by Jared Goralnick
A little while back I wrote about a different approach to an iPod car stereo. I just read a rather informative article in the Post offering a series of suggestions for iPod integration. I should give Apple some more credit–offering integration in 40 percent of 2006 cars is quite a testament to their ubiquity.
The article makes reference to the “gold standard” in iPod connectivity:
A single, tangle-free dashboard jack simultaneously pumps high-quality audio out of the iPod and keeps it juiced up while allowing tracks to be selected directly from the car stereo or controls on the steering wheel. The iPod, itself, can hide in the glove compartment or nestle into a convenient holster on the dashboard.
I am genuinely curious if this is the level of connectivity that is included in that 40 percent, or whether it’s merely a 1/8″ headphone jack to allow plugging any mp3 player into the car stereo. The article suggests going to this Apple page to see the list of cars offering iPod integration. It also points to this Crutchfield tool that narrows the iPod configurations available for your specific vehicle. In a few quick look-ups I had difficulty figuring out exactly what was available. For instance, I was looking at the 2006 Jetta, a car listed on the Apple site as iPod-ready, and it sounded to me like one would need an aftermarket iPod controller installed to offer connectivity.
My conclusion from this article and some additional research is twofold:
- Car manufacturers’ websites and their people in general aren’t highlighting the level of iPod connectivity available. In addition to my research today I’ve been car-shopping and have yet to find a salesperson who really knew if/how any mp3 player worked with their car stereo. It hasn’t clicked yet that a 6-disc changer is useless to me in comparison to portable-player connectivity. And yes, I also want to know how well the CD player supports CD-Rs and if it’ll handle mp3 CDs.
- Even if your car doesn’t include iPod connectivity from the manufacturer, there are a number of aftermarket solutions that’ll offer a high level of integration with a clean and professional appearance. This is beginning to fuel the argument for buying a used car and then putting in the stereo and components that you want…
I bet within a couple years every car salesperson will have a better answer to iPod connectivity questions, and every moderately priced new car will at least offer basic mp3 player integration…
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