The Nike+iPod Sport Package was a nifty innovation.
Photograph: Apple
July 13, 2006: Apple releases its first exercise tracker, the Nike+iPod Sport Package, which mixes Cupertino’s fashionable music participant with a wise pedometer.
The product marks Apple’s first step towards the type of cell health-tracking initiatives it should pursue within the following decade — most notably via its iOS Well being app and the Apple Watch.
Nike+iPod Sport Package: The rise of well being monitoring
The launch of Nike+iPod Sport Package coincided with a broad push towards health-oriented units throughout the tech business. Later that yr, the Nintendo Wii would be a part of the development with motion-tracking video games like Wii Sports activities.
Whereas the Nike+iPod Sport Package didn’t promote near these numbers, it was truly a fairly sensible gadget in its personal proper. It boasted a miniature sensor that match beneath the insole of a Nike+ shoe. A equally sized receiver plugged into an iPod nano to trace exercises.
Nike+iPod Sport Package: Greater than only a health tracker
Apple’s sensible sensor match into Nike+ footwear.
Photograph: Hamish2k/Wikipedia CC
The software program went past monitoring steps. It additionally allowed customers to verify statistics from previous exercises and set health objectives. Plus, they might hear (through a computerized voice that preceded Siri by 5 years) how far that they had run, how briskly their tempo was and the way far they had been from their vacation spot.
“We’re working with Nike to take music and sport to a brand new degree,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated in a press release on the time. “The result’s like having a private coach or coaching companion motivating you each step of your exercise.”
A lot of what the corporate stated again in 2006 now applies to Apple Watch — merely a greater answer than sticking a sensor in your shoe. The wearable has change into the centerpiece of Apple’s fitness-tracking tech, and watchOS 26 even features a new AI-powered Exercise Buddy.
Privateness drawback
The Nike+iPod Sport Package prefigured one other shift in Apple insurance policies, too. Within the aftermath of the product’s launch, a report by College of Washington researchers highlighted a safety flaw within the RFID-powered gadget that opened up the potential for letting undesirable third events monitor customers with out their information.
In the present day, consumer privateness stands as one in all Apple’s core considerations. Whereas the Nike+iPod didn’t result in this shift, the pre-iPhone cell gadget highlighted one of many huge safety points that might outline the following decade.
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