The iNecklace
They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but some girls are geeks. And all geek girls know that diamonds are nothing more than heat-pressurized carbon. Boring. What makes our hearts go all aflutter is jewelry that is technified and unabashedly geeky. And ladies, do I have just the piece for you: the iNecklace by Adafruit.
The iNecklace looks just like the on button on your Macbook, Macbook Pro, or iMac. It’s made of aluminum that feels cold and techy against your chest. It’s strung on a strong sterling silver chain. And, the best part: it lights up.
The iNecklace comes in a genuine black velveteen box, which insures that little black fibers get caught in the crevices of the pendant (see macro photo below). So, a must-have accessory for your iNecklace is an air blower to get the fibers out. In addition to the pendant and chain, the iNecklace comes with two batteries, instructions, and two tiny little plastic ziplock bags to store your batteries in when they aren’t in use. I like Adafruit’s attention to detail.
To make the necklace glow, simply use a penny to unscrew the back panel. Once the panel is removed, insert a battery with the plus side up, replace the back panel, and twist it on. Your necklace now glows. But it’s not a constant glow — that would be too garish. No, this is a subtle, pulsating glow, modeled after the “breathing” LED on your Mac when it sleeps.
If you wear your necklace with the battery in, Adafruit says you should get about 72 hours of constant use, though the light will dim gradually as the battery dies. If you prefer, you can wear your necklace sans battery, saving the pulsating glow for those special occasions, like anniversaries, Star Trek conventions, Comic-Con, and, of course, Macworld. Regardless how you wear it, battery in or out, the iNecklace adorns your chest like a Techie Badge of Honor, announcing your geekiness to all who care to notice it. And if they don’t notice, sheesh, put the battery in.
What’s Macgasmic
The iNecklace is cool, cool, cool. As soon as Marilyn Halpin tweeted about it, I knew I had to have one. But, alas, they were sold out, so I had to wait for the new batch. I ordered; I received. I am geekified. The necklace is beautiful, though the velveteen box really does leave little black fibers all over the front. It’s nicely crafted, and the chain, being sterling, is solid as well. Putting the battery in is a no-brainer, and the necklace functions just like it should, pulsating over and over until you remove the battery.
What’s Not
After trying out the battery the first time, I removed the iNecklace’s back and tapped to remove the battery. But that’s not all that fell out. The little circuit board that makes the iNecklace work fell out too. This was unexpected, and I thought maybe the glue or the solder had come loose. So I contacted the company and found out that, no, it’s perfectly normal for the circuit board to fall out. Of course, Adafruit is assuming that only geeks are going to buy an iNecklace, and geeks should be able to reinsert a circuit board. Duh. Plus, the iNecklace is open source. So anyone who wants to tinker with the circuit board or programing can. Something not-so-Macgasmic is the price. The necklace is $75.00 plus shipping. That’s a lot for a glow-in-the-dark geek necklace. But, I paid it, reasoning that (a) the chain is made of sterling silver, (b) the pendant itself is made of metal and looks solid, (c), it glows (squee!) and (d), OMG I just had to have one!
I love my iNecklace. It’s beautiful. It’s original. It’s geeky. It’s Applesque. And it glows (maybe I’ve mentioned that already). If you’re in need of a new piece of jewelry (and who isn’t?), and you’d like your own iNecklace, simply follow the links to Adafruit’s website and place your order.
It’s what all the geek girls are wearing this season.
