It is cold outside and your hands are nice and warm in those leather gloves. You love the feel of the leather. You awake from your reverie as the phone rings shocking you into the real world. (An iDevice includes all the iPhone, iPad, iPod or similar devices such as the Droid phones and tablets that use the Android operating system.
You take out your phone, but your gloves will not work on the screen. You hesitate and think to yourself: I do not want to take off these warm gloves and answer this cold phone in this 100 mile an hour blizzard of snow and ice. Of course you exaggerate--it is winter and you just don't like to be cold. No one likes to be cold. Do they?
What is the answer? One answer is to get a stylus. I covered styli in an earlier blog.
Another answer: Lots of people make gloves that allow you to use your iDevice without exposure to the elements. These gloves have some device on them that lets you access your phone without taking off your gloves.
Some gloves simply do not have a tip on the index finger or thumb so that your index finger and thumb is exposed to the elements but can still activate the iDevice without catching an iCold. Since they are exposed you can now use the index finger and thumb to use the iDevice without getting too cold except on your thumb and index finger.
Examples of the missing tip finger gloves include Etre touchy gloves (http://www.etretouchy.com/). These Etre gloves come in all types of woven styles and colors. Some of the gloves are rather funky with the different color schemes. You might like these gloves.
Another solution for the more squeamish of us that are more sensitive to the cold are the gloves that have removable tips on the thumb and index finger. These include the freehands gloves (http://www.freehands.com) for both men and women that come in knit and leather versions in a variety of colors and styles.
Another type of gloves is the electrostatic glove. The electrostatic gloves have some device on them that allow the glove to interact with the iPad, iPod, iPhone or Droid screen without using your bare finger. The principle was described in my earlier blog on styli.
There are a variety of these devices or gloves if you prefer: The North Face ETIP gloves (http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/etip-glove_3.html?parent_category_rn=&cm_vc=Sea) cost about $40 retail and can be found on sale from time to time. The gloves have a "click wheel compatible" thumb and index finger. Click wheel compatible means that you can use the gloves to work with your iDevice. "The stretch knit shell is ideal for three season wear," according to the manufacturer. Also the gripper palm makes it less likely that you will drop your iDevice.
Hammacher Schlemmer (www.hammacher.com) has
The Touchscreen Compatible Gloves for men and women for a low low low price of $90 give or take a cent. If you have any cents you will check around because due to the extreme guarantee on Hammacher Schlemmer (HS) products almost everything here is cheaper someplace else. HS will refund the full purchase price for an item at any time in the future. (http://www.hammacher.com/Product/81347?promo=search)
My favorite gloves are the Agloves (http://www.agloves.com/). For a mere $17 you can find these knit gloves adequate for keeping your hands warm and also since they have silver strands woven into the gloves they can be used for all ten finger typing. For those of us who can actually type with ten fingers, typing is faster and easier than using a stylus which can press only one key at a time and is very slow moving from key to key.
Another electrostatic knit glove company is the iTap gloves (http://www.itapgloves.com/). You gotta love the iName. Soon everything made will begin with a little "i." Don't you love it?
These iTap gloves are only $20 and are made from 100% merino lambswool sourced from the United Kingdom. The gloves come in bark, brick, clay and coal earth tone colors. The iTap glove "undergoes a rigorous softening process, working every fiber to its utmost comfort." At least that is what the literature says.
Until we meet again. Please contact me by email at alfred@giovetti.com, iPhone at 410-303-8805, regular corded phone 410-747-0396, fax 410-747-6357, facebook at (http://www.facebook.com/alfred.giovetti), and linked-in (http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=2744101&trk=tab_pro), or just drop by the office (1615 Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD 21228) or stop me at an event for a cup of Joe.