Nike/Apple To Announce Partnership Tuesday?

[topher]

Anyone have first hand experience with sensors like these?

I know it's not as elegant, but if you could fashion an ankle strap of some kind, could you use this thing without dropping it into a pair of Nike shoes.

It's been years since I've found a pair of Nikes I could run in...

 

[Felldownthewell]

does that mean that our companies need to be the moral rapists of the world?

No, of course not. I am anti-WTO and anti-IMF/World bank, don't get me wrong. I wish that there was an international organizationt hat would enforce labor rights for everyone, but it is not the job of the US. Also, I don't see how employing thousands of otherwise starving farmer Chinese is "raping". I agree that conditions should be improved and so on, but in the meantime I don't see how throwing thousands of workers out on their asses will help the situation.

 

[Keebler]

i think it's great

you can debate the merits of the partner being nike, saloman or addidas blah blah blah, but for people who run, i think this is great. personally, i don't run b/c of bad knees, but i ride my mountain bike like a madman (about 90 miles a week recreationally)

in terms of 'training' or 'goal setting', i actually carry a Garmin GPS 76C in my backpack to track time, distance travelled and top/average speed. for anyone serious about keeping fit, i could see the nike iglobal shoes being a good thing.

i understand that marathoners have specific gadgets to do exactly those things as they goal train every week towards the overall full marathon goal.

So, if apple is tapping into that market, they are very smart. let's face it, i would say that the majority of 'runners' out there, have large enough back accounts and good paying jobs so they can run b/c they don't need to be working all the time. therefore, they have the cash to spend on goodies and the time to use them and to run....

now, if they could only tap into the bicycle market for me....

 

[Leesure]

I'd also like a decent way to attach my iPod to my handlebars. I usually put it in the middle back pocket of my jersey but it's sort of awkward when changing the volume. This way, I could keep track of my daily ride statistics on my Mac instead of writing it down after each ride. Of course, I never do it anyway but...

You have GOT to be kidding me. running with headphones I can see...hell I do it all the time, but cycling? BAD idea. I mean REALLY bad. If you're riding on the road, you NEED to have all your senses at their unencumberd best. PLEASE tell me you wear a helmet at least.

Consider this my PSA of the day. I speak from experience.

 

[puuukeey]

rants coming in 3....2....1....

being ethical can be predictable. infact it should be.

 

[runninmac]

I know it's not as elegant, but if you could fashion an ankle strap of some kind, could you use this thing without dropping it into a pair of Nike shoes.

Yeah thats what Im wondering, I haven't had a pair of Nike shoes since my Pegasus made my toes bleed since one peace kept jabbing into my toe. (and they haven't changed that part of the shoe) Even though Im not a huge fan of music on runs It would be a nice change on hour long runs.

 

[Leesure]

i just found it interesting that you were defending products (nike shoes) that you said you wanted to try... clearly some like them, some don't.

Well, since the sneaks for this device are new, everyone will be 'trying' them, won't they.

a lot of the people who like nike sneaks aren't distance runners too

Yes, but distance runners are the target market for this product, wouldn't ya say?

As to Nike's domination of the running shoe market, just take a look at www.roadrunnersports.com and see how much of their site/catalong space goes to Nike. I don't think that'd be the case is runners weren't buying them. Again, I look forward to the day I can use this with my Asics, but I may have to 'TRY' a pair of the new Nike's until then.

Glad we agree that this is a pretty cool new development.

 

[wordmunger]

Did someone notice the tech specs sheet on this page .. http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/run.html .. ? It says at the bottom that the sensor's battery is not replaceable! So does it come with a charger? Do you have to buy replacement sensors when the battery runs out?

I understand that the sensor has to be as light and compact as possible, but it would really suck if you have to buy replacement sensors when you run out of charge (no pun intended!)

I suspect the shoes will wear out before the battery does. Running shoes only last 3 months or so.

 

[gelbin]

my friend, you are simply wrong.

Interestingly enough, I HAVE seen factories in China (The eastern coast). Granted they probably cleaned up for us when we came through, so I don't pretend I have ever seen a Chinese factory when they didn't know I was there. However Chinese factories are the not the hell holes they are cooked up to be. Yes, they are factories. Working in factories is hard work. I am not trying to present some USSR-esque picture of the smiling factory worker. These people are poor and they will die with bent backs, bad eyes, and leather-tough hands. That is life.

