iRock - Brief Article

Whole Earth, Winter, 2002 by Mark Frauenfelder

This gadget is a low-power FM transmitter that plugs into the 1/8th-inch headphone jack of any MP3 or portable CD player. I use the iRock with my iPod to play music over my car radio. I like it much better than those cassette adaptors that require you to keep a wire hanging out of your cassette player. I also use it with the boom box in my kitchen. The signal covers most of our house. The design is refreshingly simple, it doesn't come with an owner's manual, because it doesn't need one. You just stick in a couple of AAA batteries, plug it into the sound jack, slide a switch to one of four different frequencies, and press the on button. You could probably have fun with one of these in an office or park. Just wear a T-shirt that has the broadcasting frequency. Presto--you're a radio station!

iRock 300W--FM Transmitter
$30, First International Digital, Inc.
847/202-1900, www.myirock.com

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