), to prevent accidental tapping of the buttons in your pocket from making the iPod jump around in an unwanted fashion. Fortunately, the AirClick allows you to engage the iPod's lock switch and still operate it remotely (as long as the remote control isn't locked).
But does all this help? Well, sort of. I no longer reach clumsily into my inside jacket pocket to control the iPod. I reach somewhat less clumsily into my outside jacket pocket, where I keep the AirClick's remote.
The problem arises if you want to keep your iPod in a case. (Which I definitely do, having had one iPod already die on me even though it was kept in a sturdy lucite case.) Because the AirClick transmitter piece connects to the dock port on the bottom of the iPod, you have to have a case that leaves that entire portion of your iPod open. I tried flimsy stretch gel cases but they didn't work well (the AirClick transmitter kept coming loose).
I searched high and low, and finally found (at the Apple Store) the perfect case. Also, made by Griffin, it's called the Reflect case. It's got a solid black rubberized back, and a shiny mirrored chrome on the front, leaving only the wheel open. You ask: "Well, how do you see the screen?" When the backlighting comes on, the screen shows through quite nicely. Of course, when backlighting goes off you can't see a bloody thing. But it is a cool looking case, and conveniently it does leave the entire bottom of the iPod open to allow the attachment of devices like the AirClick. (You'd think maybe Griffin, who manufactures both the AirClick and this case, actually thought this through...)
(Mind you, it should not come as a surprise that a mirrored finish like this is prone to scratches. But that's another story...)
Still, the ultimate question: do I really need any of this? Do I need a remote for my iPod? Is all this just a crazy geek pipe dream? Or is it worth going through all the conniptions to get this rigamarole working? Does it help?
Yes, it does help. My iPod experience on the train is definitely less twisted and contorted than it would be otherwise. But instead of carrying an iPod in a case in my inside pocket, I'm now carrying an iPod plus an AirClick transmitter, a much longer contraption that takes up more room. And my outside jacket pocket now holds my wind-up earbud case, my AirClick remote, and my Bluetooth earpiece for my mobile phone.
Now maybe, if I could just get a Bluetooth headset that would work for both my iPod and my phone... that I would wear all the time so I wouldn't have to keep it in my pocket... that would make things all better.
Sure it would.
