Mac Geekery

Always on the hunt for a better way to protect our precious iPods from being thrown off balconies and, sometimes, looking for excuses to do so, we came across the InvisibleSHIELD from ShieldZone. ShieldZone has, from time to time, posted videos of sales presentations where they’ve dropped two iPods into a box of keys taken off a crowd of customers. One is protected by an InvisibleSHIELD, the other is not. After damned-near destroying the box and returning the keys to their owners, the iPods are inspected. The InvisibleSHIELD-protected iPod is shown to be in Mint Condition, but the unprotected one comes out nearly unusable. The old ad-man in me sees these videos and thinks of 19th century snake-oil salesmen. That all changed when I applied the shields to my iPod and RAZR. Even so, a day into the test, after leaving the devices in my pocket with loose change, keys, and each other, I was still skeptical. At some point, I would think, the veneer would peel back showing some ugly underside.

A trip to San Francisco for WWDC, a hectic life running around town taking care of two business, a small liquid spill, and two months later, both devices are just as pristine as they were we we started this test. Miracles do happen, Virginia, and they’re manufactured by ShieldZone.

The Good

JC: I don’t know that I could describe the value of the InvisibleSHIELD any better than ShieldZone already does. You apply the decals, and you forget about scratches and small dings. Period. Not only does the shield protect the iPod from scratches, the shield itself seems virtually impervious to acquiring scratches itself.

Adam: I’ve done stupid things to my iPods in the past and they wind up almost irridescent from the scratches on them. Products like Ice Cream work well to even that out and make it more like what it was, but the best solution is to never do it. I applied this on my new 5G and don’t have a single scratch. It’s stuck on there good and it’s taken some pretty heavy abuse so far.

The Geek

JC: I didn’t throw my iPod off the balcony for this test. Sorry. However, I’ve been routinely shocked at how well this product survives the small drops, dings, and other daily abuses I throw at it. The shield gives the devices a slightly tacky feel, causing two shielded devices to stick to each other. While this irritated me initially, I found it greatly improved my iPod’s ability to stick to my iSticky Pad in my car.

Adam: I wondered what the thing could take, so I took a straight-edge razor to it. I thought I’d won as it left a nice gouge down the middle of the shield, but not the iPod. I rubbed it a little to feel the cut and realized it wasn’t a cut … it was a crease and rubbing it wound up rubbing the crease out entirely, bringing the surface back to what it was pre-blade. You can’t scratch it, and it’s apparently a bit hard to cut it as well. I’d hate to see the machines they have to use to custom-cut this stuff. About the only problem with it is …

The Ugly

JC: I found but one issue with this product in my time with it: the installation process. The shield is applied to a device via the time honored wet decal process which, while not a deal breaker, takes a not-insignificant period of time to do properly. The OCD amongst us will likely find themselves obsessively reapplying the shields before they can set, trying to get them on in a more perfectly straightened manner. The RAZR’s application process proved especially troublesome, as it was quite a pain smoothing out air bubbles in conjunction with accounting for the odd curves and recessed mini-screen areas.

Adam: This product requires a Class 5 clean room and bunny suits to install. Really, I think that needs to be on the label. When you wet it down to apply it, the solution picks up dust and dander from the air and it takes some patience to keep it clean and apply it correctly. Once down and speck-free you get to fight the bubbles out. While it’s true that a lot of these will work themselves out in time, the larger ones do not and it’s hard to guess which ones will work out in three days and which will not, so you wind up spending a lot of time just making sure you’ve removed every last bubble you can see. The upside: you only have to do it once.

Conclusion

JC: Despite the mildly infuriating install process, this product lives up to all its promises and more. I have no doubt that my personal electronics will sport InvisibleSHIELDs for many generations to come.

Adam: I’m buying one for my Katana. There’s no greater product complement than repeat business, and this deserves it. They have versions for all manner of devices from iPods to phones to whole computers, so go get one. Really.