Nike Is Killing the App for Its $350 Self-Tying Sneakers (wired.com) 102
Scharon Harding reports via Wired: In 2019, Nike got closer than ever to its dreams of popularizing self-tying sneakers by releasing the Adapt BB. Using Bluetooth, the sneakers paired to the Adapt app that let users do things like tighten or loosen the shoes' laces and control its LED lights. However, Nike has announced that it's "retiring" the app on August 6 (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), when it will no longer be downloadable from Apple's App Store or the Google Play Store; nor will it be updated.
In an announcement recently spotted by The Verge, Nike's brief explanation for discontinuing the app is that Nike "is no longer creating new versions of Adapt shoes." The company started informing owners about the app's retirement about four months ago. Those who already bought the shoes can still use the app after August 6, but it's expected that iOS or Android updates will eventually make the app unusable. Also, those who get a new device won't be able to download Adapt after August 6.
Without the app, wearers are unable to change the color of the sneaker's LED lights. The lights will either maintain the last color scheme selected via the app or, per Nike, "if you didn't install the app, light will be the default color." While owners will still be able to use on-shoe buttons to turn the shoes on or off, check its battery, adjust the lace's tightness, and save fit settings, the ability to change lighting and control the shoes via mobile phone were big selling points of the $350 kicks.
In an announcement recently spotted by The Verge, Nike's brief explanation for discontinuing the app is that Nike "is no longer creating new versions of Adapt shoes." The company started informing owners about the app's retirement about four months ago. Those who already bought the shoes can still use the app after August 6, but it's expected that iOS or Android updates will eventually make the app unusable. Also, those who get a new device won't be able to download Adapt after August 6.
Without the app, wearers are unable to change the color of the sneaker's LED lights. The lights will either maintain the last color scheme selected via the app or, per Nike, "if you didn't install the app, light will be the default color." While owners will still be able to use on-shoe buttons to turn the shoes on or off, check its battery, adjust the lace's tightness, and save fit settings, the ability to change lighting and control the shoes via mobile phone were big selling points of the $350 kicks.
Regurt (Score:1)
It's times like these that I'm glad I never missed out on "basketball shoes" as a kid, so I don't need to purchase them as an adult to fill the void.
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The real question is:
Why don't they just publish the API / release the source code so that they don't have to do any code maintenance themselves?
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Re:Regurt (Score:5, Funny)
Feet, don't fail me now... (Score:2)
Really? That was the funniest joke anyone on today's Slashdot could come up with? Or should I should say attempt?
Okay, so my attempt is worse. Too ancient a source even for Slashdot. And Jack Benny's humor has become quite suspect, though he was allegedly funny enough in his day long ago. (Even I would have to look up the chauffeur's name...)
More than two users? (Score:2)
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Apparently people are buying "rare shoes" like these as investments now, so this has a financial impact on hundreds or maybe thousands of people. The sales numbers are pretty low but they're definitely higher than 2
Personally I would choose a different investment vehicle, but investing in shoes is definitely a thing.
I know adults who can't tie their own shoes. (Score:5, Insightful)
I know adults in their 30's who can’t tie their own shoes...
The moral the story is, if the product requires an app to operate, no.
Although kudos to Nike in this case for designing their device with physical buttons, one could always make the attempt at reverse engineering the Bluetooth commands and build and open-source app or Nike could just remove all its branding and release the app as open source, but at the end of the day what did you expect?
Apps are not a dependable solution and have a finite life span.
It’s a gimmick\unnecessary tech anyway, it was probably only developed so they could hold onto the patent for it.
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Apps are not a dependable solution and have a finite life span.
