Do you think this would be a good investment to bring to BM?

[theCryptofishist]

You should have bought that boomerang. Boomerangs are cool. Could you use one as a speaker?

[MOOP_Nazi]

That is a a really good suggestion Crypto.

Also, due to the fact that he lives in a place where he can buy his food, it would allow him an appropriate amount of time to learn to hunt with said boomerang, thus making that a very smart investment...

[theCryptofishist]

Ah, he can just fill up on roadkill like the rest of us.

[oneeyeddick]

I did get the Boomerang shorly afterwards as a gift.... the funny thing about boomerangs Is that as soon as you figger them out, you end up at the hospital with broken fingers.

[theCryptofishist]

Ouch. So, that was a bad investment. Unless the person who gave it to you didn't like you.

[BBadger]

It's $20. Some of you spend more then that on glow sticks for the week.

Damn right! The best part about those $20 of glowsticks is that I could give them away, and they had immediate value and use. It's like spending money on food: you get direct and immediate use of what you paid for. That thing though? It's the kind of thing that you leave in a drawer because because of its "gee whiz" utility. It's not about cost, it's about value.

[oneeyeddick]

Tents don't have drawers, well...unless you invest in some and put them there yourself.

[Anubislg]

On the behalf of the Empire of Pockets, Lord High of Megaphone Repairs, I wish to weigh my opinion of this item:

Pockets Empire Approved!
Seem's like a fun thing.

[tattoogoddess]

It's $20. Some of you spend more then that on glow sticks for the week.

Damn right! The best part about those $20 of glowsticks is that I could give them away, and they had immediate value and use. It's like spending money on food: you get direct and immediate use of what you paid for. That thing though? It's the kind of thing that you leave in a drawer because because of its "gee whiz" utility. It's not about cost, it's about value.

ok beotchy Danielle is going to come out and I usally play very nice.

"immediate value and use" Who is to say I don't think this is a immediate value and that I will get a shit ton of use from it? I work in a salon. We get one fucking station. It's country. Enough said. Now if I had one of these and brought it into my chair I could stick it to anything and get music. Hell I could prob slap it right onto the hood dryer so my clients have music under there for a half hour.

I am a VERY techy kinda gal. I love toys. So this would not be just sitting in a drawer.

PS why not give the gift of kick ass music on the playa!? not every one wants to hear dub step,techno, house ect all the time. What if i want to break out a bit of Ella or BB king? Little tiny speakers just aint going to cut it!

[BBadger]

ok beotchy Danielle is going to come out and I usally play very nice.

"immediate value and use" Who is to say I don't think this is a immediate value and that I will get a shit ton of use from it? I work in a salon. We get one fucking station. It's country. Enough said. Now if I had one of these and brought it into my chair I could stick it to anything and get music. Hell I could prob slap it right onto the hood dryer so my clients have music under there for a half hour.

And that's great! But why are you dropping $20 on something that just rattles surfaces? I'm not complaining that you want to play music, I'm saying that this rattling speaker suppository thing is not the thing to do it.

I am a VERY techy kinda gal. I love toys. So this would not be just sitting in a drawer.

I do too! But I have a lot of toys that seemed "oh neat, this gizmo does COOL THINGS" at the time, but when I got them they ended up as "wow, this is not so great..." Things sit in drawers not because they're something I wouldn't want to use, but because they end up outclassed by something that does the job better. Like getting a dull knife versus a sharp one.

PS why not give the gift of kick ass music on the playa!? not every one wants to hear dub step,techno, house ect all the time. What if i want to break out a bit of Ella or BB king? Little tiny speakers just aint going to cut it!

DO IT! But just like you're telling me: "little tiny speakers just ain't going to cut it!" Look at that thing. It's a little suction cup attached to some tiny cord powered by two AA batteries (or are they AAA batteries?). Do you think you're going to get much sound out of that? You'll only get, at maximum, the same amount of audio power as you put into the device. It doesn't matter how big a surface you attach that thing to, it's not going to produce "big sound."

Worse, even if that Rock It did have good power delivery, it's not constructed like a real speaker that is made to make the most of the power going into it for conversion to sound. Do you know what happens when you use an underpowered speaker, especially one with a diaphragm (the part that vibrates the air) that had a lot of mass? It has distorted and deadened sound. You can't vibrate surfaces fast enough to make high-volume high-frequency sound (the treble), nor move enough air for any decent bass. This is why speakers are made of thin paper, not car hoods or window panes. So what do you get? Annoying radio-esque music with little bass, muted treble, and resonances depending on the shape of the object. Listen to the video you posted: does that really sound good? Sure it has volume, but volume doesn't mean it sounds good.

So yeah, crank that BB King! But crank it on something good! Crank it on a real speaker that people will want to hear. You're doing your music an injustice when it sounds distorted, tinny, and hollow. This is why I'm saying that this Rock It thing will be sitting in a drawer: you won't even want to listen to it. You'll probably bring something better, or someone else will have the better speakers and you'll gravitate towards that. You could drop the money on a speaker equally as portable and cheap that sounds better like this (this is not an endorsement). You could "invest" more money into something even bigger and powerful, and even set it on a counter at your salon so you can actually produce sound that will defeat the "All my exes live in Texas" streaming over the radio in that salon.

