Hidden capabilities and available add-ons can turn your play-only iPod into a serious business tool. Read on to find out just a few ways to teach your iPod to walk and chew gum…

Faithful readers of The Blog might recall my undying adoration of the iPod; not the dinky memory-stick rip-offs. (They’re cute, but the cost per gigabyte is insane.) I’m talking about the real ones with the Lilliputian hard drives. The iPod’s ongoing perception of being merely an MP3 player is truly unfortunate.

Podcasting will help, especially as more business-related Podcasts become available. But a Podcast is nothing more than an MP3, showing up on the device just as another song.

When I go out, I’m usually packing my iPod, cellphone and PalmPilot. Various (and expensive) devices such as cell/PDA combinations, or the new phone/iPod hybrids will eliminate having to schlep around at least one less device. But I don’t want to hold a PDS to my head, nor do I want to pay for a cellphone that holds only 150 songs. Thanks to an application called PalmPod(TM), my PalmPilot no longer has to go along for most rides. PalmPod is a very well-done application that enables you to export data from your Palm Desktop to your iPod — including your calendar, to-do items, contacts and memos. The application is donation-ware (free), installed flawlessly, and works every time. It’s tough to say that about most pieces of software these days, especially shareware and freeware. You can easily navigate the data once it’s in the iPod, and synching it again with update info is a breeze — just pop the iPod in your dock and hit the iPod logo to start PalmPod from within the Palm Desktop. PalmPod would be an excellent app instead of a very good one if it only had a password protection function.

The release of the latest iPod with video really confused me. I mean, who in their right mind is going to want to watch Lost on an itty-bitty screen? OK, maybe it’ll work for travelers who have no other choice. Then it occurred to me: training videos. Let’s say you’re on the shop floor working on a machine. You’re handling tools. You’re balancing parts on your head. There’s certainly no room to keep a manual close enough to be usable. There might not even be room for a TV/DVD combination. It would be feasible, however, to position an iPod within eyeshot and easily see by example — using a training video — how to get things apart and back together again by example. Plus, even a greasy finger can touch the pause button when you’re stuck or just need a break.

That brings us to the next point: The iPod is not known for being a robust device. Just about every model scratches easily at the very least, and spilling oil all over it or dunking it in the coolant reservoir of a CNC machine would most likely kill it. Enter a company like Otterbox, who makes ruggedized, waterproof iPod cases.

One of my latest toys is a ruby-red Victorinox Swiss pocket knife with a 1 GB USB stick (and scissors, file, knife blade (which makes it illegal as a carry-on), but the USB drive is easily removed before you head to the airport), etc. It even has a flashlight so that I can avoid tripping over the dog in the dark, crashing into a closet, and waking every living soul for a block around. But sometimes even a gig isn’t enough. Sometimes even a 5- or 10-gig memory device isn’t enough. So, what happens if you need to transport large files when working in the field, for example? Or, you’re working on a solid model at the office, and you don’t want take the time to burn a CD and copy the file to it, or you want to make a run for it at the end of the day and don’t want to deal with a balky e-mail system, network and a transfer that might take even as little as 10 minutes via the Web? Keep an iPod cord or dock handy, and use your iPod as a hard drive. It’s easy to do — Apple even gives you the instructions. Once enabled, this function allows your PC to see the iPod as just another hard drive. Connect it, copy the solid model file, and split for the day. (If you use a Mac, you can even make the iPod a bootable FireWire drive just in case something goes wrong, or you want to test new software without blowing up the system’s main drive.)

Have you ever recorded (or wanted to record) meetings without the hassles of dealing with micro-tapes? Or might you just want to make voice notes to yourself? Your iPod can do either, with an add-on mic from, for instance, Griffin Technology. That one’s even got a speaker so that you can conveniently playback your voice memos without reconnecting to a PC.

So, there you have it. It’s official. An iPod can be a serious business tool as well as bring you the joy of music.

See the links below for a few more interesting ideas, including using the iPod as a drone e-mail device.

Now, if only someone would make the iPod usable as a data acquisition and storage tool. (Imagine the size and cost advantages compared with a relatively large box with a full-size hard disk, driver board, etc.) Or maybe that’s already been done but I wasn’t able to find it. If you’ve seen more business, engineering or industrial uses for the iPod, please post them here.

Happy Podding.

Additional Resources

Duke University iPod First Year Experience Final Evaluation Report (PDF)
http://cit.duke.edu/pdf/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf

iPod and iTunes Hacks (Book)
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ipodtuneshks/

Get Your Email on your iPod (PDF)
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ipodtuneshks/chapter/hack43.pdf

iPods in the Classroom
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9745321/