by Playfuls Staff |
24th May 2006
I admit that the first time I wrote about the press release where Apple and Nike announced the interoperability between the cute iPod nano and the Air Zoom Moire sport shoes, my first thought was: "How silly!". But, after a few moments of thinking about it, things didn't look like that anymore. [more]
What do Nike and Apple actually propose? Shortly put, a type of sport shoes that, by using some sensors, can transmit to the iPod through wireless connection information on the type of exercising made, the number of kilometers made, the burnt calories and so on. The information can be saved and seen later, but the interoperability works both ways with the iPod offering an adequate musical background for various physical exercising.
Nike was actually so delighted by this partnership that it promised that until autumn, the Nike+iPod Sports Kit will be available for all their six sport shoes types: Air Zoom Plus, Air Max Moto, Nike Shox Turbo OH, Air Max 180, Shox Navina si Air Max 90.
Speaking of autumn, let's recall the fact that around the same time the Levi Strauss jeans especially designed with a pocket for the iPod and a joystick for it – clothing (gadget?) announced this winter at Mac World Expo 2006 - are scheduled for release, as well.
So, after iPod got to the cars – the launch of new automobiles with an iPod kit is something usual by now – it's now preparing to get in our clothes, setting its special places and extending its functionality and capabilities beyond the initial ones.
Actually, initiatives such as the Nike sport shoes or the jeans from Strauss are only a natural consequence for the immense popularity that Apple's MP3 player has managed to achieve. iPod has managed to become not only an immense success for Apple, but it also created a whole industry of accessories from protection bags of various colours, materials and sizes, to whole audio systems. It's obvious that sooner or later, the non-conformist producers couldn't miss the chance to enter the game and, depending on the success that Nike and Strauss will have on the market, next year we may see a completely new brand of clothes and shoes iPod-compatible.
After all, the convergence clothing-iPod says a lot more about what digital life style means and the place entertainment occupies in our lives. At CES 2006, Bill Gates talked about how various pieces of equipment will interoperate, while the iPod is already one step ahead in leading the digital revolution.
Of course, there will be people who won't miss the chance to underline the fact that the Nike+iPod idea is not exactly new and that there were others such as Adidas, who acme up with the idea of launching intelligent sport shoes. But this time, the innovation may really work. Anyway, it's obvious that the future belongs to multifunctional and mobile devices so now, if we have iPod shoes and jeans, I wonder what's next. Mobile phones who can make a tie knot? Portable tablets who know how to iron shirts? Who knows, but the future surely sounds good.
