Bone Fone (Nov, 1980)
Bone Fone
A new concept in sound technology may revolutionize the way we listen to stereo music.
You’re standing in an open field. Suddenly there’s music from all directions. Your bones resonate as if you’re listening to beautiful stereo music in front of a powerful home stereo system.
But there’s no radio in sight and nobody else hears what you do. It’s an unbelievable experience that will send chills through your body when you first hear it.
AROUND YOUAnd nobody will know you’re listening to a stereo. The entire sound system is actually draped around you like a scarf and can be hidden under a jacket or worn over clothes.
The Bone Fone is actually an AM/FM stereo multiplex radio with its speakers located near your ears. When you tune in a stereo station, you get the same stereo separation you’d expect from earphones but without the bulk and inconvenience. And you also get something you won’t expect.
INNER EAR BONES
The sound will also resonate through your bones-all the way to the sensitive bones of your inner ear. It’s like feeling the vibrations of a powerful stereo system or sitting in the first row listening to a symphony orchestra-it’s breathtaking.
Now you can listen to beautiful stereo music everywhere-not just in your living room. Imagine walking your dog to beautiful stereo music or roller skating to a strong disco beat.
You can ride a bicycle or motorcycle, jog and even do headstands-the Bone Fone stays on no matter what the activity. The Bone Fone stereo brings beautiful music and convenience to every indoor and outdoor activity without disturbing those around you and without anything covering your ear.
SKI INVENTION
The Bone Fone was invented by an engineer who liked to ski. Every time he took a long lift ride, he noticed other skiers carrying transistor radios and cassette players and wondered if there was a better way to keep your hands free and listen to stereo music.
So he invented the Bone Fone stereo. When he put it around his neck, he couldn’t believe his ears. He was not only hearing the music and stereo separation, but the sound was resonating through his bones giving him the sensation of standing in front of a powerful stereo system.
AWARDED PATENT
The inventor took his invention to a friend who also tried it on. His friend couldn’t believe what he heard and at first thought someone was playing a trick on him.
The inventor was awarded a patent for his idea and brought it to JS&A. We took the idea and our engineers produced a very sensitive yet powerful AM/FM multiplex radio called the Bone Fone.
The entire battery-powered system is self-contained and uses four integrated circuits and two ceramic filters for high station selectivity. The Bone Fone weighs only 15 ounces, so when worn over your shoulders, the weight is not even a factor.
BUILT TO TAKE IT
The Bone Fone was built to take abuse. The large 70 millimeter speakers are protected in flexible water and crush resistant cases. The case that houses the radio itself is made of rugged ABS plastic with a special reinforcement system. We knew that the Bone Fone stereo may take a great deal of abuse so we designed it with the quality needed to withstand the worst treatment.
The Bone Fone stereo is covered with a sleeve made of Lycra Spandex-the same material used to make expensive swim suits, so it’s easily washable. You simply remove the sleeve, dip it in soapy water, rinse and let the sleeve dry. It’s just that easy. The entire system is also protected against damage from moisture and sweat making it ideal for jogging or bicycling.
The sleeve comes in brilliant Bone Fone blue-a color designed especially for the system. An optional set of four sleeves in orange, red, green and black is also available for $10. You can design your own sleeve using the pattern supplied free with the optional kit.
YOUR OWN SPACE
Several people could be in a car, each tuned to his own program or bring the Bone Fone to a ball game for the play by play. Cyclists,
joggers, roller skaters, sports fans, golfers, housewives, executives-everybody can find a use for the Bone Fone. It’s the perfect gift.
Why not order one on our free trial program and let your entire family try it out? Use it outdoors, while you drive, at ball games or while you golf, jog or walk the dog. But most important-compare the Bone Fone with your expensive home stereo system. Only then will you fully appreciate the major breakthrough this product represents.
GET ONE SOON
To order your Bone Fone, simply send your check or money order for $69.95 plus $2.50 postage and handling to the address shown below. (Illinois residents add 5% sales tax.) Credit card buyers may call our toll-free number below. Add $10 if you wish to also receive the accessory pack of four additional sleeves.
We’ll send you the entire Bone Fone stereo complete with four AA cell batteries, instructions, and 90-day limited warranty including our prompt service-by-mail address.
When you receive your unit, use it for two weeks. Take it with you to work, or wear it in your car. Take walks with it, ride your bicycle or roller skate with it. Let your friends try it out. If after our two-week free trial, you do not feel that the Bone Fone is the incredible stereo experience we’ve described, return it for a prompt and courteous refund, including your $2.50 postage and handling. You can’t lose and you’ll be the first to discover the greatest new space-age audio product of the year.
Discover the freedom, enjoyment, and quality of the first major breakthrough in portable entertainment since the transistor radio. Order a Bone Fone stereo at no obligation, today.
JS&A: Products That Think
Dept.MI One JS&A Plaza
Northbrook, III. 60062 (312) 564-7000 Call TOLL-FREE ……..800 323-6400
In Illinois Call……….(312) 564-7000
That seems really freaking scary. It could also possibly affect bone regrowth and osteoperosis and so on.
Comment by fluffy — April 25, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
[...] sale. The principle the same as your Tooth Tunes; vibrations are sent through your collarbones “all the way into the sensitive bones of your inner ear,†eliminating the need for clunky headphones. Perfect for that hot new fitness craze sweeping the [...]