You're absolutely correct. I created my own wireless LED string with an ESP-01. I thought briefly about making an app for it (I could have done it with tasker or something trivially) but instead I gave it its own web interface. It's got a color picker and some presets. I didn't make it pretty, but that would take not too much more work, I just didn't care. They could have given the shoes a web interface instead of an app for probably similar money (using the same esp3266 I used for my LEDs) and then this wo
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Kind of, but I bet the intersection of people who buy very silly very expensive fashion trainers and the people who are still using them 4 years later is pretty small. Doubly so for the people who are showing off what they are wearing as part of their brand.
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They could have given the shoes a web interface instead of an app for probably similar money (using the same esp3266 I used for my LEDs)
That's interesting -- you're saying the hardware you built is capable of running a full IP stack? Do you access its web interface via WiFi? If so, how do you go about telling it which WiFi network to attach to, and the password to use?
Also, is the web server running all the time, or do you press a button to wake it up before trying to connect to it with a web browser?
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The hardware I "built" by adding a capacitor and soldering a connector to a $2 ESP-01 is capable of running a full IP stack. It also creates its own wireless network to which I connect. I hardcoded the SSID and password but these could easily have been configurable, I just didn't need them to be. The web server is running all the time, but I could certainly put a button on it. Since there's no traffic on the network when it's not being used, it doesn't interfere with any other communications.
The whole proje
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Isn't it frelling amazing what modern hardware is capable of? When you and I were starting out this would have required a full server and some fairly expensive hardware. You almost certainly didn't use all the outputs that thing had, and depending on how long the light string was it could probably sit there running off a tiny little solar panel and a single rechargeable battery.
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I'm an adult. I know how to tie my own shoes, but often I don't want to. I wear Van's slip-ons [vans.com] since forever. No batteries or software updates required, plus they're great for skating!
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While I can tie my shoes, I am always annoyed at having to do it. It seems like a really outdated and inconvenient technology. But electronics isn't the solution. I wish the shoes I like to wear were available in hook-and-loop. (There is, admittedly, the issue that hook-and-loop eventually wears out. But I expect it isn't that hard to cut the seam from an old hook-and-loop fastener and glue in a new one with Shoe Goo. Probably doesn't actually take much longer than to replace a lace.) It's always a delight
Re:I know adults who can't tie their own shoes. (Score:4, Insightful)
Personally, I just never bother to untie my shoes when I take them off. My go-to shoe is New Balance 608. Yes, I know how to tie them, but like you, I don't want to bother.
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How do you not wear out the back of the show within a couple years?
There's tech for that: Shoehorns [wikipedia.org].
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You have a shoehorn on your presence at all times when you have your shoes?
I assume they hot-glue the shoehorn into the back of their shoes. Maybe those 2ft long shoehorns...
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I've never needed a shoehorn for my shoes, not since the days when I wore leather dress shoes. I'm glad those days are gone.
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Buy shoes that don't have that crappy plastic thing in the back. I like deck shoes, I have wide feet and they stretch to fit right fairly quickly, and I can find a decent pair of Sperry Topsiders or something similar at Goodwill every three or four years.
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I don't know, they seem to hold up just fine for years, including the back. Maybe I don't tie mine as tightly as you?
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While I can tie my shoes, I am always annoyed at having to do it. It seems like a really outdated and inconvenient technology. But electronics isn't the solution. I wish the shoes I like to wear were available in hook-and-loop. (There is, admittedly, the issue that hook-and-loop eventually wears out. But I expect it isn't that hard to cut the seam from an old hook-and-loop fastener and glue in a new one with Shoe Goo. Probably doesn't actually take much longer than to replace a lace.) It's always a delight how fast I can put on and take off my hook-and-loop rock climbing shoes.
There are a few athletic applications where the precision fit of laces (including some climbing shoes) is nice, but generally I don't see the point.
Cycling shoes tend to be about as advanced as any shoes get. They typically have either a double or triple hook and loop strap setup so you can reach down mid ride and adjust them as your feet swell from the heat of the ride. Having worn them for years now out on the road, I'm disappointed that advance hasn't caught on with more everyday shoe styles. I suppose there's a stigma because of the toddler shoes with hook and loop, but a good idea is a good idea.
