Ipod Video Player

What Tools are in the iPod Video Player?

Does it Include a Swell Tracker?

Shaun Ward, a 22-year old surfer in Huntington Beach, California would like to know whether or not the iPod video player allows access to the swell-tracker. Shaun may need to contact Sean Collins, the president of www.Shoreline.com. Sean has called the swell-tracker a “Shoreline Buoy.”

The Shoreline Buoy has the ability to measure local swells and to then use those measurements to provide surfers with the anticipated arrival time for really big waves. If a surfer has learned that a big wave is due in the next five minutes, then he (or she) could enjoy the picture and music on an iPod video player. Still, it is hard to know if one can access the swell tracker using the video player.

Collins told a reporter from the Los Angeles Times that the Shoreline Buoy was being tested during the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing. He did not provide details concerning the device that would be used during that testing. That testing took place during the last week of July in 2005. Collins did not mention any plans to test the use of the iPod video player.

Collins did mention that he envisioned a day when all surfers would sport watches with an Internet connection. Collins obviously realized that a surfer would find it easier to wear a watch, rather than to carry an iPod video player. By the same token, Collins did not discuss how a surfer should bide his (or her) time, once he (or she) has obtained information from the Shoreline Buoy. If a surfer must wait a while for a big wave, then that surfer might want to have access to an iPod video player. In that way a surfer would be less apt to become bored, while waiting for a really big wave to hit the stretch of beach where that same surfer paddled in readiness.

The spectators at Huntington Beach during the last week in July had a chance to see first-hand how information from the Shoreline Buoy improved the performance of surfing contestants. They saw many surfers paddling over the top of small, even medium-sized waves and waiting for the expected arrival of the really big “bomb.” Then they would watch the star surfers ride on the crest of many impressive breakers.

Yes indeed, the Honda U.S. Open provided at least a partial glimpse of the future surfing world. It did not, however, reveal whether or not the iPod video player might be a part of that world.