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Nike/Apple To Announce Partnership Tuesday?

i think this shows us how the iPod will grow in the next several years with added functionality outside of just music and video. we could be seeing an iPod + Cingular partnership where one could make calls from an ipod...who knows, i won't be buying these shoes, but i'm excited about where apple is headed!

mr
 
fblack said:
-Used to be, great. I switched to NewBalance because Nike & Reebok became incredily inconsistent with their sizes.
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😕 Surely inconsistent sizes shouldn't stop you buying their shoes?

I mean I normally try a size 12* on and if it's too small I go up to a 13 or down to 11 if it's too big. Once I find the right size I buy the shoe and from then on the size stays consistent, although sometimes my feet swell.
 
Cool concept. I don't run, but I'd like to see something like this to attach to my bicycle...

Also, I wonder if this would work with an iPod video? I can see how they would promote the nano since that is smaller/lighter/flash-based, but what if someone wanted to bring thier ipod video out running? Would the functionality exist, or would they restrict it to the nano?
 
The arguments above, between 'emotion' and 'BRLawyer' and others, reminded me of how Thomas Sowell demolishes the idea of 'solutions' to sweatshop labour and the like, in 'The Vision of the Anointed'. Whether you buy Nike products or not, I'm reminded of Unicef's study from the 1990s that lots of right-minded people stopped buying carpets from Nepal because of child labour.

What was the result? The children were forced into prostitution instead of carpet-making.

For environmental arguments, The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg is equally valid.

Back on-topic: anyway, I think this Nike+iPod thing is going to be huge. Much more appealing to your average consumer than the specific iPod car kits or whatever.
 
So you have to buy a nano, new $100 shoes, and a $30 kit that has to be re-bought every time the battery dies because the sensor and adapter are not sold separately? And it doesn't work with a 5G?

Talk about a niche segment.
 
Regardless of what you think of Nike, this is a really cool product. More importantly it shows that people are actively seeking ways to extend the functionality of the already great iPod in many new and cool ways, which is great for product longevity.

I think however that this is a very bad sign for those Shuffle fans out there. Good for everyone else though, as I see the nano moving into the entry level position, with the "traditional" iPod moving into the mid range and the guns blazing touch screen "true video" ipod taking the high end position.

I think it would be smart for Apple to keep a 1gig shuffle at the low end, say $79. However in my years following rumors and Apple's moves, holding onto older products to keep customers happy or to retain a good cheap entry level product has never been a priority. And to my knowledge has never happened.

Hell, they even have started the trend of discontinuing a hot seller to replace it with something new.
 
joepunk said:
That's a pretty cool flash site/download.

Oh, an ishoe, Umm... No not very cool. Jackets Yes! Shoes No.
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Not a lot of runners on this thread, I think.

This product ain't a huge deal, but most runners I know (me included) like to keep track of distance and speed and so on. For $30 this is a really cool gadget. Every recreational runner with an iPod nano will be getting this as a gift -- whether they ask for it or not. 🙂

If it's implemented well it'll be a hit. Note that you _need_ to have an iPod nano, but with a bit of duct tape the sensor could work with any pair of shoes you want. A pretty clever way to drive iPod sales. It'll probably sell some Nike shoes too.

Oh -- joepunk: great sig!
 
that little pocket in the insole could useful for stashing, uh, stuff in your shoe that you can't normally bring into clubs. 😎
 
Lance was there

m-dogg said:
Cool concept.

I don't run, but I'd like to see something like this to attach to my bicycle...
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I run, and ride, and it would be hard not to notice Lance at the promo. I would expect an interface to an ipod from a bike computer at some point. Mostly, I would like bluetooth capability so that the ipod on the bars isn't connected to the earphones by a cable.

Also look for medical interfaces (heartrate, respiration, bloodpressure) from companies like Johnson & Johnson and Medtronics.

Next up, Fluke builds a digital voltmeter interface, and program your car's computer from your nano.

3rd party accessories and a flexible operating system are the reasons that Apple and ipod have a solid future.
 
Gasu E. said:
Absolutely. Don't buy the products, enduring workers lose their jobs. Then the workers can starve or turn to the sex trade. But then that wouldn't be YOUR problem, would it?

Perhaps it would make sense if you became a prostitute yourself, or starved yourself to the point of malnutrition in empathy with the workers. Now that would be a protest we could ALL respect.
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Stop trying to justify sweatshop labor. You know it's wrong, therefore stop sitting on your ass in front of your shiny screen and do something about it.
 
Can anyone find this page on the iTMS?
😕
 

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The ubiquity of the Apple brand is taking shape. Apple products are making their way into more parts of our lives.

When do we get the Media Center???
 
Mehmet said:
Stop trying to justify sweatshop labor. You know it's wrong, therefore stop sitting on your ass in front of your shiny screen and do something about it.
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enough of this flame war, this is not the right place for those, got to the politics sub forum under Community Discussion.
 
mainstreetmark said:
"The sensor’s battery is not replaceable. Battery life will vary considerably based on use and other factors."
http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/run.html
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Oh that's even better! So you don't have to change the batteries, just buy a new $30 kit every time the batteries run down!

