Although the technology has been around for close to two years now, I thought I would blog about the Nike Plus because many people are still unfamiliar with what it actually does. I have to admit,the Nike Plus products are the some of the coolest things I own. I’m not sure if that say much about the rest of the things I own… but seriously, this thing is pretty cool. Nike and the Ipod have connected in order to allow runners to listen to music, track their distances, maintain paces, and plan running routines. It was only a matter of time. I have been saying that Nike and Apple were the two companies that were going to take over the world, I just never thought that they would do it together. But back to the technology. Nike has created shoes where a small hole is built into the sole of their running shoes. If you have an Ipod Nano, you can buy a chip that fits into that hole, as well as a receiver that is plugged into your Ipod.
The chip acts as a pedometer. It counts the steps and sends the information to the receiver on your Ipod. While listening to your music, you can press the center button on your Ipod and a voice will tell you your time, pace, and distance run. The technology is not groundbreaking. Pedometers have been around for a long time, and you can find the wireless technology in your television remote. I just think its cool because Nike and Ipod found a way to plug new innovations into the most basic sport: running. Runners can race each other no matter where they are. Marathons are allowing people to “participate” without running a specific course as well. The runner pays that entrance fee, and on the day of the marathon, runs the allotted distance and then plugs their Ipod into their computer. The Ipod sends the information to marathon officials and the results are included with those who run the actual course. How mad would you be if you finished 1st in a marathon only to find out you were beat by a guy that didn’t even show up? Nike and Ipod have made the running world a smaller and more intimate place.
I understand this technology is not going to save the world, get us closer to finding a new energy resource, or help us survive on a different planet. It simply is some fairly new technology that I think is cool. The chip and receiver are fairly cheap (around $40) and you don’t NEED a special Nike shoe in order to use it. I love to run and I love anything that makes running more interesting for other people.
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Tyler's Weblog 
I have heard about this before the class meeting and I think they are a good idea for anyone committed to running. I also saw somewhere that iTunes had made music with rhythm that adjusts to a persons stride. Also it alerts you when you reach a certain distance of have time left.
Comment by joemamaknows November 4, 2007 @ 10:01 pmDo you know if this product has those features as well or if that is a seperate program?