Man...I skip a day on here and I have a busy night to deal with....haaaa
OK here goes:
One) It's a sealed unit, except for ports. The face is totally waterproof because it is fully seamless. Pretty Cool. The rotary dial you see on the front is touch sensitive, and therefore stays sealed. If you get the 20GB (for around $400) it comes with a dock and yes, a wired remote (chrome, of course). Way cool looking. Picture of it mounted on the bike? I'll try tonight. Depends on how crazy my daughter is when I get home. She just started walking. OK......MP3s
ITunes software (included with IPod) will "rip" your whole CD collection to MP3 format. If you get online while you do it, it will download song/album info also, for the display when the MP3 is playing. There is also an IPod MINI that is brand new, smaller, and less expensive. I haven't used it, but have used the IPOD extensively. Never a skip yet, even when the bike is sitting there idling/chugging and shaking. It's a little hard drive (1.8") and it has 25 MINUTE SKIP PROTECTION!!!! Amazing. You can also "share" MP3s online, but this is getting into borderline illegal, and people are getting sued nowadays for this kind of stuff. If you want to share music and not have to wonder about getting sued, merely borrow CDs from friends, library, etc. Then you can freely rip them to your computer and use them forever. I wouldn't get caught sharing them online. No real benefit, and there is a risk, although small. I bought the MARWARE case (neoprene) and the matching bike holder, and I think it can be made to be pretty water resistant. Not much rain gets into the fairing at any type of speed anyway. Wrap it in plastic and use the remote...no worries I bet.