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Read all 'iPhone iPod breathalyzer' posts in Crave
December 18, 2008 10:21 AM PST

Cool party favor or life-saving tool? You be the judge

by Eric Franklin
  • 1 comment

"Should I drive home or not? Luckily I have this useful tool that will make the decision for me."

(Credit: davidsteele.com)

So you're at a party late one night. You really hadn't planned on getting this drunk. Who knows, though, maybe you're not as drunk as you feel. Wouldn't it be great if there was some way to know just how drunk you are before you attempt to drive home?

OK, that was the basic setup right? I throw a hypothetical situation out there and then the next paragraph is supposed to read something like "Well Bob Loblaw feels the same way, and he has a solution for you called X". With this product, though, I feel so conflicted about its usefulness that I feel reluctant to give you the sell, but I guess you have to know what it is, so here goes.

It's actually David Steele (of davidsteele.com), not Bob Loblaw, who wants you to buy a personal breathalyzer called the iBreath. For about $80 it connects to and is powered by your iPhone or iPod and also doubles as an FM transmitter. This allows you to transmit your music to an FM tuner.

I don't know, I really don't know how to feel about a personal breathalyzer. Personally, I never put myself in a situation where I'm driving after drinking anything more than like two beers. For me, that just doesn't happen. I do know people however, who do put themselves in situations like this on a regular basis.

Yes, it could save lives, and any device that could easily save even one life is a device worth existing. My feeling though is if you're the type of person who would drive drunk, wouldn't you do it anyway, no matter what a breathalyzer told you? Most people I know who drive drunk usually "know" what they can handle, and some little device isn't gonna change their minds if it's already been made up.

Also, does it come with other mouthpeices? I mean, cause you know as soon as you whip this thing out at a party or bar, there's gonna be a line of drunk dudes like "dush, you gotta leth me thry sthat".

Could be a great party favor or could actually save lives. In the interest of the holiday spirit, here's hoping it's both.

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