Strapless iPad Nano Watch: Just Implant These Magnets in Your Wrist - TIME

Dave Hurban calls it an iDermal. Here's his quick guide to digital body modification.

By Erik Hayden | | May 13, 2012 |

Dave Hurban calls it an iDermalâ€"a strapless watch that attaches an iPod nano to your wrist.

And, on first glance, the idea of iPod magically attached to your wrist as if it’s being held by magnets may sound sleek. Problem is, Hurban, the iDermal’s inventor, did have to insert four magnets into his arm to get the desired effect. So, no, that doesn’t sound that cool anymore. Unless you can endure what looks like no small amount of pain and a bit of blood, you won’t be “wearing” an iDermal.

Not that the Hurban, no stranger to body modification, apparently cares. He wasn’t trying to make a statement, he told tech website Digital Trends in an interview. Essentially, the only reason why he implanted four magnets into his arm in order to create a real strapless watch: “I just thought it would be cool.” At least he was honest.

True to form, this video above, which is being passed around on tech blogs everywhere, is a fast-forward look at how (but not really why) he implanted an iPod nano docking station into his wrist.

Understandably quizzical, places like Gizmodo have pointed out the obvious: well, um, what happens when Apple releases a new iPod Nano that comes out in a different size? Hurban  dismisses the idea. “To be honest, if they come up with a new one, and it’s bigger or smaller, I probably won’t change it,” he told Digital Trends.

(More: Would You Buy a 7-inch Apple ‘iPad Mini’ for $200?)