[moonrise]

I think you should bring the "death chair" shown in your youtube vid, lol!

seriously...the gizmo will be AWESOME for your work station, love the idea of sticking it to the hair dryers!! and go ahead bring it to BM, but the dust will wreak havoc with it's stickiness i bet ya, most likely it'll get ruined and not stick when you get home home...sooo, hmmm, once you hear the indescribable music playing 24/7 at burning man, you'll understand a bit better, the gizmo may just be too tiny to bother taking outta the box, YMMV

WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR BURNING MAN NOISE TG! NEW YORK CITY CAN SEEM QUIET AFTERWARDS, HAHA!
(bring ear plugs for sleepin' ONLY a few bucks and sooo worth it! lmao)
It's been over a MONTH and I can STILL hear the music/noise of the burn, lmao! (I need to get out more often)

[Elorrum]

Tactile transducer speakers are cool. You run around sticking them on all sorts of things. I like the foam core board used for presentations. Not too loud, but they pack small. Good idea if you just want camp tunes, near field. Benefit of this one is that it comes with an amp. I'd say this is more than a toy

[graidawg]

I want one! the whooe fun of having people trying to work out how my hat is playing music or the tent oh the endless fun. pluus i drive a big ass van for work i wonder what it would sound like attached to that?
o it could be loud speaker for my phone! oh what fun

[ygmir]

I did get the Boomerang shorly afterwards as a gift.... the funny thing about boomerangs Is that as soon as you figger them out, you end up at the hospital with broken fingers.

*noting OED home movies from childhood*

[bubbavic]

Hmm...interesting. I have a some different uses for the thing.

1) turning random playa art into giant speakers anyone?

2) attaching it to random in-use porta potties to "enhance" the user's experiences

3) turn your playa bike into a mobile sound system

4) turn yourself into a mobile sound system and wear an led sound sensitive costume...combo = walking sound and lightshow!

[delle]

I love this thing. Wish I had one this year.....

For those of us with space issues, it's really a great little option.... I mean, we've GOT water bottles, right? And plastic tubs...


....wonder if you could put a splitter into the ipod and run to two bottles.


There are hours spent in your shade structure. That's what it's there for, right? Having music is nice little option - Especially when you've got guests over. Lugging decent speakers for it (and whatever it takes to power them) maybe not so much. THAT seems like overkill to me, when you can have this tiny, portable thing instead.

Looks like the kids might just be getting some of these for Christmas! I'm sure they'll be used often, and promote a whole lot of fun as they think up places to hook them up to. Thanks for introducing it!!!!

[delle]

2) attaching it to random in-use porta potties to "enhance" the user's experiences

Hahahahahahaaaa!!!! Good Lord, Yes!!!!

[trilobyte]

Moving this over to Q&A...

[AntiM]

My house and our Burning Gear Lean-to are overflowing with cool gadgets, costumes and camp stuff. Mostly lights and such, but yeah, we get there and some things languish. I excel at wasting money on minutiae.

I once bought a Skull Candy hydration pack, with speakers built into the straps. Way cool. I thought it would be a good idea for "out and about" on the playa. Not in camp, in Hushville there is no amplified music of any kind... but I only used it once out there. Ended up mailing it to a nephew. Just too much else going on.

If it brings you delight at the thought, buy it, bring it. Come back to this thread and let us know how it went.

And yeah. MyLarry's speaker shirt was fun. Will be more fun when I get around to a memory card with customized sound!!!! (thank you ThinkGeek and Big Bang Theory)

[theCryptofishist]

Moving this over to Q&A...

Ah, that's why it was showing my own posts as "new." Mystery solved.

And, everyone, Bbadger is as entitled to his opinion as the rest of us, and maybe he's developing a siege mentality about it. Go easy on him.

[essjay]

I agree with Bbadger that the music will sound like shit . . .

. . . BUT, for $20, the "conversation-starter" potential for that gadget is endless and there are many fun things you can do with it. (Turning a new friend's costume/bike/whatever into a speaker with a little sleight-of-hand would be a great way to mess with people . . .) So, as long as you aren't expecting great sound and want to have fun with it - it's a great purchase!

Now that a few of you have ordered them, please post back with results of your experiments on various objects.

[tattoogoddess]

ok im going to get a bit techie here.
What if you took a box and put say a piece of saran wrap or parchment paper on the opening. Would it make it sound better?

[trilobyte]

Physics and sound engineering 101... No, it wouldn't. If it were possible to get significant amplification at any reasonable quality with that kind of method, you can be sure others would have been doing it for some time. If you don't really care about the quality and just want to try it as a toy, go for it.

[jkisha]

Well thinking back to how easily I was entertained by my telephone made of string and two cans, I could imagine this holding my attention for awhile.

[oneeyeddick]

Exactly...I am gonna take two of them and run them as left and right with a channel splitter and make a cardbord geometric helmet and egg it out on the exterior with foam.

Kinda like an eggchair but for your head instead.

[tattoogoddess]

make a cardbord geometric helmet and egg it out on the exterior with foam.

Kinda like an eggchair but for your head instead.

What the hell are you talking about? That sounds like jibber jabber. I need a picture.

[oneeyeddick]

Gimme a couple of weeks, i just ordered them and they don't ship till Mon or Tue.

[tattoogoddess]

I mean like a drawing or something

[oneeyeddick]

I am not much for making plans, on the fly is how I roll.

[theCryptofishist]

I am not much for making plans, on the fly is how I roll.

(Roll eye.)