So you’re one of the millions of music lovers who have become members of the “iPod nation”. Your stereo, once the center of your musical existence, now gathers dust along with your record, cassette, and CD collections. You start to notice others wearing the signature white iPod earphones. Sometimes you exchange a silent greeting, a nod or a smile, like Beetle owners who wave at each other passing on the road. You could say “cool iPod” or ask “what’s on your iPod?” but neither of you could hear the other’s response. As the iPod matures, many new accessories have emerged to expand and enhance your listening pleasure. Let’s take a look at some great accessories for taking your iPod “on the road”.

First, an important safety tip. You should not listen to your iPod with earphones while driving. Fortunately, you don’t have to. Plus, you want to enjoy your tunes with other car occupants, right? But how do you get your iPod to play through the car stereo? If your car has but a cassette deck, you can get a cassette-shaped interface that goes right into the cassette slot. The interface then connects with the heads of your tape deck. Attached to the cassette interface is a mini-plug that goes into your iPod earphone jack. This kind of interface is not new – you have long been able to connect CD players to cassette decks this way.

What if your car stereo has a built-in CD player and radio but no cassette player (as many today do not)? Several companies build FM transmitters that broadcast the music from your iPod into your car stereo through the car’s radio antenna. The sound quality of these systems is not as good as a direct link into the stereo, and in urban areas signal interference can be a problem.

Another issue with motorizing your iPod is power to run the iPod itself. On longer trips, you’re going to need a power source. Some of the FM transmitter solutions come with a power adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter – oops, I mean the “power accessory outlet”. For other solutions you’ll need a separate adapter

The next question is: where do I put the iPod where it won’t slide around with every sharp curve and come unplugged from the stereo? There are many designs of iPod holders to choose from. Some mount on the dash, some on the console. One is an iPod cradle that sits atop a plastic insert for your cup holders.

Some auto stereo giants are designing whole systems with the iPod in mind. Alpine, long a leader in high-end auto sound, has come out with the KCA-420i (www.alpine-usa.com, around $300). You plug your iPod into the system, then control your music through the control head LCD of the stereo or a remote control.

Of course, the ultimate automotive accessory for your iPod, is a brand new BMW to listen to it in! Several new BMW models (3-series, X3, X5 and Z4 roadster) can be equipped with a stereo system that accesses your iPod. Simply open the glove box, attach the FireWire cable located there (which also powers the iPod), and then manage your iPod music through either the stereo head or control buttons on the steering wheel.

Now, there is a better way to do all this. Note to Steve Jobs: make an Apple-branded car stereo that features a padded slot. Simply slide the iPod into the slot, and it connects to the stereo. Design it with Apple-inspired ease of use and safety, and, hey, you’ll sell a million of ‘em.

© 2004 Peter F. Zimowski