Hasta La Ideas

I think it was Stephen Covey who said that as children we’re taught to read, we’re taught to write, we’re taught to speak, but we’re never really taught to listen. Any time you catch a snippet of reality TV, a CNN interview, or an overhead conversation on the subway you could be forgiven for thinking conversation is dead and we’re all just a bunch of people waiting for our turn to talk.

Another place where listening is given short shrift is in product design, specifically with cameras. I see video after video online, whether designer interview, Kickstarter pitch or comedy bit where the audio just sucks. When doing my own interviews using an iPhone or digital camera, I typically carry a separate mic’d iPod just for audio. On days where I don’t have this on me—as with a recent JosephJoseph interview I lost—I always get burned because on-camera audio is not up to snuff.

So while I know this product looks cheesy, I’m extremely curious to see (and hear) the forthcoming Fostex AR-4i audio interface for iPhone dock connector. It provides you with three microphone inputs and two plug-in mics on swivels, so you can orient them interviewer/subject or point them both at the subject for stereo sound. And while the commercial is not going to win any CLIOs, it does give you the idea (plus you can hear everything being said, crystal-clear):

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