This does not mean that the workers are abused in any way. Granted, they may be, but it is not condoned by Nike. Nike does not own factories because it is expensive, and if they bought factories in China (where the supply of cheap labor is) they would be accused of trying to put local factory owners out of business. Face it, when you are a fortune 500 company you can do nothing without being blamed for something.

What Nike DOES own are various warehouses around the world, which have workers who are NOT abused or anything like that. I know this because I have met several of them and talked to them outside the factory setting.

If the workers are abused or beaten, they would quit. There are over 1 billion people in China and a nearly endless supply of people coming in from the countryside looking for factory jobs. It is cheaper to fire the uppity worker and get a new one then to beat someone and loose valuble production time. China is a developing country. Workers make more in a week at the factory than they would all year on a rural farm. The right to organize, the 8 hour day, and the ban on child labor will come with the rise of the middle class, just as it happened here in the US and all over the developed world. In the mean time, they have to develop on their own; our intervention in their development is not our place. We are not the moral police of the world.

this is sick. and you are factually incorrect. nike gets its products from over 700 factories. yes, they have some that would meet some standard of decency. yes, those are the ones that they show to folks like you and your dad. no, they are not the ones that have women menstruating on the factory floor and being raped in the bathrooms. but yes, that does happen. and if you want to ignore it and choose to see the company through its own pr, then fine. there was no simple "rise of the middle class" read your history. there were people shot and beaten for not working. ultimately they unionized. how can you say we are not the moral police? it is our own morality we are talking about here, profiting on the backs of slaves, who are brutalized, raped, beaten, and left for dead. in addition, their environment is equally ravaged, and yes, by nike that burns their shoe rubber in their villages, bellowing black carcinogenic smoke for all the children to breathe.

it is expensive to own factories, because of things like liability, and benefits. two things that nike does not want to have ownership of. yes.

have fun hanging out in capitalist, fantasy land.

http://www.educatingforjustice.org/nikewages/

 

[Keebler]

not on the road...

You have GOT to be kidding me. running with headphones I can see...hell I do it all the time, but cycling? BAD idea. I mean REALLY bad. If you're riding on the road, you NEED to have all your senses at their unencumberd best. PLEASE tell me you wear a helmet at least.

Consider this my PSA of the day. I speak from experience.

i agree... my shuffle is on my head, but off until i hit the trails..then it goes full bore...then again with all the wildlife around, maybe i shouldn't

 

[gelbin]

you are missing the point, is it by choice?

No, of course not. I am anti-WTO and anti-IMF/World bank, don't get me wrong. I wish that there was an international organizationt hat would enforce labor rights for everyone, but it is not the job of the US. Also, I don't see how employing thousands of otherwise starving farmer Chinese is "raping". I agree that conditions should be improved and so on, but in the meantime I don't see how throwing thousands of workers out on their asses will help the situation.

nike gets land, once owned by people farming it and sustaining themselves in an agricultral sustainable way. the land gets taken from the, by the government that gets big money from the business that nike brings in, the people lose their farms, lose their means of existence, and then have no choice. they are not "otherwise starving". you are wrong.
in other examples, look at jamaica, their economy was dairy and agriculture, primarily bananas. the wto forced them to take in pesticide laden bananas and powdered milk made on us subsidized farms with bgh. the combination of these things ran their entire economic base out of existence, and then they had no choice but to work on sewing up your brooks brothers button down.
enjoy it, chumps.

 

[fblack]

No, of course not. I am anti-WTO and anti-IMF/World bank, don't get me wrong. I wish that there was an international organizationt hat would enforce labor rights for everyone, but it is not the job of the US. Also, I don't see how employing thousands of otherwise starving farmer Chinese is "raping". I agree that conditions should be improved and so on, but in the meantime I don't see how throwing thousands of workers out on their asses will help the situation.

-I see your point and what BRlawyer is saying. At the same time people and businesses have to be careful of moral relativism. Saying that its not our country, or our factories, its the subcontractors fault does not mean we dont have responsibilities to other human beings in the world. Otherwise, you can justify any behavior even genocide and say hey it ain't our problem.

-I dont think the only alternative is throwing workers out of work. Large companies that do business overseas bring alot of jobs and that's leverage that could be used with foreign governments for better conditions. This does not make us moral police, it makes us good human beings and its also good public relations not just for the company but America as well.

 

[milatchi]

Nike? Bleh!