Re: I know adults who can't tie their own shoes. (Score:2)
I have had enough belly fat in the past that it was a hardship to tie my shoes.
That's fortunately not the case anymore, but I still prefer slip-ins.
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It’s a gimmick\unnecessary tech anyway, it was probably only developed so they could hold onto the patent for it.
I'm guessing it's more along the lines of Nike executives looking at smart watches, fitbits, and even bluetooth "adult toys" and deciding that they needed to be in that action.
Then they discover that the market for $350 self-tying light-up shoes (for adults?) is more limited than keeping the production active is worth.
I am far from their target market - I don't buy Nike (their shoes don't fit my feet), I'd only ever consider light-up shoes for a Halloween costume (and thus not spend $350), I'm fine with tyi
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In Japan you often have to take your shoes off when entering homes and some restaurants. And schools and offices. It's a bit of a hassle to have to do the laces every time.
There are a few solutions. Hook and loop fasteners instead of laces. Clips for laces that allow you to loosen and tighten them without undoing the knot.
A motor and battery is overkill and adds significant weight to the shoe, with little benefit beyond the purely cosmetic.
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Long time in Japan and this idea never even occurred to me. Obviously I was never in the target customer demographic (though I did buy some brand name shoes recently--first big name shoes in many years). I was actually looking for jokes on the target-rich topic. And, as usual, being disappointed by Slashdot these years.
Found yours while looking for smelly shoe jokes that hadn't been moderated as Funny. (I also posted the obligatory joke I was looked for first.)
As regards your topic, these days, outside of t
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Some disabled people may need shoes like this.
Enshitification (Score:1)
Where is the enshitification guy to tell us how sneakers are being ruined?
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Nah, this is just the usual for things like sneakers and watches and lots of "you are paying for the brand" consumer goods: releasing overpriced niche-but-trying-to-be-trendy swag for those with too much money and too little common sense, and/or collectors. It's sometimes a way to attract attention to the brand ("look how cool we are"), and sometimes just a way to make a few extra bucks with the direct sales, but often it's both.
Fashion doesn't fear enshitification; there's not much of good value to start w
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Very True, but also if fasion went back to giant lace ruffs and huge codpieces and everyone powdering their faces white and wearing white wigs I would feel like it was much shittier. There's definitly room for shitification in my opinion.
Re: Enshitification (Score:1)
Anyone from one hundred years ago would look at your fashion and scoff.
Anyone from a hundred years from now would look at your fashion and scoff.
The trick is to realise how fucking stupid the very concept of fashion is.
The Kinks said it best (Score:2)
Re: Enshitification (Score:2)
Well, the enshitification was requiring a proprietary app in the first place. Absolutely nobody could have seen the EOL coming. Except anyone who has ever worked in or followed tech.
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Missed Opportunities :( (Score:3)
You know the app was written by low bid devs with totally exposed API keys.
It'd be fun to tighten everyone's shoes in the continental US while strobing. I mean even if you didn't see it, the imagination works wonder.
Cloud apps are literally some of the worst ideas to ever hit the market. Go from point A to ??? then back to A and then on to the device.
And yes, I'm talking about you, Genie garage doors, and you, Pit Boss grills, and you-- every cloud app ever. My mitm-proxy can see your lazy oauth/oidc client credentials api calls.
Amazed these awful cloud apps haven't been more scandalous. Surely an athlete and fellow keyboard lover has figured out the protocol used for these shoes already for lols.
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Cloud apps are literally some of the worst ideas to ever hit the market. Go from point A to ??? then back to A and then on to the device.
They were never conceived of as being a "good idea" from a consumer product perspective. They were always intended to provide company control over its customers through the products they buy, spying on them, and prompting them (in the gentlest implementation) to act in ways beneficial to the company.
