Reincarmachination: A New Life for a Sad iPod

You know that heart wrenching episode of Sex and the City where Carrie “sad Macs” her lap-top? She was just wearing some over-alls, minding her own business, working on some sassy Sex article, when all of a sudden- the computer screen went blank, and a kind of scary face with the eyes X’ed out and a tongue hanging out of it’s mouth (am I making up the tongue part?) popped up.

When I first saw that episode, I wasn’t even sure if this phenomenon was real, or made up for Hollywood’s sake. Until, it happened to me.

There I was, at the gym, trying to get pumped up for a nice 4 mile run. After a quick stretch, I went to turn on my i-Pod and get it to the perfect play-list for the occasion. Waiting to hear the cacophony of adrenaline boosting rhythms from Missy, Beyonce, or new Britney, I was instead greeted by silence. Looking down to see what the problem was, I saw that ugly, sad face with the creepy X’ed out eyes (and possibly a lolling tongue) staring back up at me. I had sad podded my i-Pod! There would be no running that day.

Now happily ensconced in a new hot and heavy relationship with my i-Pod Shuffle, I sometimes still reminisce about my first i-Pod, and the love that once was. They say you never forget your "first", and for good reason. So many memories together; those long walks on the beach, steamy baths, road trips, soothing me to sleep… and now, literally a shell of what once was, is tucked away in my secret girls-stuff drawer because I don’t know what else to do with it.

Hopefully you never had to look into those evil-for-sure XX eyes yourself, but chances are that even if you have never had the unfortunate experience of an MP3 player dying in your arms- you still have upgraded to a newer version at some point over the past few years. Realistically, with the ever increasing menu of features appealing options available; colors, LCD screens, smaller sizes, it would be really, really hard not to have traded up. (Damn those amazing marketing and inventing geniuses at Apple!)

But, with this being the case, you are now kind of like me. As much as you might love that new trophy MP3 player, you’re still stuck with the remains from the ex.

Enter Reincarmachination: DIY ways to get a second-life out of your gadgets, in this case-iPods.

If you Google the topic of dead iPOd uses, you’ll get the some seriously nerdy suggestions like “How to Measure the Height of a Tall Building Using Only a Dead iPod and a Stopwatch.” (Seriously. Read below if you don’t believe me.) I however, am more interested in beautifying the world, both at large, and in my home. So instead of throwing these things out and contributing to the 1.9 million tons of yearly discarded electronics coagulating in the landfills, I wanted to come up with some suggestions that get some extra, albeit unintended, use out of past-their-prime MP3 players.

When I put the question “Hey, do you have any ideas for what you could do with a dead iPod?” to my usually outside-of-the-box thinking boyfriend, he thought for a second before replying.

“Why don’t you give it to Jack to take apart?”

Although the idea to give it to my 12 year old nerd brother for his amusement would provide an unintended use for the thing, my initial response was exasperation. Giving an old MP3 player to your favorite nerd to geek-out with was the best solution he could come up with?!

Curious as to what a bonafide nerd would suggest, I asked Jack the same question. His response?

“Umm, Popular Science’s website has a link to things people can do with old iPod circuitry and parts?” Thanks Jack, but again- don’t know that’s advice I want to spread amongst a bunch of girls?

Determined to come up with some outstanding ideas on my own, I set about dismantling the thing to see exactly components I was dealing with.

Unfortunately, the immediate discovery that the shell of the iPod was comprised of one piece dashed some of my initial ideas. (I.E. Fashioning an iPod into a compact. Wouldn’t it be cool to reach in your handbag, pull out an iPod, flip it open and use the mirror inside to ideally just powder your nose, but more realistically probably checking for Spinach between your teeth?)

Having to face the literally cold, hard facts of my endeavor, I wracked my brains to come up with other ideas.

The first idea to take sprout: an iPot. After having removed the innards of the iPod, you could put some soil inside the remaining shell, and through the hole where the control pad once was, plant some herb or flower seeds. The contrast of technology and nature would be very interesting, and the little plant growing out of an iPod would brighten up your office desk, kitchen sink, or random window sill. Bonus nature points for being able to see the growing roots through the screen.

Or, you could create an iPod Coated Candy Shell by using the empty iPod shell as a container for the candy of your choice. You should probably avoid sticky confections in this scenario, as they might be messy. However, gum, nerds (the candy kind, not the brother kind), tic-tacs, or candy hearts would look cool showing out from behind the iPod screen, and would be kept whole and fresh behind the protective casing.

Alternatively, you could keep it intact, and place standing up on a bookcase or desk somewhere as a decoration/knick-knack. In 20 years, it will be neat to have the thing to be able to show your kids what you used to listen to music with. (Lord only knows what music technology will be employed by that point!)

Whether you take the iPod apart or not, there is an awesome guy in Denver who will buy whatever iPod surplus materials you find yourself with. On average, depending on the model and it’s condition, he pays around $20 to $50 dollars for your iLeftovers. This guy buys people’s unwanted and busted devices, and then either fixes and resells them, or salvages the parts and resells those; all the while reusing his packaging materials and walking to the post office to pick up his packages. It’s a great concept, because he is getting re-use out of parts and pieces most people would have no idea what to do with, and making it worthwhile for people to contribute the needed goods for his business.

I know I will be seeing green all over if after creating my Flower iPot, I can be paid for the remaining guts, while preventing the addition of my stuff to the trash graveyard!
http://www.buymytronics.com/

If all, all, else fails, Apple has a recycling program that collects their dead minions.
http://www.apple.com/environment/

If all, all, all fails, feel free to get in touch with me- I have a little brother you could make very happy.

How to Measure the Height of a Tall Building Using Only a Dead iPod and a Stopwatch

1. Go to the top of the building.

2. Drop the dead iPod off the top of the building.

3. Using the stopwatch, measure the length of time, t, that it takes for the dead iPod to fall from the top of the bldg to the ground and smash to smithereens.

4. Using your above time measurement, and knowing the acceleration due to gravity, g, you can compute the height of the building:g = 32 feet per second per second = 9.8 meters per second per secondBuilding height = 1/2 g * t * t