I'm an Adidas man --4-Life!

 

[BenRoethig]

New Balance still sells American made (non-sweatshop) shoes, too bad Apple isn't partnering with them.

How I'd love to have that sensor in my 600s. However, NB doesn't have Nike's cash. Hopefully these will be available in wide widths.

 

[mark!]

Nike shoes really suck and last less than they should...why not make a partnership with Salomon, Apple?

Oh well, yeah...MTV-loving kids still use Nike...I see your point now...

UHM more like adidas.
i havent seen nikes for like a week.

 

[Thomas S]

As a distance runner I enjoy tracking my stats etc. (yes, I'm strange ).

That is, when I remember to log 'em . Anyhow, this is pretty interesting. (even though I'm a Brooks kind of guy I'm sure I can rig something up ). Of course, I'm still wondering as to exactly how customizable the workouts are.

 

[sam10685]

an ipod for ur feet? intriguing.

 

[Aeolius]

Now HERE'S a partnership

 

[buffalo]

Being a fairly avid HS runner, I'm not to impressed with this. For runners who want time, distance, pace... there are better options avaliable like the Garmin Forerunner 205 which I run with. This uses GPS to track your run and also includes more computer data. (Example of computer data)

Also, seeing as how it will just work with Nike shoes (correct me if I'm wrong), it leaves out a large percentage, and most won't go out and buy a special pair of Nike shoes just to use this product. I personally run in Asics and have never run in a pair of Nike's so I can't speak for their quality, but I don't plan on buying Nikes any time soon.

 

[combatcolin]

WHY THE FUNK DO I NEED NOR WANT A BLOODY COMPUTER IN MY TRAINERS TELLING ME TO RUN FASTER?

MOVE OVER MICROSOFT, NIKE ARE NOW AMERICA'S MOST EVIL COMPANY.

(Combatcolin walks away mumbling to himself and kicking the table leg)

 

[Pancake]

Looks like I'll have a good excuse to get rid of my old New Balances and get some new running shoes - oh wait, if Nike didn't specialize in making shoes too narrow for the majority of mankind to wear

I'm with you, though I'm problaby in the minority of very wide feet. New Balance are the only company I can easily find affordable EEEE wide shoes from.

 

[alec]

they're getting all 1984 up on my shoes.

let's just hope those fat cats in washington aren't snooping on my bloated-american ass trying to exercise

 

[longsilver]

I'd quite like to see this extended to cycling as well. Having Lance Armstrong on board does suggest that they might have this in mind. Although I agree with the comments made about the dangers of listening to music while cycling, I think a handlebar mount for the Nano and a scrolling display of stats would give cyclists the option of leaving the earbuds for the off-road (i.e., no traffic to listen out for) sections of a ride. And yes, I do wear a helmet while cycling

 

[cmoney]

Just caught up with all the previous responses. Here's some answers that hopefully help.

Re: accuracy. I used to have the Nike kit with distance and heart monitors that synced up to Mac software. (http://www.nike.com/nikerunning/index_usa.jhtml?loc1=products&loc2=equipment&loc3=pdp,SM0019) Even cooler than this stuff actually. If the distance/speed sensor is based on the same tech (and it probably is), it's pretty accurate. At least with the watch kit you can calibrate it by running a lap around a standard track then it calibrates for your stride, etc against a standard known distance. After that, I've seen it accurate to within a dozen or so meters over a 5 mile run.

Unfortunately lost that kit in Katrina last year and been wanting to replace it without spending as much.

This looks cool, but it'd be nice if it had a few features:

Heart rate monitor. This is so obvious I wonder why it wasn't included.

Different training programs, support for training segments so you could have long and short days, warm up and cool down segments, etc. (Of course this really only makes a difference with a heart rate monitor so you make sure you stay under 50% max heart for your warm up. And yeah you probably don't NEED all this stuff to run, but it's sure fun to play with!)

Then you can tie in the various segments to the voice feedback system so it gives you an audible cue to switch up your running, change your pace, whatever.

And running with music usually isn't that good an idea since you usually end up running to the beat instead of keeping pace. So the previous idea where music could be matched up with your pace is an awesome idea! (Actually, that sounds like a good patent idea. Thanks! Gonna go patent that now.)

For $29 though, this is really cheap.

 

[gauriemma]

an ipod for ur feet? intriguing.

So that would be...an iPed?