And above all, as way of raising additional revenue after the sale. These cloud-thingies are engineered choke points where toll booths can be erected. As has happened for time immemorial toll collectors appear w
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Don't given Putin ideas.
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Cloud apps are literally some of the worst ideas to ever hit the market. Go from point A to ??? then back to A and then on to the device.
Hardly. They were a necessity. You want to blame someone for Cloud apps? Blame Slashdotters. The IT gurus, the technical experts, the ones who decided IPv6 is too hard and that IPv4 is forever, and we don't need end to end connectivity. The ones who think that NAT is a firewall and a necessary protection of their networks. The ones who either actively or through their indifference made sure that communication can't traverse a network without a central authority to handshake everything.
Now excuse me I need t
LOL WUT? (Score:3)
How will Marty McFly tie his power laces now?!?! (Score:2)
2015 (Score:3)
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It should be illegal (Score:5, Interesting)
It is fine if a company wants to abandon an app and not make security updates or update it to work with a new OS. But it should be illegal to remove an app from the app store. The company are essentially taking the working app away from people. If the person buys a new phone or has to reset their phones, then they lose an app that is required to use a commercial product that they purchased. There is no ability to backup the application and restore it, or copy the installer to a flash drive or anything. It's just gone.
They should be required to, at least, open source the app.
I know, nobody will litigate this or go protest in the streets over some LED shoes. But the fact that this is *even possible* demonstrates that our software ecosystem is fundamentally broken.
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On second thought if someone still has those 5 year old shoes with hardware in new/usable conditions, it's quite possible that those are collectors having them mint in the box for some Novelty collection, and they're complaining about drop in Value from orphaned hardware.
The shoes would officially now be in "Mildly interesting history artifact" territory instead of "rare niche and functional (even if NICHE appeal)" collection.
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What do you mean, 5 year old shoes can't be in good condition if they are used? Most of my day-to-day use shoes are older than 5 years (and several "shoes for special occasions" are much older but if you only use them once or twice/year that doesn't say much), with the oldest from 2009. Of course, these are leather shoes with Goodyear welt, not "sneakers" because I am adult. Try Redwing shoes.
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Well SOME shoes can last over a decade, good leather Military boots often do... Oh perhaps I should be more specific, that I'm not confident that NIKE, and especially Nike sneakers with delicate hardware, would even have a quarter of that line still be in good condition (with the electronics function intact) after 5 years of usage.
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Of course, I have little sorrow for suckers who pay several hundred of dollars for silly shoes.... but the principle is still there, that you can't really own anything anymore, which sucks.
I would certainly go for something that would require that people who purchase tangible hardware should have a right to accessing the needed source code for continued operation, if the company abandons it. The code can be held in escrow for that purpose. If a company wants to abandon it, then it releases the code as ope
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There is no ability to backup the application and restore it, or copy the installer to a flash drive or anything. It's just gone.
I don't think this is true at all, at least not on Android. I have an app that lets me sync my iCloud address book and calendar to Android. The app used to be on the Google Play store, and it was a paid app. The app has been removed since then (like completely, cannot be searched, not on my own library any more, etc). At some point after that I found I was able to email the APK off my device and backed it up that way.
A couple weeks ago I did a full reformat and reinstall on my phone to resolve a Google Maps
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How do you e-mail an APK?? Is the phone rooted (but then you don't need to e-mail, you can just extract the APK and transfer it from the internal memory)?
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No. No rooting is necessary. I opened the "Files" app on the phone (installed from the Google app store [google.com]), and there is a category right on the first page "Apps". Find the installed app from list and three dots menu on the right, choose "Share". Google Drive and my email client are both given as options to share with. Chose my email app and a new message compose window opened with the APK attached.
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Wow, you just made my day. I shared an apk to my Google Drive. I remember paying for Titanium Backup... lucky apps are cheap.
