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Picture: Apple
July 13, 2006: Apple releases its first exercise tracker, the Nike+iPod Sport Equipment, which mixes Cupertino’s widespread music participant with a sensible pedometer.
The product marks Apple’s first step towards the form of cellular health-tracking initiatives it is going to pursue within the following decade — most notably via its iOS Well being app and the Apple Watch.
Nike+iPod Sport Equipment: The rise of well being monitoring
The launch of Nike+iPod Sport Equipment coincided with a broad push towards health-oriented gadgets throughout the tech trade. Later that yr, the Nintendo Wii would be part of the development with motion-tracking video games like Wii Sports activities.
Whereas the Nike+iPod Sport Equipment didn’t promote near these numbers, it was really a reasonably sensible system 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 Equipment: Greater than only a health tracker
Picture: Hamish2k/Wikipedia CC
The software program went past monitoring steps. It additionally allowed customers to verify statistics from previous exercises and set health targets. Plus, they may 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 stage,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs mentioned in an announcement on the time. “The result’s like having a private coach or coaching associate motivating you each step of your exercise.”
The Nike+iPod Sport Equipment 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 system that opened up the potential for letting undesirable third events observe customers with out their information.
In the present day, consumer privateness stands as one in all Apple’s core issues. Whereas the Nike+iPod didn’t result in this shift, the pre-iPhone cellular system highlighted one of many huge safety points that will outline the subsequent decade.
Did you personal a Nike+iPod Sport Equipment? Go away your feedback and recollections beneath.
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