Nike+ plus ipod nano plus trainers = healthy gagdet joy

For those of you who haven't seen the Nike+ (where the heck have you been for the last year?!), it's a fantastic bit of gadgetry for runners.  It's a plugin adapter for the ipod nano and a foot pod that you attach to your trainers.  The adapter and foot pod only cost about £20.


The foot pod is very clever, and uses an accelerometer to determine how far and fast you're going, rather than GPS (which means it's probably not as accurate, but can work with cloudy, tree-covered running or even indoor running).  See this FAQ on the Apple website for details.

The adaptor which connects to your ipod nano receives data from the foot pod and gives you useful feedback on your pace, distance, progress against personal goals ("You're half way", "Current pace is 5:27", "You look hot today", etc.). All very cunning.

Anyway, the point is that the fella who's in the advert is addicted to running not just because running's great (well, duh), but also because his Nike+ is continually motivating him to run harder, faster, longer.  Without this, we are led to believe, his running just would not be quite so addictive.  Without the constant nudges and "yay, go you"'s, he just wouldn't run as well or look so damn cool....