I’m not much of a swimmer (reads: not at all), but whenever I see somebody doing laps in a pool, I often wonder if that’s not the most boring thing to do next to running on a treadmill, I don’t know what is. I would know because I do run/walk on a treadmill sometimes, like once a year, and I can’t imagine doing that without some sort of device to distract or entertain me while doing it.

I was very excited when I read about the SwiMP3 Underwater MP3 Player . It utilizes direct transfer of sound vibrations from the cheekbone to the inner ear to provide an exceptional sound clarity. When the device is placed on any bones of the skull, it leads to vibration of the fluid in the inner ear. Supposedly bone conduction hearing is a safe and well-established sensory capability. I do wonder, however, if it would make me dizzy.

Priced at $199.99 USD, currently, the SwiMP3 only has a 128MB model available, and the capacity cannot be expanded due to its need to be sealed watertight. It can play only MP3 files, but the good news is that you can use the player as deep as 10 feet, it comes with a built-in lithium rechargeable battery that gives you approximately 4 hours playtime, plus, and it’s compatible with both PC and Mac.

Now all I have to do is learn how to swim, and start counting... Was that 1 lap or 10 that I just swam???