Nike/Apple To Announce Partnership Tuesday?

[gauriemma]

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.

Wow. That could win the award for the most desperate rationalization for child labor that I've ever seen. We HAVE to exploit children in sweatshops, or they'll just turn to prostitution? Using that 'logic,' I suppose women who are being beaten by their husbands should just take it, and be happy they're not being raped instead.

 

[Mitch1984]

yuck! Adidas yes.

but you what i believe it.

Yeah Adidas look way better than nike also Adidas own Reebok, Soloman & Converse so what a combo.

 

[Over Achiever]

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

Depending on how much you run. Training for a marathon I go through two pairs of shoes over a course of four months. Regular runners can have running shoes last for a couple years, it's all about the mileage on the shoes. I think it's around 400-500 miles per pair of shoes, so for the casual runner 3 miles a day 3x a week, that's about a year.

Come to think of it, a pair of shoes a year sounds about right for a lot of people =) I feel crazy going through a pair in 2 months =/

 

[Dr.Gargoyle]

cool...
I can see it now... In a year from now, all macgeeks will be able to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
Who said this obession of ours wasn't healthy?

 

[longsilver]

HRM capability would be great. Polar make good HRMs (including cycle-specific models) but they don't sync very well with Macs.

Ugg (I think was Ugg, anyway) mentioned rowing machines: with something like a Concept II the standard computer gives you pretty good detail but it might be useful on a more basic model. Also good would be some way of mounting it on an actual sculling or rowing boat to measure rating etc.

A cycling model (iPedal? ) would be useful on indoor trainers (and without the risk of the music drowning out the pick-up truck that's about to knock you onto your a**).

 

[mozmac]

I can't keep up with this fast enough. I skim the posts and by the time I click next, a new page or two have been posted.

First off, this whole "sweatshop" thing is rediculous. I lived in Mozambique, Africa for two years and saw my close friends over there as they went from day to day looking for work, wondering where they would get money for their next meal. A huge Nike factory would have been a blessing upon the whole country. Remember, these people aren't FORCED to work there. They would gladly choose it over...nothing. I don't mind supporting companies that make products overseas, because it's helping people put food on the table that otherwise wouldn't be able to.

Now, the product. I think it is really cool. The greatest feature, imo, is the nikeplus website that tracks everything. Everything in running is based off of times and beating your PR. To have this product take care of it for you is ingenious. As I run around the track, I am constantly making calculations in my head to figure out what my pace is. With this, I'd have it all in front of me, including ALL of my runs over the past year. My times would improve so much.

Now, I believe we're all in agreement that this sensor could be used with virtually any shoe, correct? Great! Just need to get a Nano now.

 

[Mitch1984]

Apple and A Bathing Ape.

Ooh what's this, I nearly downloaded it but noticed it was an app and got cautious.

Not normally paranoid about viruses but you know what happenned on here before.

 

[mozmac]

And the moderators are deleting posts like crazy! They're probably trying to get rid of some of the sweatshop talk. Come on! Why must you sensor us? We're talking about real life issues that have intermingled with our beloved Apple. Let us talk. I imagine that we're opening the eyes of a lot of people, including younger readers.

 

[cheekyspanky]

Sounds pretty good to me, I just wonder what the price is - and the "battery is not replaceable" warning worries me a little...

 

[beomac]

Basically a pedometer-- better GPS alternative

This isn't doing much for me. Seems like a glorified pedometer and I can't stand Nike running shoes.

I just order a GPS powered audio training device that works with ANY shoes and ANY iPod/mp3 player. It's $149, but at least I don't have to buy new shoes!

Here's a link:
http://www.motionlingo.com

 

[KREX725]

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.

As long as your neighbors don't mistake your ankle bracelet for being issued by the Department of Corrections rather than Apple/Nike!!!

Apple + Corrections: Turns your iPod into a "screw"

 

[BWhaler]

Amazed At Myself

Well, I'm a New Balance guy. I like the sneakers more and don't like the Nike Sweat shops.

But Nike wins my business here. Innovation does pay.

This will help me be healthier--I don't run, but I do like to 'power walk' for exercise. And the online tracking and goal setting will fit my life style well. I always walk with my iPod, so the feedback will push me.

I am very excited about this product.

So congratulations Nike. Despite your lack of corporate ethics and mostly marginal products, you have found yourself a new customer.

(Apple, you had me at hello...unless the quality issues continue.)

 

[piecewise]

iPod Video?

So because I spent more money and bought the iPod video, I'm being penalized? I would grab this stuff in a heartbeat if it worked with the "bigger, better" iPod. The fact that they limit it to the nano is absolutely absurd and means they won't be getting my money.

