In concept, I’m completely behind portable speakers for your iPod. Music is meant to be shared. That’s pretty much its primary purpose, after all. When I discover a new band, I find myself scheduling long car trips specifically so my wife and I will have the opportunity to sit down and listen to them together. But the iPod is an isolationist device. It separates you from others. Closes you off. Thankfully, companies such as Altec Lansing and GrandMax are here to help.

Here comes another portable speaker system that works well with the iPod, the iPhone and other digital music devices: the Grandmax Tweakers Mini-Boom speakers. Comprising two mini-speakers, Tweakers measures a few inches tall, has a rounded top and flat bottom, and retracts to as small as four inches long. When the Tweakers are retracted, it more »