I was approached by a PR agency working for Nike, who'd seen this blog. Would I like a SportBand? All I have to do is to let them know how I get on with it, either on my blog or by e-mail. I said yes.
It came the very next day, and is a very attractive object. It has pictorial instructions which at first dismayed me, but in fact were easy to follow. I had a little difficulty installing the Nike+ utility, and a purist might disapprove of the Nike site's dependence on Flash, but it all worked in the end.
There are three main parts to the SportBand: a wrist band, a detachable USB data stick and a small pebble-like bit which goes in one's shoe. I don't own a pair of Nike + shoes, which have a compartment in the sole to hold the pebble. For the past four years, I've always worn Brooks Addictions, which suit my running style and I'm not sure that Nike make anything comparable. Scouring the Nike+ forums found various suggestions, including the drastic measure of slicing open the tongue of the shoe. A less damaging method seems to be to buy one of the cheap pebble holders that can be found, and I have duly ordered a Shoe Pouch. As soon as it comes, I shall start using the Sportband and compare it with the Garmin that I know and love. But I can already say that Mac support for the Sportband seems much better; so it should be, they're made by Apple, apparently. It may need a few runs to calibrate itself accurately. There's also a slight issue with time zone support.
Nike's main thrust, though, is to build a community around the device. I'm a little sceptical about this: there are all sorts of sites doing this: MapMyRun and the like.