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I'm not sure it's even necessary to side-load. I have an English-Spanish dictionary app that I bought a really long time ago; the past two times that I replaced my Android I was able to install it from the "My Apps" section of the Play Store, even though it no longer listed in the Play Store directory as such.
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No, this is completely removed. It's not on my library on the Play Store anymore, either.
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I stand corrected: Android does allow this. I thought it required a rooted device. Apple however, does not. Just make sure you backup that APK file before something happens to your phone.
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I agree, but it should be possible to reverse engineer the app from the binary. Shouldn't be too hard if you have a rooted phone. Note: "According to Section 103(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. 1201 (f)), a person in legal possession of a program may reverse-engineer and circumvent its protection if that is necessary to achieve "interoperability", a term that broadly covers other devices and programs that can interact with it, make use of it, and to use and transfer data to and from i
From network traffic alone (Score:1)
it should be possible to reverse engineer the app from the binary.
Forget that, I have to think the sneakers use BTLE, so you should be able to monitor the Bluetooth traffic as commands are sent to do various things and reverse-engineer the protocol they used.
Then anyone could make an open source app or even a small dedicated remote with controls for color.
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What if the app has a large security vulnerability and by letting it on you expose the users?
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What if the app makes a bunch of API calls? Do I legally have to keep my servers up? No, cleaning up old apps is critical for a software ecosystem. Apps that aren't maintained should be removed from the app store automatically.
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A far better solution to all these sort of problems would be legislation that makes it a legal requirement that *any* software that is abandoned/discontinued by the manufacturer *must* be released as either open source or placed in the public domain. No excuses r.e. patents etc. either. And yes, this includes whole operating systems ! Doubly so for proprietary, undocumented, file formats.
That way existing customers can either continue to support things themselves, or pay someone else to do it for them
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Alternatively, the company running the app store could continue to provide access to the last-working version of the app to anyone who had previously installed it.
That would be a lot more practical than trying to put legal requirements on the app's author, who may be bankrupt/dead/whatever.
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Which is the default way the internet works. If I put something on a file store somewhere, it doesn't vanish later on. The only reason we are encountering this problem is because we have screwed-up the fundamental design of the internet and made systems that degrade over time.
That’s a 2019 pair of sneakerhead shoes (Score:2)
Digital pianos (Score:3, Interesting)
Some new digital pianos require an app to adjust some of their setting for sound and whatnot.
I won't buy one of those. Give me physical buttons on a control panel.
Dumbasses (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyone who bought these thinking they "owned" the shoe's functionality was a dumbass.
As soon as you heard the word "app" you should have run away, and even more so after you heard the word "app" used in the same sentence as the word "shoe".
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People spending $350 on sneakers aren't in it for some sense of ownership. Also literally what is breaking here is the ability to change an LED colour. No one cares.
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People spending $350 on sneakers aren't in it for some sense of ownership.
Maybe it's just me, but when I buy something because it has a certain feature, I expect that feature to keep working regardless of what the pencil-heads in the corporate offices decide.
Also literally what is breaking here is the ability to change an LED colour. No one cares.
I bet the people that spent $350 on those shoes care. It's like buying a car because it has a cool feature and then one day that cool feature just stops working, not because it broke, but because they turned it off.
It's still there, you just can't use it anymore because....because some accountant said "fuck you", that's why.
This seems pretty good (Score:2)
This seems pretty good. The shoes are very old, and running shoes aren't supposed to last for years and years like leather shoes are. The important functions can be controlled without the app. And they claim the app will continue to work. It will hopefully continued to be installable from third party APK archives. The only way this will go really wrong is if Nike wrote the app to depend on cloud servers. (Does the app install and work offline or on an intranet? If so, this is fine.)
The article quotes people
Some things are better without an app (Score:3)
Since Hurricane Beryl slammed my hometown of Houston, we haven't had power. But our water heater works just fine, it doesn't need electricity at all. There are fancier tankless water heaters available, some of them probably even have an app. But no things, I'll keep my "classic" version.
