Suki offers the device for $69, as well as a host of accessories and a community site called, appropriately, Club Vibe, which lists a growing number of DJs who are spinning out music specially crafted to hit just the right spot and a slew of user-submitted, iTunes-enabled playlists. With OhMiBod, Suki promises more than just a one-night stand - they're selling the idea that sex play is cool, and are hoping that users will see their device as a gateway to a larger community of Jacks and Jills who are into getting off on their music.
And it seems to be working. The OhMiBod is (at the time of this writing) currenly listed as "out of stock" on the OhMiBod website due to "orgasmic demand," and has been covered by practically every blogger on the net, as well as such mainstream outlets as the supermarket-friendly Redbook.
According to Regina Lynn, while playing country music, "the vibrator almost leaps out of my hand with its full-speed-ahead buzz, only easing off for a breath between verse and chorus." One can only imagine how it would respond to electronica.
As with the iPod itself, the fact it works as well or better than similar devices is beside the point; it looks cool, which, if the success of its parent device is any indication, could do more for the field of dildonics than rechargeable batteries.
See Me, Feel Me
So, if a stylish, iPod-colored magic wand has the potential to entice a whole new generation of sexual beings to pick up a dildo, what would it take to get those same people into a teledildo? I asked our three "sexperts" what lies in the mind of those seeking cybersex. What kind of person needs a teledildo? Who's the target audience?
"No one needs it," says Regina Lynn. "But it's a fun addition to have. I'd say it appeals to three groups:
1. Long distance lovers. You and your partner live far apart and don't get to see each other every weekend. Teledildonics becomes one of the ways you stay connected. Not every day, but something fun to pull out of the closet once in a while.
2. Online lovers. You and your online lover can't get together in the flesh for whatever reason - or you don't want to and the relationship is entirely online - but you add teledildonics as one of the ways you play.
3. Online sex work. A performer, whether a cam girl or a Second Life escort or porn star, can offer teledildonics to her clients as a way to increase her earnings. And clients can take advantage of the opportunity to touch the professional (by proxy, anyway) without worrying about STDs or getting arrested."
So, basically: those who have sex for love, those who do it for fun and those who do it as a job? Sounds like everyone. Why isn't everyone using a teledildo?
"I dunno," says Kyle Machulis "Really, I don't. Sex is a very personal matter. There's gonna be the obvious answer of physical actuation for distance relationships, but there's also going to be people who want to sit in rooms in the same house and use it."
"I do think it's unfair to dismiss teledildonics as purely the product of pervy miscreants," says Lara Crigger. "That would be really oversimplifying the matter. I think it all comes back to the human need for affection, acceptance and love.
"These days, it's completely acceptable to try to find love online - as long as it's just the emotional kind. The moment you try to express love through physical means - teledildonics, emergent sex, cybering, whatever - you're seen as creepy and weird.
"But sex is a natural, genetic impulse. In the real world, no truly fulfilling relationship can work without at least a little skin-to-skin action. Why should virtual worlds be any different?
