Innovative new ipod charger

Doctor J

Sorry, I couldn't resist

Infinite Loop (arstechnica.com) has issued the following report from Jacqui Cheng:

Well, at least we can't say that Apple's iPod branding hasn't managed to weave its way through all facets of the media. It appears as if a Colorado teenager was out wandering around during a storm, listening to his iPod when the (I guess) inevitable happened:

Jason Bunch was listening to METALLICA on his iPod while mowing the lawn outside his Castle Rock home Sunday afternoon when lightning hit him.

Next thing he knew, he was in his bed, bleeding from his ears and vomiting. He was barefoot and had taken off his burned T-shirt and gym shorts. He doesn't know how he got back in the house.

So, what exactly does the iPod really have anything to do with the whole thing? Well, the teen's ears, face, and neck were burned along where his iPod's cord was hanging, all the way down to his hip where the iPod was. The reasoning that Mr. Bunch and his mother are using to connect the iPod with the lightning strike is a little bit of a stretch, though. They claim that the iPod is what attracted the lightning to him, as there were taller things around him (such as trees) that were not struck.

Experts, however, disagree with this reasoning:

"There is no scientific evidence to show that lightning is 'attracted' to items like an iPod. However, if someone wearing earbuds is struck, current may travel along the wires into the ears," said Gregory Stewart of the Denver-based Lightning Reference Center. "There are documented cases of lightning traveling through wired telephones and killing the users. "

Objects such as loose change in victims' pockets have left first- and second-degree burns after a lightning strike, Stewart said.

Rest assured, loyal iPod users, that listening to your iPod out in the middle of a lightning storm isn't going to increase your chances of being struck by lightning. We think.

So, aside from a dull hope that this media bubble around Mr. Bunch and his lightning-struck iPod doesn't turn into some crazy lawsuit against Apple for manufacturing electronic killing machines that play awesome music, the best part of the article comes from this little blurb:

Then, he called a girl he was supposed to meet for a date.

"I said, 'I did not stand you up. I was struck by lightning."'

Good show, Jason. You know, if that girl doesn't forgive you, maybe I could hook you up with a friend of mine...