LOL, that last line was classic.

First silly string, now this! I see a big DOD contract for Apple's supplementary body armor in the near future... in the meantime Mr Jobs should send this GI two 5G Ipods so he can stack them for the next time...

its probably already happened, but I'd buy this guy a new one.

Yeah, that's neat, but what happened to his bullet(s)?

With the cost of ballistic plates nowadays, iPod's may be more cost effective.

Lucky bastard! God bless him ...we should get him a new one!

It says the insurgent was killed. I wonder what he had.

Why is there an HP logo on the back?

"was enough to slow down the bullet to not pierce entirely through the body armor."

only a 5 yo would think the ipod had anything to do with it

Why is there an HP logo on the back?

Apple had a deal with HP briefly to offer HP branded iPods in exchange for unloading the support contracts. It was the exact same hardware but only officially supported on Windows. I think they were only sold for about a year or so. I've got one.

Actually an Ipod COULD slow down a bullet, at least a little bit, and every little bit helps.

*am a physics major*

Awe. Some.

@UHMinSoCal:
It was the Zune.

The original Xbox farts in iPods general direction!

You carry an Xbox in your pocket? Yeah we saw this at work earlier in the week making the rounds. Pretty cool.

at least those HP ipods paid off for someone ^^

Yeah an Archos can stop a tank shell, if it was thrown at you! Fired from an actual tank is another story.

Awesome. Now apple please give this gentlemen a replacement.

I doubt that the iPod had anything to do with slowing the bullet. AK rounds are extremely energetic.

I've heard that Zunes actually speed up bullets.

if our troops had been supplied with the right equipment in the first place, we wouldn't be seeing posts like this. the interceptor's plates only stop 9mm, not 7.62mm. and three rounds of 9mm turns the plate into gravel.

there is a new line of body armour out called "the Ibod"...

Neat story, but unlikely the iPod actually did much of anything. The metal backing on these are so thin that you can easily bend it with one hand. A 7.62mm round wouldn't slow down a bit through one or even a long series of iPods.

>It says the insurgent was killed. I wonder what he had.

iPod mini. Everyone knows IT'S FOR GIRLS. High five. Very niice. Buy my moviedisc.

stonefry:

EVERYBODY knows the bad guys have Micro$haft Zunes and the US Soldiers iPods! Get with the freekin program!
--------------------
OMG! Did I just write that? What is Gizmodo doing to me? I've started to bash MS in favor of Apple. Somebody help me. PLEASE! I feel ....funny.

@hypereric

@hypereric I think you're supposed to feel that way.

The new 80 GB Video iPods would stop the bullet entirely. Yep, that's right.

Please note that I have no scientific basis for this claim, and your mileage may vary.

NOW I'm interested in Apple's new marketing plans...

So... why did this guy have his iPod on him while he was on patrol? Seems to me that he might have been better off actually paying attention to what he was doing instead of listening to Killing an Arab by The Cure.

The last line sure is funny. Hs should have a 60GB Creative Zen Vision W! It could stop a machine gun!

GizFanAlpha:

I don't care what you say. I'm wearing my tin foil beanie from now on when visiting Gizmodo.
I think I'll make an amulet out of the Windows logo also, just in case.

@jovino
I agree. I have no prob with what they do off duty but if you're getting shot at on a daily basis (and hit!) I would not bring an ipod. BTW, type 3 body armor can stop a 7.62 round (ak 47). If he didn't have that on, the ipod wouldn't have made a difference at all.

Oddly enough after the trip through his iPod the bullet won't play in anything else now.

Stupid Lead Rights Management.

Oh, and thank you for your service!

Glad you're okay.

I wonder if it still works at all? Now THAT would be a great story.

I remember being in the Nintendo store in Manhattan where they have a Gulf War Game Boy on display that was bombed or something like that and it still works. They have it showing Tetris 24/7. (There may have been a Giz post on this at one point too...)

I guess you have to be my age to remember all the neat Zippo lighter ads where they showed some total piece of wreckage that used to be a Zippo and explained how it got that way--and ended by saying that they fixed it for free. (They still fix any of their lighters for free no matter what you did to them.)

Somehow I don't see that ad series being revived by Apple any time soon.

Go to zunerama.com and look for the zune case that they're giving away its awsome. Its a case CARVED out of a solid block of aluminum. How cool is that? Now if this guy was smart and bought a zune instead of a crappy ipod that bullet wouldn't have touched his body armor.
But if that ipod actually stopped that bullet they huld make abullet proof vest ot of two layers of ipods. HEY! Now you can have every song in itunes on your chest!

"You carry an Xbox in your pocket?"

Well you could use it as armor plating or somethin..

I'm surprised title wasn't. "iPhone could it save your life?"

little did you know during the first heavy air-to-ground attack on Baghdad, they released hundreds of air-to-ground Xboxes upon the city. The damage was catastrophic.

So, an iPod in the chest pocket of a soldier can stop a bullet, and an Archos could possibly stop a tank shell. Does this mean a PS3 in Jason's pants could stop a cruise missile? (At lease now we know why he keeps sticking things down his pants.)

Gawd why are we there again? Oh yes, democracy democracy, must beat idealism into head...

*paces around rubbing chin and looking at the floor*

Great for the soldier, now the insurgent is dead. I wonder where the humanity of it all is when one looks through his eyes. Yes messed up worldview and all but look at the collateral damage all of this has done too.

The whole idea of war is heartwrenching. Certainly not for the weak but even the strong there must have a day where they want to puke at the horror of it all.

Fun! Send Our troops with ipod jacks! heavy not at all!

There is a demo movie of an ak-47 in action, a guy stands 10 meters (30 feet) from a car, shoots and the bullets go through both doors and a fake body which is in the car.

So this is quite impressive.

How about we start a collection and buy this guy, or his unit, a shiney new Ipod(s)?

Why hasn't Congress approved uparmored iPods for all of our troops?

it0:
the bullet went through the IPOD - that hole is an exit wound. it didn't stop the bullet, but hey, every little bit helps.

After reading the posts on Flickr, as well as some of them here, I find myself rather taken aback by comments made by those who would use a story about a guy not dying and turn it into some sort of political diatribe.

Great, I understand that you don't agree with the war, or the president, or the fact the McDonalds doesn't use the "hot side hot, cool side cool" containers anymore. Whatever your angle, sometimes you can leave your politics at the door.

I understand completely that the iPod probably had nothing to do with saving this guys life, and that it is unfortunate that in the conflict setting that the soldier was in, that the other guy died, but please do not try to take away the small feeling of wonder that a human can get from hearing that at least both people didn't die.

And to bring this back to gadgets, it would totally have made the story if the iPod was stuck on infinite loop playing "Stop in the Name of Love."

This viral marketing isgetting nastier and nastier.

Lucky soldier, the exploding/spontaneously combusting battery didn't kill him first and now the iPod stops a bullet.

stonefry wins the thread.

Everyone who brought their politics in loses the thread. That is all!

Rateoforange-- I agree, and would say that you said what I was trying to say in a lot less words and much more clearly.