1995 again...

Running is one of my addictions.  It is a much better addiction than drugs or Coca Cola.  The moment after you run is one of the greatest feelings ever.  You're hot and sweaty, your legs are shaking, and you feel like you've accomplished a great and wonderful thing.

Fitness enthusiasts and the gadget sector really doesn't cross a lot.  Apple took a chance in a partnership with Nike to create the Nike+iPod, which essentially allows your iPod (or iPhone) to keep track of how far you ran, calories you lost, etc.  It's a killer app of sorts, essentially because it allows you to upload your running information to the Internet, and share with the world.

To be honest, I was excited to be a Nike+iPod user when I recently bought my iPhone.  I thought it'd be a great thing - I can keep track of how far I ran, calories lost, and etc.  Amazing, right?

Well, this is one device Apple should be spurned for - which, even though the sensor was probably created in association with Nike, it still has Apple's logo on it.  I've heard that for everything with the Apple logo, Steve Jobs approves or disapproves.  This is one of the rumored reasons why the Apple's tablet hasn't been released yet (and supposedly will, soon).

Let me explain why I think Apple should be spurned for it.  First of all, I've gone through two of them.  The picture above shows both of them.  One was bought at Amazon, the other was bought at Best Buy.  One quit working midway through a run, the other one won't connect at all. 

Let's take a look at these sensors:

 

The front of the device shows Nike's and Apple's famous logos.  The color scheme of the sensor is quite lovely - orange and white go great with each other, and it reminds me of fitness and creamsicles.  The back of the advice shows the sensor's "Wake/Sleep" button, as well as some manufacturing information.  Made in China, serial numbers and FCC ID.  Fun stuff like that.

That little button is a switch that will either put the devices to sleep or make it awake.  Problem is that unless you have an iPod or iPhone, there is NO WAY to tell whether the sensor is asleep or awake.  From a user interface standpoint, this is horrible.  It is similar of pressing a button...and then nothing happens.  Something apparantly does happen, but there is no user confirmation.  There is no mode light, nothing. 

Using a simple toggle switch would've fixed this: instead of a button, use a switch.  Yeah, switches are ugly, but this way you don't need a light: the switch will say that the sensor is asleep or awake.  Or even better, use an On/Off pop button - On represents one state that the button is, Off represents another state of the button. 

Sure, it's not Apple-ish to have a switch, but it is NOT Apple-ish to have such a frusterating interface.  Apple is renowned to have great UI...but why does it suck on the Nike+ sensor?  Furthermore, even if Apple didn't design it, it still has Apple's logo, which means that it must've been approved by someone, whether it was Jobs or some lacky underneath him.

So, yeah.  I don't like the Nike+, and I think it was very frusterating.  But, fortunately, the iPhone has a healthy ecosystem of apps, and I found an app that is leaps and bounds greater than Nike+iPod (of course, people with iPod Touches and iPod Nanos will be left out of the dust).

The screen to the right is the "Walk Around to Activate Your Sensor" screen.  You need to walk around to activate the sensor, but this isn't good if the sensor is put to sleep.  Of course, this screen doesn't give you any help at all.  If the sensor times out, it simply either fails silently, or it just says "Oh, the sensor was not found.  Try again?".  For some reason, I had both things happened to me.  Of course, even if this screen fails, there could be a variety of reasons.  Not only is it possible for the sensor to be turned off, maybe there's something wrong with the Nike+ sensor sensor on the phone itself.  Or maybe a gamma ray hit your phone, and it's a living bieng insead of a phone.

Fortunately, with the way the iPhone app market is, it is possible to find an alternative.  And I found a great one.  It uses GPS technology, so you don't need to buy a sensor.  And there's even a free version.  I'm talking about Runkeeper.   Runkeeper will even has a nifty internet application that allows you to see where you ran, and the elevation versus the speed in which you ran.  It's actually really nifty and cool, and from a brief experience with the Nike+ online app, much more indepth.

 There's a free version of the app, along with a Pro versio for $9.99 which has no advertisements and allows you to take photos and keep track of run times.  The free version does fine for me, but this is a great little application, and this way, I don't have to deal with horribly designed little sensors.