Electronic customization is the latest craze turning on gadget geeks. Companies such as iPodMods.com have emerged to fill a growing demand for iPod customization. Company founder, Ben, drew a business plan based on his knowledge of business and engineering from Western Michigan University. Identifying this newly emerging market for electronic customization, he quickly assembled a crack team of electronic surgeons to take advantage of the iPod's popularity. His company specializes in iPod hardware repair, parts replacement, as well as extreme make-overs.

Until recently, there has not really been a market for customizing personal electronics. Do you remember wanting to change the LCD colors on your old cassette player? This has all changed thanks to the popularity of cell phones. Consumers can now select such personalized features as ring tones, menu screen backgrounds, colored cases and even strobe light batteries and antennae. Now that this increased level of customization has taken hold of one popular electronic device, why should the iPod be excluded?

Naturally, I had a few questions for the people at iPodMods about how they would go about modifying my iPod. I did not want my iPod to come back looking like an iPod Frankenstein. I wanted to feel comfortable before handing over my iPod to an anonymous crew of micro mechanics. To put me at ease, Ben told me a little about some of the more common mods his company performs multiple times a day.

One of the most popular mods currently available is "light job." In this procedure, the iPodMod engineers crack open the iPod and replace the colors of the iPod's LCD screen and touchpad buttons. Currently, the most requested light job mod is the blue LCD screen. According to Ben, "It looks great in person. A picture really doesn't do it justice." Even though the blue-colored LCD screen is aesthetically pleasing, there's another reason for its popularity. He believes that LCDs in the third generation iPod lack the durability of those used in previous models. "A lot of third generation iPods with cracked LCD screens end up on our operating tables. As a result, when people need to get their LCD screen replaced, they will usually opt for a colored one, rather than the same generic factory part that broke so easily before." iPodMods also offers a package deal where you can get the LCD screen and the touch pad buttons modified at the same time for a reduced price. All of this was good news for me. At last my individuality imprisonment was over. I was ready to have iPodMods "Pimp Out" my iPod.

After reviewing the color options on iPodMods' website, I thought about a few different configurations for my iPod. I wanted to personalize both the LCD screen and touch pad buttons. However I was soon disappointed to learn iPodMods only had red, green, white and blue in stock at the time of my order. Their color spectrum usually includes all the major primary and secondary colors including purple, orange and yellow. The colors they routinely offer are based on customer demand. The very tiny LED lights used are purchased in minimum lots of 4,000 and each LED costs between $1 and $2. And when I say tiny, I mean breadcrumb size. According to Ben, "the LEDs are so small that if you drop one on the ground you will have no chance of finding it."

So what mod does Ben have for his own iPod? "I have the Patriot mod on my 40 GB iPod, with ‘IPODMODS' engraved on the back. The touch pad buttons are colored red, white, blue, red and paired with a blue LCD screen. I get a lot of compliments."

Page 2 of 3| 1 2 3

Next Page