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Apple Declares DRM War On Sneaker Hackers
theodp writes "Nicholas Carr is not pleased that Apple has applied for a patent to extend DRM to tennis shoes and other articles of clothing. Apple apparently views tennis-shoe DRM as a way to head off a potential plague of sneaker hacking. 'Some people,' the patent application observes, 'have taken it upon themselves to remove the sensor from the special pocket of the [iPod-linked] Nike+ shoe and place it at inappropriate locations (shoelaces, for example) or place it on non-Nike+ model shoes.'"
It is possible to buy the sensor without the shoe. In fact, I had assumed that the sensor never came with the shoe - but that Nike sold shoes that had a built in pocket for the sensor.
I bought a sensor and a nano - but I don't run in Nike shoes. But a few different companies make pouches designed just to hold the sensor, at the laces.
I bought it before the application date on the patent.
I ended up getting a Garmin Forerunner now that they are smaller. Much better as far as accuracy and amount of information. I still run with the Nano for music but not the pedometer. And I'm not positive on this - but I could swear that I saw an ad in Runners World for a nike thing that let you use the sensor without a nano.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Actually, the sensor-in-a-shoe thing is pretty cool.
Sounds really dumb if you're thinking that your shoe is just talking to your iPod. That's not all that's happening.
While the shoe connects with the iPod to do data acquisition, and you can track your workout on the iPod, you can also share your workout stats with others, help build community, etc - sort of the antithesis of the "isolated runner with headphones on" kind of thing. Very Web 2.0.
Something very sad about this kind of crap - it makes it harder to tinker. Would Johnny C. Lee be able to do all of his extremely cool Wiimote hacks? (N.B. - saw Lee's presentation at UXWeek 2008 - "extremely cool" doesn't begin to do the guy's work justice).
Here's one of the evil shoe hackers Apple's trying to target.
Honestly, is Apple trying to completely destroy its brand?
It's a pedometer in the shoe - that sends data to a receiver connected to the nano- so that the nano can store the data. It's actually pretty slick. At any time you can hit the wheel thing on the nano and the music volume drops and a human voice gives you data on time, distance and pace.
When the nano is connected to a pc - the data can be sent to a Nike site that does all the other stuff mentioned in the other reply to your post.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
I told you Apple has no soul.
Table-ized A.I.
The whole concept of DRM is a joke, invented b/c lawmakers were unwilling or unable to draft legislation that properly dealt with online filesharing and piracy.
I vote unable - because enforcement is impossible. Even the RIAA's highly publicized campaign of sueage currently near the 40,000 suit market is just a drop in the bucket of well over 10million simultaneous users -- only 0.4% at best.
Of course I don't believe it is the politicians fault, its really the fault of the entertainment business for (a) being run by lawyers (the old every problem looks like a nail when all you have is a hammer situation) and (b) not accepting the obvious and ignoring new business models.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Sensationalist shit. What will Apple do if you move your sensor to something else? NOTHING. War? What kind of war? All you do is void your warranty.
You seem to be misunderstanding the fundamental purpose of the proposed DRM.
You won't void your warranty, because the DRM prevents you from using [device] in any way other than the one intended by the manufacturer.
What kind of future will it be when even relatively simple electronics come with DRM to prevent 'misuse'?
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
You're thinking of flash carts, not mod chips. And Nintendo is not exactly happy about those, in case you missed the recent R4 v. Nintendo stuff.
This could just as easily be connecting a hip-mounted sensor to your Nokia.
Why? It's already integrated into the latest phones... here you go: http://betalabs.nokia.com/blog/2008/05/09/nokia-step-counter-beta-launched-track-how-much-you-walk-or-run-during-the-day/
And on the plus side being DRM free it works with all the brands of shoes. Don't be afraid it won't work with your Puma or Adidas or Lotto...
Here's an example of something which looks like a USB stick with GPS - ideal for jogging:
* http://trackstick.com/products/trackstick2/trackstick2.html
Requiem for the American Dream
While I don't want this to turn in to a language flamewar, I do find the spelling "pedophile" to create an annoying ambiguity in US English. The correct spelling is of course "pædophile" ("paedophile" accepted if your keyboard can't generate "æ" easily) - a "pedophile" is someone who likes feet (as is a "podophile", however, yes I do get the "pod" joke in there).
My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
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Brilliant, ultranova. I doubt one in ten gets it, though.
You are welcome on my lawn.
completely OT but:
try www.bikely.com
or
www.mapmyrun.com
both are intended for cyclists to my knowledge and I use them a lot for my rides because they give detailed elevation, maps, and an easy way to map rides that are on roads.
if you a trail runner, I guess you have to use gps.
No, it's pedometer, as in pedestrian.
you have to pay an extra, hidden Apple-tax to do so.
That sounds about right for Apple. Its similarly impossible to run MacOS on anything except approved Apple hardware thanks to DRM.
Sorry, this is not currently true. There are technical limitations with drivers etc., but Mac OS X does run on standard PCs. It's simply a violation of the EULA to do so.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Nor you, Mr. Clueless. Try running first.
I'm no DRM fan (not that this story really has anything to do with DRM) but I gotta break in on this little mutual admration society you've got going.
First, my main bitch is with the blog being pimped. The dude hot-linked the authors image (New Scientist) in the posting. To me, that's bigger news than this Smart Clothing patent. Comedically it looks like the author from NS showed up in comments to give a smackdown.
Second, if you read the actual article or maybe even the patent app. itself, instead of the POS submission, this is pretty much a lot of hand waving and acronym throwing over nothing.
They want to make a sensor and clothing combo that can tell if the sensor is in the right place. To me that's pretty simple and even seems patentable compared to a lot of things I've read.
Last, for this to be "bad", shouldn't this harm the "shoe sensor market" or "smart clothing market' if there even were such things? I don't see how this is going to stop anyone from making other systems or other sensors. Patent licensing is another opening for competition even if someone else produce from Apple's patent.
Lame story. Now go harass that guy for hot-linking New Scientist's image. It's 2008 for crying out loud! :-)
-Matt