iPond: Cool or Cruel?

By Miss Cellania in Animals & Pets, Gadgets, Hacks & Mods on Dec 18, 2007 at 9:21 pm

The iPond is an iPod accessory the combines a speaker with a tiny aquarium! A single fish lives in about 650 millilitres of water. It’s all the rage in Australia, but some consider it animal cruelty.

RSPCA spokesman Hugh Wirth said despite the fighting fish’s ability to breathe air from the surface, the tank was far too small for it to receive adequate oxygen. The small volume of water would lead to rapid temperature change and this meant the tropical fish would not live long, he said. The iPond should be banned, Dr Wirth said.

Link -via Metafilter

(photo: Rebecca Hallas)

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gert
Dec 18th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
that’s really pathetic. and cruel.

One would hope that the world would’ve moved beyond this stupid 19th-century attitude towards nature.
Andrew32
Dec 18th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I’m not a crazy animal rights activist.

but that’s pretty f***ed up.
Iris
Dec 18th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Yeah- this is fake.
matty
Dec 18th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
really depressing is this
Mark
Dec 18th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Like the goldfish in the heel of the disco boot, this is just monstrous. If it is actually on sale anywhere in the world, I hope that potential buyers are immediately arrested for animal cruelty.
The Manticore
Dec 18th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
I hope it’s fake
arakis777
Dec 18th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
see now, when you say ‘It’s all the rage in Australia’ ive yet to see one, or know anyone whose seen one. so yes it is fucked up, but apart from it being covered in the news….whose got one?
fz
Dec 19th, 2007 at 3:00 am
“see now, when you say ‘It’s all the rage in Australia’ ive yet to see one”

Yeah, me too…?
Larfin Jackarse
Dec 19th, 2007 at 3:11 am
Well here I am in the same town as Hugh and I haven’t seen it. I just gave away my two 3″ goldfish to someone who had a bigger tank because I thought they were too big for the tank.

I have to buy some small replacements. If I see anything, I will report it here first.
Larfin Jackarse
Dec 19th, 2007 at 3:12 am
ps: nothing yet seen as of 7.18pm AEDST
jenny
Dec 19th, 2007 at 3:18 am
well it is real, the link goes to a video in the news, but that is incredibly cruel, of course i hate any animal marketing, they sell you the speakers with the fish… come on, its not a toy, its alive…
Hollywood
Dec 19th, 2007 at 6:20 am
Most of the betta bowls you’d purchase elsewhere hold roughly the same volume of water.

Why the outrage at this speaker, when bettas have been living in small containers for decades?
Tim Giachetti
Dec 19th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Ummmm Put it in a bigger bowl when you get home! Jaysus, sounds like PETA took over the comments here!
peach
Dec 19th, 2007 at 10:26 am
I always feel sorry for those bettas at the store- they seem so listless -all they can do is spin in circles.
Thomas
Dec 19th, 2007 at 11:30 am
That would make a bad idea feel better about itself.
Namowal
Dec 19th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I used to work in a tropical fish shop. From what I’ve seen, bettas can survive in small containers (you should see the tiny bags they’re shipped in), but they live longer if they have a roomier tank. The Ipond is too small. People who want fish novelty items should stick to Big Mouth Billy Bass.
Vonskippy
Dec 19th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
What’s sad is there are people dumb enough to spend $70 on that rubbish.

//don’t really care about the fate of small fish.
//do care about sound quality.
Radin
Dec 19th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Disney could make a sequel from Finding Nemo from this. I hope those puny tanks can be taken out.
Taylor
Dec 20th, 2007 at 3:21 am
This stinks of fakeness.
1. There’s only one picture of this thing on the entire internet. If it was as popular as the article says (there are many articles, and they all say the same thing) I’m sure someone would have posted a picture of their fish.
2. Fish are not portable. It defeats the entire purpose of the product.
3. No article about this product lists any sort of company that created it, nor is there an official website.
4. The picture looks pretty dern ‘shopped.
jenny
Dec 20th, 2007 at 5:59 am
well i was watching a video on it yesterday, and looked around today for it, and it was gone
so i searched around and finally, after alot i found a different video

http://www.tv3.co.nz/VideoBrowseAll/ScienceTechnologyVideo/tabid/311/a rticleID/41876/cat/41/Default.aspx

so yes folks, it was real but it was taked off the shelves this morning because of so many complaints about the product, plus on the last video i watched they had said this was not make by apple but a separate company just made it for the ipod
Mishele
Dec 20th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
OK, I’m glad if it’s fake or if it was real and taken off the shelves. If it had been made by Apple, it would have been researched better and never released.
Joh
Dec 21st, 2007 at 12:26 am
I’ve seen it here, gizmodo, and on the news on tv. All three have had the same picture. … I watched the video and it doesn’t look half as bad now. I mean, lame, but not as cruel as the picture looks.
VonSkippy
Dec 21st, 2007 at 5:26 pm
@Mishele:
“If it had been made by Apple…”

If it had been made by Apple it would have cost three times as much, and include sometype of Fish-DRM.
us18
Dec 21st, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Sorry, but this is completely fake. I’ve been looking, and I challenge anybody to find a single store or website to but one of these.
jackson
Dec 24th, 2007 at 5:23 am
All i can say is im ashamed to call myself a human being, this is a sick world we live in!!!! Soon you’ll be able to buy the new iCage , where you buy a human in a clear box just big enough for him to sit in , its a coffee table , they will have no food or water and we’ll see how long he lives for, that sounds like a good idea doesn’t it.
animal luver
Jun 24th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I hate to say this, but it’s NOT fake… What kind if person would come up with this AND THEN SELL IT??? It’s the worst thing I’ve have seen done to fish MEANT TO BE PETS…… (besides that goldfish in the boot heel thing)Don’t say, “I have one and it survived!” Because, technically, I could lock you up in a clear box for the rest of your life and you’d SURVIVE….. but would you enjoy that at all????? I’m sorry to those poor fish…. the sellers and buyers should be arrested for animal cruelty!

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