I had the good fortune to spend the day at NIKETOWN in Miami on Thursday for the launch of the new Nike+iPod platform, and ended up spending some unexpected quality time with not just the platform but the store employees themselves, and they took me running through the streets of Miami so I could see the platform in action.
Nike parked a truck outside its store and set up a tent for the launch, complete with Nike+ shoes, iPod nanos, Sport Kit adapters, and MacBook Pros. The “truck team” demonstrated how the adapter is inserted into the shoes (it simply sits in a cavity beneath your left foot, roughly in the center of the shoe). Four different Nike+ shoe designs were on display, including men’s and women’s models. A promotional video by Lance Armstrong played on a pair of LCDs above four stationary iPod nano demo stations, but more intriguing was the opportunity to lace up, grab a nano, walk around a bit in front of the truck (of course this only scratched the surface of how the thing works, as you really need to go running to understand its virtues, but that would come later in the day).
The NIKETOWN store itself featured an all-Nike+ foyer, as well as an all-Apple main lobby. Included in the promotional display were several iPod nanos, an iPod Hi-Fi, a MacBook Pro, and of course, the shoes. The abundant presence of Apple laptops served to demonstrate how the Nike+iPod platform interfaces with the internet, keeping track of your long-term progress, allowing you to compare your efforts to that of your friends and even issue challenges to them.
But the real fun began when store employees invited me to come running with them, many of them trying out Nike+iPod for the first time themselves. Hardware installation is as simple as dropping the gumdrop-shape transmitter into the bottom of your shoe and then attaching the receiver onto the bottom of the nano. Getting started on-screen is simple enough, as you simply scroll to “Nike+iPod” on your iPod nano’s main menu (latest Firmware required), and adjust a handful to the way you want them, including your weight and whether you want the system audibly informing you of your progress as you go. A setting called “PowerSong” allows you to program a single song, presumably something upbeat, that you can fire up with the touch of a button in mid-workout if you feel you need added mental motivation.
With your settings squared away, you can start up a Basic, Time, Distance, or Calorie workout. Each requires you to select your workout music from among your existing playlists (including you On The Go playlist if you’ve made one), meaning that you’re better off building one or more workout playlists in iTunes in advance of heading out the door. Once a minute (or only when you press the middle button, if you’ve turned off Spoken Feedback), the music ducks and a voice informs you of how long you’ve been going, how far you’ve gone, and how fast you’re currently traveling.
In all, Nike+iPod is a fairly straightforward system, only intended to do a handful of specific things. But based on the first two miles I’ve used it, it appears to be a well thought-out, comprehensive system that takes a simple informal run with a nano into a formal, standardized, and interactive workout routine. For those (like me) whose workout habits have traditionally suffered from a lack of structure or formality. I’ll have plenty more to say on the Nike+iPod platform after I spend the weekend with it and try out all the various options and settings (particularly the after-the-fact stuff on the computer), but so far so good.
Check back on Monday for a full in-depth review of the various components of the Nike+iPod platform, including simultaneously released new Nike+ armband for iPod nano. In the mean time I’ll be spending the rest of the evening trying to catch my breath. Who knew those Nike employees were in so much better shape than the guy who sits in front of his computer all day?
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.