

Turn Your iPhone Into a Walkman a cool Kickstarter Project - eande
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/875834086/audman-the-battery-charging-boombox-for-your-ipod

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d_r
This is going to be a stupid question (but I'd really like to know!)

How do these Kickstarter projects make such quality "model" photos showcasing
their project (e.g. the guy dancing)? Are these just skillfully customized
stock photos? If not, has anyone had success with outsourcing/hiring someone
to make these (such as for an iPhone app)? I'd love to spruce up my
screenshots...

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deanEkko
Hi, I'm the project creator of the Audman and I personally took all the shots
and video. I had an Audman prototype with me and saw a crazy tap dancing guy
on Market St. and just went up to him and asked if he'd dance around with it
and he did. I also came across the GetAround guys with a Tesla Roadster and
asked if I could have my friend sit in it and get some photos and they were
cool. So long story short. The best way to spruce up your screenshots is to
just get out there with a camera and and try out interesting things and ask
people if you can take their photos. After that, use Photoshop or any other
photo editing package to color balance crop and apply any effects to make the
image pop and I'm sure you'll get some really great imagery. -Dean

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d_r
That is incredibly cool and "just getting out there" shows the true spirit of
entrepreneurship. Thanks for the response + inspiration! You just got my 10
bucks. =)

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ck2
You should make an app that makes the sound warble like the tape models did
when there is lots of motion (via accelerometer).

Gosh I am too old as I remember the real sony one that came out that was just
barely bigger than the size of cassette tape, it was state of the art back
then.

[http://www.sony.net/Fun/design/history/product/1980/wm-20.ht...](http://www.sony.net/Fun/design/history/product/1980/wm-20.html)

look at the engineering from _30 years ago_
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFnrsDmIsxo>

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wazoox
Oh my do I remember these! And a friend of mine had the first one with
autoreverse, electromagnetic buttons, hardly bigger than the cassette box,
entirely metal-made... Costed an arm and a leg back then (1985?), this one:
<http://www.walkmancentral.com/products/wm-7>

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rottencupcakes
You're going to take my super functional iPhone touch screen, put it behind a
bulky plastic casing, and only allow me to interact with my iPhone through 4
or 5 random buttons while I play music on shuffle or from premade playlists?

Talk about "Single Function."

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deanEkko
I can understand your sentiment. I designed the product and can tell you that
the casing isn't bulky, it's 1.5mm thick all around which is less than some
iPhone cases. I also made it super quick and easy to open the door to get to
your iPhone's touch screen and the iPhone app we are working on will allow you
a lot of flexibility in what the buttons trigger. The buttons allow for fast
forwarding, skipping and album/artist skipping, basically how long you hold
down the button takes you up levels in the music directory and of course it
works with other apps such as Pandora as well. I can also tell you that people
that were at first skeptical tried it out and commented that the UI for most
music/podcast listening was a bit superior in that everything was just a thumb
press away. Granted, this product isn't for everyone, but I don't think it
should be so quickly dismissed as we've spent a lot of time on the UI,
electronics and firmware and app to make a great experience. Don't be fooled
by the retro-styling aspect as that was simply a design decision. Also, do you
know of any other accessories that combine a battery to charge your iPhone
with portable speakers in such a small package?

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jamesbkel
FWIW, I don't have a case on my iPhone 4 since I can't stand the extra bulk,
but I am definitely considering the Audman. I left my iPod out in the sun
awhile ago and it overheated... since then I've found my iPhone to be a lousy
replacement for listening to music. The lack of a tactile UI means that I'm
constantly fishing it out of my coat to do something as simple as skip a song.
Even worse in the car (I have a 1/8" connection, but don't use it because
trying to manage the iPod app while driving is really no better than texting
while driving).

Seems like this product may be a good solution.

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Pheter
I use a jailbreak app called activator to set up skipping songs by holding
down the volume up and down buttons and it works great!

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jonursenbach
Funny how the last in-use picture is someone using it whilst driving and
wearing headphones.

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wr1472
One of the model photos shows the driver listening to an iphone/walkman in the
car with headphones on whilst driving. And she's holding it in her hand.
Somehow I don't think that's a typical use case.

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js4all
This looks like fun and many "brings memories back" products are successful.