Pingback by More Osteo-Musicology « The ARChive Blogoschmeer — August 14, 2007 @ 7:29 am
I had one and it was a normal radio with two speakers in the area near your ears. The only thing unique about it was the layout of the radio – the speakers in the sleeve on each side of the area that rested on you should area under your ears, battery back on one side for the AA batteries and the tuner controls on the other side. Nothing at all scary about it and, unfortunately, not unique sounding either. I was an OK radio and was well made, but not worth anything near the $70 it cost back in 1979. There was more creativity in the writing of the ad for it than in the design of the unit. “The sleeve comes in brilliant Bone Fone blue-a color designed especially for the system.†Ok, right the blue color was designed especially for the system! Sure it was. You were supposed to place the speakers downward towards your body so that the sound would vibrate through your body/bones. Well, that simply didn’t work and just made the sound coming out of the speakers more muffled. It worked so-so with the speakers pointed up towards you ears and was in some ways safer for jogging et. al. than being cut off from the world with earphones. Everyone heard what you heard – the was no “Your Own Space” involved. The Bone Fone was brilliant in its marketing and placement of well-written ads in magazines like Popular Science. Having it in PS somehow bosterled its claims of conducting sound through the bones in your body I guess. Only trouble was those claims were pure fantasy. The Bone Fone is right up there with the ads to make a hover car using a vacuum cleaning, Mr. Microphone, Inside the Egg Beater, Pet Rocks and Sea Monkeys!
Comment by Matthew Hurst — March 3, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
Is the Bone Fone truly still available??
I have a granddaughter who uses a bone condution aid to hear & would love to attain one of these for her.
Comment by Glenn — March 7, 2008 @ 7:23 am
Does anyone know a way to find the copyright holder, anyone who worked for the company who made it, or anyone
who has one for sale? Any information would greatly be appreciated.
Comment by philspil — May 13, 2008 @ 1:31 pm
Comment #3 above is exactly correct. I bought a Bone Fone. I either returned it or threw it out after I tried it. It was a good example of false advertising, and I never bought anything from the JS&A Group again.
Comment by Robert Gable — September 24, 2008 @ 11:13 pm
[...] So writes Paul Collins leading into his discussion of the Bone Fone. [...]
Pingback by Improbable Research » Blog Archive » Sounds from, if not like, teeth — November 18, 2008 @ 12:02 am
I had a Bone Fone. It quite obviously did not work by bone conduction. The sound was pretty good because the speakers were full-range and close to your ears. People who tried it were impressed by the sound. Headphones are better.
Comment by Mark in Boston — November 19, 2008 @ 12:28 am
I had a bone fone back in high school and I loved it. It was awesome in class as I could listen to the radio all day and the teachers never had a clue. Best part was how I had great stereo sound but my ears were uncovered so I could still easily hear everything around me. The bone induction was crap, but I’d buy another. Heck, I’d love to see an updated model with better quality speakers and an MP3 player built in.
Comment by Jim — April 1, 2009 @ 3:24 pm
I remember seeing those BoneFone ads and desperately wanting one….finally found a local store that sold them and tried it on. My brother was standing several feet away and was able to identify the song playing. So it wasn’t as “personal” as advertised. Luckily the first Sony Walkman debuted not too long afterward, and a neighbor of ours owned a Sony store, so my Dad bought me one as soon as Neighbor got some in stock. It wasn’t a radio, but it was better – I could tape my own music and hear it privately in stereo. I took that thing *everywhere* and played to death.
Comment by Ouisch — June 27, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
If anyone has a working fone bone in the NYC area, I’d just like to hear it! In exchange you can have a tour of MAD Magazine. Dick DeBartolo, The Giz Wiz, and MAD’s Maddest Writer. You can contact me via my website: http://www.gizwiz.biz. Thanks!
Comment by Dick DeBartolo — August 26, 2009 @ 4:13 pm
I worked for JS&A for 5 yrs. I had a Bonefone and wish I still had it. The owner of the company is the same guy who brought out Blue Blocker sun glasses. Joe Sugerman developed the full page advertising concept, starting with the pocket calculator when the prices dropped to a level most people can afford back in the mid/late ’70s. Also he was the first to use 800 phone number to place credit card orders.
Comment by Allan B — October 15, 2009 @ 9:46 am
Some of… NO most of the best technologies get lost and burried under more effective marketing of mediocre crap.
Awesome technology lost in the Walkman hype. I could listen to my music, barely audible to others around and have very enjoyable Rock listening levels. Note: I could hear and quickly entrained my self to hear neurophone technologies which completely bypasses the ears and introduces sound directly into the brain via skin contacts.
To those who made negative comments, your perception and or biometrics prevented the advertised sensation which is very real. My whole crew worked with these on for months. Mostly young fit guys (hint on biometrics) The safety issues of headphones or earbuds was totally handled leaving ears open. They could get a little hot and sweaty around the neck, hence the washable cover. All in all a very great concept that could now be reconfigured and made into a winner with the non-obese listening public
THE GIZ
Comment by WJ — November 8, 2009 @ 5:01 am
[...] Shake is the name of this modern day adaptation of the Bone Phone. You plug this thing into your iPod, and then attach it to back of your helmet where it vibrates [...]
Pingback by Skate and Annoy » Archive » Bone Phone head — January 15, 2010 @ 3:12 pm
[...] Re: The BIG Reveal! Reminds me of the Bone Fone … people used to wear these cycling, skiing, etc. back in the 80's. Bone Fone [...]
Pingback by The BIG Reveal! - Autopia.org — March 17, 2010 @ 4:18 pm
[...] can pry my Bone Fone from my cold, dead [...]
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