Nike + iPod Sport Kit review in Wall Street Journal

The Sport Kit is an in-sneaker computer that interacts with your iPod, tracking your running workouts and reporting on your speed and distance. But it does so much more than that, and Mossberg’s column reports on how cool it is in a straightforward, thoughtful fashion.

Along the way, he explains how you get the darn thing to work, from opening the packages of the various parts to hitting your PowerSong button when your energy is flagging.

Personally I find the PowerSong to be the cheesiest feature, but otherwise … man, I wish I could afford one of these contraptions. The kit itself is only $29. But of course you need an iPod nano, and they seem to run around $150 and up.

You’re also advised to buy a special pair of Nike sneakers with a little hole in the sole where the computer fits. But both Mossberg and other runners online have reported that securing the computer in the laces of your favorite running shoes seems to work just as well. That’s important, I think, since I know many, many runners who just don’t do well in Nikes because of their particular pronation problems or other needs, while of course many people love them to pieces.

Author by Larissa Brown