Solid Alliance iPod nano case wraps music player in meat

Wed, 2008-04-23 11:41 — tekro

Name: Solid Alliance Kalbi pod Rare (KRB-3N-R)
Category: iPod case
Price: Open price (about JPY8980)
Release date in Japan: April 17, 2008

All kinds of jokes come to mind, but let's just get right to it: The Kalbi pod Rare case wraps your 3rd-generation iPod nano in a design patterned after meat.

Meat? Meat.

Thin-sliced "kalbi" of Korean BBQ fame, to be exact. But wait, this rubbery mock meat has a pedigree. First, it mimics the fine "shimofuri" marbling of "wagyu" beef (would you wrap an iPod in something less?). The packaging plays up the gag, nicely mimicking a film-wrapped supermarket meat tray. And the beef comes from a good "farm": Sato Sample, one of the earliest of the famed Kappabashi-district producers of "food replica" dishes for eatery window displays. It's a little bit of Japanese retaurant biz tradition, slipped over your nano.

While all that answers the "what", I know you're asking the "why". Apart from the mundane purpose of iPod protection, Solid Alliance's product page only suggests that your "camouflaged" iPod will leave onlookers surprised by your apparent fistful of meat, without catching on that you're really listening to music. Which is an interesting thought, as most of us would more likely be open about the music appreciation thing, and guarded over little eccentricities like riding Chuo Line with a slab of flesh in hand.

But who's to say what's right in this crazy world. In any case, it's not the first time Solid Alliances and its accomplices at Sato Sample have swathed tech in faux food: the companies are behind the Sushi Disk and Food Disk series of edible-looking USB drives you may have spotted elsewhere.

More info: http://solidalliance.com/newpress/?p=55 (Japanese)