“Apple has teamed up with Nike to produce an odd tennis shoe that will allow, among other features, the music to change on the user’s iPod to better match their specific jogging requirements. In other words if you are headed up a tough hill the music selection will change to some motivational music to get you over the top,” John C. Dvorak writes for MarketWatch. “Does this sound a little nutty to anyone else but me?”
“I’m certain that in the category of ‘who needs it?’ this product will sell like hotcakes because right now Apple has the Midas touch,” Dvorak writes. “The irony here is that Jobs has become that sugar water salesman but hasn’t noticed it yet. Let’s face it, the iPod is sugar water of a different sort.”
Dvorak goes on and on and on with his boring, contrived premise in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, to anyone whose sole concept of running centers around how they get from the parking lot to the all-you-can-eat buffet line, the iPod+Nike Sport Kit would seem nutty. To runners, it doesn’t – not in the least. The iPod+Nike Sport Kit’s target market does not include bloated windbags. To repeat: non-runners will not understand the product and runners will get it. In fact, if we can’t get the sensor to work with our preferred Adidas running shoes, gulp, we’re going to switch to Nike’s just for this product.
How the iPod+Nike Sport Kit works video:
Direct link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVDEXzxZWQw
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Related articles:
The making of Apple iPod+Nike Sport Kit and there’s more to come – May 24, 2006
Nike+iPod Sport Kit sensor’s battery will outlast the shoes – May 24, 2006
Analyst: Nike+Apple = iPod as a platform – May 23, 2006
Apple and Nike shares rise folowing Nike+iPod announcement – May 23, 2006
Nike and Apple team up to launch Nike+iPod, footwear that talks to your iPod – May 23, 2006
Dvorak doesn’t get it, that’s why he’s a tech writer and not actually doing anything in the industry. And he’s a crummy tech writer at that.
Not to mention angry at the world.
Repeat after me John:
iPod as platform
iPod as platform
iPod as platform
there.
MW life, as in John needs one.
Dvorak doesn’t like it? That means it going to be a success.
Dvorak has turned dumb and annoying in to an art form
I think Dvorak is fruity.
neat idea, but it’s still just a gimmick
His opinion is valid on this one.
However, what is stupid is how he doesn’t acknowledge the fact that this is not nutty to others. I don’t feel like looking it up, but I am pretty sure he is one of the tech pundits that thought the entire concept of the iPod and its pricing was nutty when it first came out. As it turned out, there were a lot of people who bought one anyway.
As usual, Dvorak is dead on. Ranks right up there with networked refrigerator telling me that I’m low on eggs. Talk about your solutions in search of a problem.
This bozo has the temerity to talk about my place in the world? He wouldn’t know good taste to save his life.
So, what have we done since the iPod? How about multiple more iPods? How about the new iMac? The new MacBook? OS X Panther and Tiger and soon Leopard?
How about Finalcut Pro HD, Logic, Aperture, and updates to our other PRO and consumer apps? Keynote? iTunes? iTunes Music Store? The most sucessful retial store in decades?
Need I continue?
Bozo.
S
I plan to cut a whole in my New Balance
Isn’t Kool-Aid sugar water? Wonder what flavor this guy drank?
Nice site, but if you are going to be part of the Apple ecosystem, a little design would go a long way.
Too many ads and the ads in the body of the text are simply unacceptable.
Otherwise, good job.
The man is entitled to his opinion.
I work out and bike all of the time. People that exercise a little bit won’t care for this but is a great option for people that are serious about fitness. There are devices that do this already but they are missing the music piece which apple brings to the table. Also I see in the future the ability download information to Excel on your Mac which is missing from today’s devices whose software only works in Windows.
This is very doable.
Dvorak is a big fat idiot
The whole concept of exercise is “nutty” to Dvorak.
For him, exercise means “getting up from the couch to get more butter to put on his bacon.”
For people who actually DO run, the idea is a great one. It’ll be much better when they can integrate a heart-rate monitor into the process, and, heck, while we’re at it, a GPS.
Carrying one device while running is much nicer than three or four.
I contend that Apple can only slice and dice so many niche markets before efficincies in manufacturing are lost. This may not be it – but someday they will reach a tipping point.
email sent to Dvorak:
———-
John,
As you said in the article yourself, you are missing the point compleltly.
This new wireless device is for runners.. Apple didn’t develop the shoe, Nike did.. And the products main feature is not changing songs for an uphill run..
Bottom line.. Runners use iPod nano’s while running… This new wireless device embedded into the sole of the shoe measures the distance a runner has traveled and tells the runner how much further he has to go on a pre-programmed run… At the same time, it transmits this information to the iPod that the runner is listening to and speaks audible results to the runner through the headphones.
At the end of the run, when you charge and sync your iPod, your running progress and mileage are tracked in the coresponding software..
I have been running 5 days a week since I was in high-school and I can assure that this product that monitors and tracks my progress will be very useful and not a gimmick.. This is sure to be a hit with runners world-wide as the majority of runners in training use iPods.
Your assesment of the product is clearly way-off base and it appears you have not even taken the time to understand what the product does. If you did, you certainly did not explain it in your article.
I would suggest actually reading about the product here:
http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/
Best
Mike Kraemer
All play and no work makes Dvorak a dull boy.
At $30, I’d buy one in a heartbeat, if it worked with my preferred brand for running: Brooks. I’d even pay $80 for this feature as a standalone product. Nikes are for people with narrow feet and perfect strides or “fashion running”.
MDN hits nail on head:
The iPod+Nike Sport Kit’s target market does not include bloated windbags.
‘Nuff said.
I’m a jogger and the idea is absolutely stupid.
“I’m Dave Chappelle and I like Internet Porn”
spoken like a true fat man.
Dvorak obviously doesn’t exercise with his Nano, much less ever trained by running… this product should be reviewed by athletes, not a negative, constantly-complaining tech writer.
The product is more than just the music… that was already there for those who used their Nano while running. This product is an innovative tool and extension of the runner’s iPod and exercise regimen.
sugar water he´s referring to the Apple ceo that came from Pepsi…remember him?
this is a gadget to sell shoes not ipods. forgotten quickly…like most shoe gadgets.
next we will have a suppository connected ipod gadget to measure body temp and gas buildup.
I never knew that Pepsi could keep track of my workout progress. Must have missed that button.