During the Super Bowl, I was re-watching and tweeting about Macworld 2003, the event where the 12-inch and the 17-inch PowerBook G4 were introduced after Safari and iLife were shown off.
There was one announcement, however, that I had forgotten all about.
Here’s part of Apple’s press release on the Burton Amp Jacket:
Burton Snowboards and Apple today unveiled the limited-edition Burton Amp, the world’s first and only wearable electronic jacket with an integrated iPod control system. The Burton Amp is a durable waterproof GORE-TEX snowboarding jacket made exclusively for use with iPod, Apple’s wildly popular portable digital music player. The Burton Amp and Apple’s iPod together make it effortless for snowboarders and other active users to control their music from right on the sleeve of their jacket without fumbling with zippers, gloves or pockets. The Burton Amp jacket is designed for use with Apple’s 5GB, 10GB or 20GB iPod (purchased separately).
“This is so cool—having your entire music library with you on the slopes and being able to control it all from the arm of your jacket,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Whoever thought you could have up to 4,000 songs and all your playlists, with over 10 hours of battery life, with you everywhere for a full day of riding.”
The jacket was the world’s first “electronic jacket.” Made by Burton, it had a dedicated pocket for an iPod with built-in controls on the sleeve:
Availability was a little weird. Here’s more from that press release:
The limited edition Burton Amp jackets will be available exclusively online through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) for $499 (US). Samples of the Burton Amp jackets can be seen at all of Apple’s retail stores across the country. In late January, the Burton Amp jackets will also be available at select Burton dealers. The iPod is sold separately.
Good times.