iLounge

Company: Rivet

Website: www.RivetEquipped.com

Model: Kingpin, Powerbroker, Super Treker

Price: $24.99, $39.99, $29.99, respectively

Compatible: iPod mini

Rivet Mobile Phone Clips

By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Category: Clips and Cord Managers - General

Rivet, maker of teenager-friendly universal mobile phone clips, provided us with samples of three of their clip packages: “Powerbroker,” “Super Treker,” and “Kingpin,” each of which contains accessories for carrying portable devices. Powerbroker includes a set of backpack, belt and car mounting clips, Super Treker a belt hook clip, and Kingpin a stylish reptilian chain with clasp.

Predictably given the popularity of the iPod, Rivet isn’t limiting its target market to mobile phone users. Several pages of its catalog show attractive models with 3G iPods strung around their necks (using a lanyard package), and the company would love to encourage iPodders to try their belt, bag and car clips. An iPod or phone attaches to an adhesive-backed metal pin, which then attaches to your choice of clips, which are themselves attached through additional metal pins or adhesives to bags, belts, or cars.

Rivet Powerbroker

Rivet Kingpin

Rivet Super Treker

We hate to rain on a parade, but it almost goes without saying that even the cheapest iPod is fundamentally different from a mobile phone. Because of the weight of 3G and earlier iPods, and despite the strength of the adhesive used with their metal pin, we’d recommend Rivet’s products only for the iPod mini. The Powerbroker’s metal E-Clip - the core piece of its car, backpack and belt attachments - unfortunately lets the iPod hang loose, offering metal-on-metal scuffing opportunities, and we don’t think most people will want to have their iPods dangling precariously from backpacks or belt clips. No matter how much we love to show off our iPods, we certainly wouldn’t hang them from a bag or belt. Matte-backed iPod minis wouldn’t scuff as easily or be quite as likely to be stolen, but then, we wouldn’t risk even a mini just for the confirming our theory.

Rivet Kingpin

Rivet Super Treker

Of all the accessories, only Kingpin’s chain (intended to attach to a phone or device kept in a pocket) seemed like something we could imagine a younger iPod user wanting, though the chain’s chrome snake-like appearance would better match the older iPods than the iPod mini’s style. Therefore, though we certainly like Rivet’s aesthetic, we’ll have to wait on iPod-specific product offerings before passing final judgment on their designs.

Jeremy Horwitz is Senior Editor of iLounge and practices intellectual property law in his spare time. His recent book, Law School Insider, has been called the “best book about law school -ever,” and he continues to contribute to Ziff-Davis electronic entertainment magazines.