Thursday, October 04, 2007

Making an iPod nano Carrying Case From an ID Badge Holder

After annoying my friends with incessant "nano... nano" IMs, I finally rejoined the iPod nation (I've been without since I lost my Shuffle for the second time) -- I picked up a black 8 gig iPod fat nano at the Apple store in Tyson's Corner last night:

JoelogoNano

Leaving aside the fact that it was a repackaged return -- complete with fingerprints, fully-charged, formatted for PC, and identified as "Bill's iPod" (I decided not to care and just reformatted it, renaming it "JoelogoNano") -- I'm now playing with it.

Carrying Case: Free Is Better Than Cheap

I don't have any accessories, save for an all-purpose car charger I picked up for future need, so I did something I'd done with my old shuffle: I took an extra ID badge holder (the clear vinyl kind with the zip-lock top and clip -- any good cubicle dweller will have some) and used it as a carrying case:

DSCF3343
Show the screen through the back side of the case, which is clearer -- the front side has kind of a matte finish.

It fits perfectly. Note that it's upside down -- this is because the nano headphone jack is at the bottom. This actually works out, which I'll get to in a moment.

I also looped the headphone cord through the lanyard holes, to provide wire stress relief.

Here's what it looks like, clipped to my cargo pants pocket:

DSCF3347
Dangly.

"Hey dumbass, it's upside down!", right? Ever wear a wristwatch on your belt? (I did for a while. Nickel allergies.) Same principle -- when you lift it to look down at it, it'll be right-side up:

DSCF3348
Down is up.

The scroll wheel and buttons works fine. You can see the screen perfectly -- the vinyl actually sticks to it (I don't think it'll leave any residue), so it doesn't slide around (which was a problem with the old shuffle).

The clip is secure enough, though I'll put a rubber band around the snap loop so it can't come loose by accident. You can also run a lanyard through the holes if you want to wear it around your neck, or maybe put it on a retractable reel.

Now, I don't know that I'll be wearing it too much this way, since I mostly just got it for car use, and you have to take it out to dock it, but it works as-is, with no modifications. And what more do you want for free?

7 comments:

Red said...

I love it! Absolutely genius.

Anonymous said...

very clever! and that's a good-looking ipod... they sure have gotten sleeker since i bought my dinosuar.

Jamy said...

I just ordered my new nano and was wondering how I would carry it. Unfortunately, I don't have any of that type of id holder at the office. They give us another, much less flexbile, kind. Will you snag one for me? Pretty please?

Joelogon said...

Red: Thanks.
Charlotte: You should see my old rio riot-- it's the size of a paperback.
Jamy: I'll see what I can do.

JeffB said...

I added a retractable belt clip to complete my case. http://www.flickr.com/photos/k4rl/1518617631/in/photostream/

Joelogon said...

Jeff -- cool; just don't forget and try to badge in with it (unless your badge fits, too... but that would be madness!)

Anonymous said...

So, is this the new version of the pocket protectors?
-- Robin