Not sure you see the irony (Score:2)
That hurricane is completely out of left field. We have never seen one hit this early before. It's universally understood this is due to weather patterns changing due to anthropomorphic climate change, IE burning fossil fuels
anthropomorphic climate change (Score:3)
I always knew the furries were responsible.
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That hurricane is completely out of left field. We have never seen one hit this early before.
Once again you blast total bullshit. Just since 1980 hurricane Alex and Bonnie have hit in June, plus a few tropical storms. Been a few hurricanes in July too and even more tropical storms. I will concede that the majority hit end summer/early fall. But if I go back further in time I betcha I can find quite a few more that were earlier than this one
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Maybe he doesn't mean "we the American people", he means "we" his family, and they've only been there for 40 years...
Anthropogenic climate change absolutely makes weather wilder, it's injecting energy into the system. You can't blame any single event on it, but you absolutely can and should be suspicious of statistical outliers.
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You're not wrong, but the point about emissions has really nothing to do with whether a water heater is better without an app.
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But our water heater works just fine, it doesn't need electricity at all. There are fancier tankless water heaters available, some of them probably even have an app.
I have seen many smart heaters and climate systems. 100% of them work without app and without internet, including our own. When our network goes down it displays an note on the main panel. Nothing more, nothing less.
The fact that it has an app does not diminish its ability to function - it enhances it. There's far more to this than blindly saying "no app". Stupidly designed devices existed before apps as well. As did well designed ones.
That said tankless is a problem if you have unstable power source. Even
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One might say that the app for these shoes "enhances" their capabilities, it certainly doesn't make the shoes un-wearable. That seems about in line with your position on smart water heaters.
And no, my gas water heater does not require electricity, there is no electric wiring connected to it.
Open source it (Score:3)
Just release the source code, or at least the protocol, so people can make a bluetooth application from their computer or Arduino Bluetooth device. They won't do that because they want you to buy another shoe?
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The shoes were DESIGNED to use a manager/agent ... (Score:2)
...architecture? (or is it a simple server/client architecture?)
What part of that makes any sense? Unless I'm running a marathon and I've got a medical crew monitoring the performance of my feet while I run and modifying the arch support in my shoes to match race conditions, I just don't see the point.
I Was Promised Flying Cars (Score:4, Funny)
No flying cars, no hoverboards, and now they're even taking away self-tying shoes!
I want to go back to the future.
Shoes (Score:2)
I didn't know that self-tying shoes were a thing - whats the need when you have velcro (also referred to as hook/loop)
Someone said that velcro wears out, but if you wear them all the time then the soles wear out first.
(especially during the non-winter months, when you wear them outside on concrete/asphalt)
(of course it might be different for people that don't walk everywhere)
Was a great solution for people with disabilities (Score:2)
For someone unable to reach their feet due to a fixated spine and neurological issues these shoes were a godsend. Being able to tighten them with the app without reaching down is an essential feature that even orthopaedic shoemakers wish they could apply to their shoes. If Nike would open up the patents, this feature would be useful for many people suffering with these issues.
If you buy soimething that needs an app... (Score:2)
..then you don't own it, and it will last as long as they can be bothered to maintain the app ...
a company should continue to provide support (Score:2)
that is the problem with smart devices, you are at the mercy of the company that develop them and keep them updated. You never know when support will be dropped. I have been burned several times over this. Though support for the shoes lasted longer than most, it still happened.
Just a side note, those shoes were perfect for those with disabilities, especially those with bad backs, pregnant woman, those with diabetes and more. They should have been marketed as such.
ADA (Score:2)
Sounds like this will have a disparate impact on the mentally disabled who purchased these as an assistive aid.
Nike won't go broke patching this app for OS updates. If anybody knows how to find Eastasian sweatshop labor, it might be them.
Detached (Score:2)
This would had been used for those who can't tie! (Score:2)
Like with disabilities. Do they exist?