Seriously though, I think the idea is kind of cool for serious runners, especially the sync thing. For me, though, I think I'll just stick with the "Okay, I'm gonna walk for an hour today" and hold off on the battery-powered Nikes.
 
mpw said:
😕 Surely inconsistent sizes shouldn't stop you buying their shoes?

I mean I normally try a size 12* on and if it's too small I go up to a 13 or down to 11 if it's too big. Once I find the right size I buy the shoe and from then on the size stays consistent, although sometimes my feet swell.
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-Width became a serious issue for me. I used to love my air max, but Nike shoes became too narrow. Going up 2 or 3 sizes to get the right width might be ok if you just walk around and you like the style, but running in them leaves too much space for your foot to slide around in. That means blisters and twisted ankles. Then the sizing from one model to another was pretty bad, it made shopping tedious. "oh, i'm 11 in air maxes (still too big) but 11 1/2 in their trail shoes?" New Balance doesn't have the same style, but my cross trainers, running, and basketball shoes are all size 10 2E. That's consistent, convenient and the right fit.🙂
 
cypherpunks said:
I actually did some research about this recently to find out if Nike changed their ways. 5 years ago their contract companies in Indonesia were reported by the AFL/CIO chapter there as having by far the most complaints.

Nike now has an entire department staffed with many people whose job it is to make sure their contract factories meet the Fair Labor Association's standards and in 2003 they received the status of "Participating Company." You can read the most recent report on them at the FLA website.

In case you think the FLA is just some front company for corporate interest, please check their board of directors:

http://www.fairlabor.org/all/about/board.html

While I think any corporation with unfair labor practices should be slammed, companies with good ones, or companies who reform their practices should be rewarded and praised. I'm sure it feels good to slam the big guys but make sure it's still warranted instead of retaining an outdated knee-jerk reaction.

Reference:
http://www.fairlabor.org/2004report/companies/participating/index.html
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All I'll say here is that this reform is, in part, due to Nike knowing of the bad PR and loss of sales that using "sweatshops" could mean for them and they've got onto it.

Boycotting companies can work. Though I'm not convinced they've changed and I'm not sure what would convince me either.
 
hexcalibur said:
Not a lot of runners on this thread, I think.

This product ain't a huge deal, but most runners I know (me included) like to keep track of distance and speed and so on. For $30 this is a really cool gadget. Every recreational runner with an iPod nano will be getting this as a gift -- whether they ask for it or not. 🙂

If it's implemented well it'll be a hit. Note that you _need_ to have an iPod nano, but with a bit of duct tape the sensor could work with any pair of shoes you want. A pretty clever way to drive iPod sales. It'll probably sell some Nike shoes too.

Oh -- joepunk: great sig!
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Yea, not a runner here. But I guess I could see those who would want a shoe/music player. My only questions would be how would one listen to the music. Through a wireless head set? What happens when your cat pees in your shoe? What happens when it rains? Or what if a dog gets ahold of it?

Oh, and thanks for the sig comment. It is actually in reference to the AV image. You can't see it but in the background is a huge computer and on top of it is I think tape containers or something.

Edit: nevermind about "how would one listen to the music." I just checked Apple/Nike link
 
[At first I thought an iPod that "talks" to a shoe - that's weird. But then I think "what really is an iPod. It's a general purpose computer with a USB and audio interface, LCD scren and some storage space. There is no reason you couldn't run a web server on an pod or connect it to a GPS and have it display your location on a map.

So if you think of an iPod as just a computer who's only (current) appliocation is to run a media player, adding al kinds of other applications to it makes some sense. One the larger screen video iPods with touch sensitve screen come out more applications will be possable.

Taking this further I'd love to have a general purpose media player, cell phone, computer, pda that is the size of my mini-iPod.
 
July 13 Release Date

Macrumors said:

The Sport Kit will be available in the next 60 days with a suggested retail price of $29 USD, and will require a Nike+ shoe and an iPod Nano.

This announcement appears to not have any bearing on the iPod Shuffle, as the product remains on Apple's website and online store.
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on the website it lists July 13 for availability. very cool. nice price point but shoe costs are rough.

edit...
it would be really nice if Apple made iTunes able to automatically calculate song BPM. you could then create smart playlists for different paces. at the same time, with this Nike+ setup, you could have dynamic workouts, for example that got faster or sprints, but also adjusted to your current pace by selecting songs automatically with similar BPMs while you're running. if only...
 

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glowingstar said:
that little pocket in the insole could useful for stashing, uh, stuff in your shoe that you can't normally bring into clubs. 😎
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big price to pay, wearing nike shoes to a club.
 
Mehmet said:
Stop trying to justify sweatshop labor. You know it's wrong, therefore stop sitting on your ass in front of your shiny screen and do something about it.
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And you are contributing to child prostitution. Too bad you can't think a bit more before you act.
 
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