Introducing The iTaser: MP3 Player Meets Hip, Portable Shock Device

[babylonsister]

Introducing The iTaser: MP3 Player Meets Hip, Portable Shock Device
by Richard Wray


Deborah Kerr in The King and I recommended whistling a happy tune when afraid, but now fearful Americans can sing along to their favourite tracks while shooting anyone who causes them consternation with a 50,000-volt electric charge.


The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which is expected to receive more than 140,000 visitors this week, is no stranger to bizarre gadgets but the iTaser - as it has been dubbed - must rank as one of the oddest. It combines a Taser stun gun, used by 12,000 law enforcement and security forces, including the Metropolitan police, with an MP3 player and earphones.

As to which tracks anyone toting such a device might download on to the 1GB player that is integrated into the gun’s holster, anything by Sparks or Frank Zappa must be fairly high on the list.

Arizona-based Taser International sells the handheld stun guns under the rather hyperbolic banner of “Changing the World and Protecting Lives”. It maintains that the iTaser “allows for both personal protection and personal music for people on the go”.

According to Rick Smith, founder of the company, “personal protection can be both fashionable and functionable”.

The company says the new device is particularly aimed at women - with red, pink and even leopard print designs intended to make carrying a stun gun fashionable. A spokesman in Las Vegas said the inclusion of a music player would encourage purchases by women who want a form of self defence while out jogging, but would otherwise choose to take an iPod or other MP3 player with them instead of a weapon.

“A lot of women aren’t going to go into a gun store and feel comfortable enough buying a Taser, so now we have some outdoor companies and dealers - some cellphone places are starting to carry them and hang them next to phones,” he said.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/09/6274/

[DCKit]

1. Now THAT's smart.

Placing earphones, attached to a 45K volt device, on either side of your brain.

First lawsuit in 5..4..3..2..1.

[BadgerKid]

2. Next up...taser carrying laws. n/t

[ManiacJoe]

3. Just insert the earphones and crank up the volume...

Who needs situational awareness?!?!?! I have a Taser!!!!!!!!
:sarcasm:

[jmm]

4. Nobody better complain about my taste in music

after I get one of those :popcorn:.

[backscatter712]

5. Olbermann just talked about this gadget.

He suggested listening to Metallica's Ride The Lightning while making miscreants ride the lightning...