 

[Doctor Q]

And the moderators are deleting posts like crazy! They're probably trying to get rid of some of the sweatshop talk. Come on! Why must you sensor us? We're talking about real life issues that have intermingled with our beloved Apple. Let us talk. I imagine that we're opening the eyes of a lot of people, including younger readers.

Only off-topic posts have been removed from this thread, despite mozmac's claim to the contrary.

The issue of whether a Nike partnership is good for Apple or reflects badly on Apple based on Nike's often-challenged reputation is an appropriate topic for discussion. However, the discussion must be civil, so posts in violation of forum rules, should they occur, will be deleted as well.

 

[iMacazine]

runner reviews Nike+iPod

Our resident runner (a former high school 800m PA State finalist) has taken a good look at the Nike+iPod websites and put together this preemptive review.

http://www.imacazine.com/index.html#unique-entry-id-20

 

[zap2]

i think it is terrible that Apple teamed with Nike.. i mean horrible, this is one thing i can't back Apple on, no matter how much i love them

 

[mark!]

i think it is terrible that Apple teamed with Nike.. i mean horrible, this is one thing i can't back Apple on, no matter how much i love them

I hate Nike.

But I never though a computer company would be teaming up with a shoe company.

 

[quigleybc]

I don't run

I've never worn Nike

I don't really care about this news....

I was excited at first, cuz I thought a new iPod had been released...

Then I found out it was this....

cool for runners, and Nike fans(are there any?)

But, meh for me.....

 

[Felldownthewell]

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/

A dead worker, a beaten worker, a raped worker, a worker with no fingers does not make the shoes come off the line any faster. It simply makes no sense that a capitalist factory would torture employees in ways that would inhibit their productivity. Of course some factories will do that- and that should be changed. Just because some factories do it does not mean that all factories do, and it does not mean that Nike factories do. $0.17 an hour is far more than the same guy would make farming in a week! As I have said, I am all for economic reform and human rights, but if the job was so terrible, people wouldn't be lined up outside the factory looking for work.

I also want to point out that unless you live in a formerly undisclosed utopia and are posting from a computer you made yourself from silicon and plastic you made yourself, are running your own OS, and are your own ISP, you are part of this "capitalist fantasy land."

 

[Freebart]

Speed and Distance

I was just shopping for heart rate monitors and I noticed a speed and distance feature of some Polar heart rate monitors. They have a "pod" that you put on your shoe. The technology is very interesting as it does not depend upon GPS and is supposed to be very accurate, despite your size and running style. I'm assuming the Nike+ product works in a similar way. Polar has a Flash demonstration of how their sensor can work whether you are walking, jogging, or running.

http://www.polar.fi/speed_distance/ (click on Measure Your Speed and Distance)

Since I didn't buy the $350 Polar HRM model, I've got money left over for a pair of Nike shoes, a nano and the sports kit, right?

 

[Peel]

It would be totally skookum if when your iPod determined the pace you were running at, it chose music with a tempo that matched it. I know that running (or biking) to music that is in sync with my workout really lets me forget about the individual steps/peddles and get in groove with the workout itself.

 

[rockthecasbah]

eek this just seems like such a tacky endeavor for Apple. How many people are they hoping to get to buy ugly shoes and run around all day? The shoes, sure. Exercise, that's a whole different market. Well I sure as hell will not waste my cash on this...

 

[Chef Medeski]

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.

You want to hear something even worst. I have seen almost a dozen people driving on the road with iPod headphones.

Yet nevertheless. I ride a bike with headphones. However, I take a precaution. I bought "open" headphone that allow virtually all of the outside sound, so I don't lose much. Its sounds more like a speaker than a set of headphones. So, that is a solution for that problem.

Yet, I bet the exact reason why Apple didn't create a parallel product for bikes is that wearing a set of headphones on both ears while biking or driving is illegal. So, it would be hard to market a program that would be illegal unless I guess they either came out with portable speakers or a one eared headphone.

 

[regre7]

have fun hanging out in capitalist, fantasy land.

The only solution I see to your proposed problem, gelbin, is to initiate a worldwide communist regime. From each what he is capable, to each what he needs. That sounds great, until you realize that there is almost NO incentive to work hard or innovate. Of course, there's the everpresent problem of government corruption (and I'm not claiming that capitalists are free of this either).

 

[geeyesgee]

You want to hear something even worst. I have seen almost a dozen people driving on the road with iPod headphones.

Yet nevertheless. I ride a bike with headphones. However, I take a precaution. I bought "open" headphone that allow virtually all of the outside sound, so I don't lose much. Its sounds more like a speaker than a set of headphones. So, that is a solution for that problem.

Yet, I bet the exact reason why Apple didn't create a parallel product for bikes is that wearing a set of headphones on both ears while biking or driving is illegal. So, it would be hard to market a program that would be illegal unless I guess they either came out with portable speakers or a one eared headphone.

Maybe they could rehash the:

or a saddle that plays music though your ass