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As others in the blogosphere have lamented, there just isn’t much to buy from Apple right now, so we all have to improvise.

In that spirit, I purchased an iPod Nano and Nike+iPod sport kit. The Nano is the fourth iPod that I’ve owned, and it’s great. I wasn’t sure if it would fill a niche in the collection, but it really does. In the past 6 months or so, I’ve started wearing an iPod while lifting weights in the gym (I sort of grew up believing this was a no-no for safety reasons, I’ve gotten over that, let those weights fall as they may). The iPod Video that I have now is just a bit too bulky for this purpose, so the Nano fits the bill just perfectly. In terms of other cool aspects, the interface is more responsive than the hard-drive based video version, which makes a difference. And it sounds great.

Now for the sport kit. It’s also great - as a start. I’ve figured out that you don’t have to actually use the special Nike shoes - you can actually buy a little key wallet at Niketown that slides over your laces and holds the sensor perfectly. Ironically, the shoes I’m using are Nike Free, which don’t have a little sensor slot in the bottom. The Nike Free shoes are really great by the way. But I digress.

I agree with people who say that the sport kit does encourage running longer and faster. That’s great. I wish that the Nike part of the iPod wasn’t modal though. When you are in workout mode, iPod functionality is somewhat limited. You can’t flip back and forth between playlists without disrupting your “workout.” It would be great if the workout happened in the background and you could check into it whenever you wanted.

The other limitation is classifying each workout. At some point, it would be nice for the iPod to track all movement in time and space, so that might mean tagging workouts, eg “long walk” vs “run” so that you could compare apples to apples. Also, there’s really no option for using the sensor during the work day - there’s no Kenneth Cole version of the sensor wallet that you can apply to your work shoes. I haven’t tested the sensor yet on an elliptical trainer. Most pedometers work on these things, but not sure about this sensor.

The NikePlus Web site is just okay. I would like to see tagging as I mentioned, plus the option to download the raw data into something else, although people are now publishing hacks that allow exporting of the data. Here’s a site that allows you to upload your data and map it using Google. The community parts of the site are pretty good - the discussion area is basically a vanilla bulletin board system. How about a more MySpace-ish interface?

All in all, I think this is a great purchase while you’re waiting for LeopardBookPhonePortExtreme. Note that a lot of the iPods are being sold at a discount as refurbished models through the Apple Store, too.

What are you waiting for?

Nice article analyzing Apple’s chances at taking the desktop, as the title implies. The discussion about how Vista has gone over and the reaction from Microsoft reminds me a little of the Ghandi quote:

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”

Can Apple Take Microsoft in the Battle for the Desktop?

Bye bye manray. We’ll miss you. When is the closing party?

Finally, recognition that the Food Network is the new MTV.

Here’s to you, Ray / Unwrapped.

Food TV | It’s not Julia Child anymore: Living: The Seattle Times