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A tale of product success: Jeremy Huber found current methods of affixing iPod Nanos to the body--armbands, cases and the like--unsuitable for his weightlifting routine. He and wife Alissa devised the iStik, a snap-on plastic case containing four magnets, which corresponds with a thin plastic sheet also holding four magnets. The rest is simple: put the sheet inside your clothing and the case outside the clothing, and the magnets do the rest. You can now store your Nano on any part of your body covered by clothing.

(If magnets don't sound like such a hot idea, remember that this is for the Nano, so there's no hard drive to accidentally erase.)

While the object itself is neat, what we found more interesting was the success the Hubers found in a market glutted with corporations all trying to design a hit iPod accessory. The Hubers started by renting a booth at the L.A. marathon, where the hordes of runners saw the wisdom of the gizmo and quickly bought up all 400 of them. This led to an appearance on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, and the publicity boosted sales--with no dedicated retail space, just a website, the Hubers have racked up $50,000 in sales in just six months! No ID background, and not too shabby.

via invention and technology news