The Times: Tech column - Skype/Adidas 1
By David Rowan
You have bought the iPod, the Blackberry and the plasma screen -but will you also want the computer-powered sneaker? Adidas, known more for its fashion sportswear than its IT prowess, is hoping that gadget fans will soon pay almost £200 to own the latest in hi-tech footwear. Its electronic running shoe, the adidas 1, will not be available until December, but already the company is hyping what it calls "the world's first intelligent shoe". The 1 certainly isn't the first to rely on microchips, but that does not really matter: with its vast marketing push, this trainer could put wearable computing on the map.
We have never really warmed to chip-embedded clothing. Life might be simpler if we wore MP3 players woven into our shirts, or mobiles into our lapels, yet the fashion and electronics industries have never quite hit it off together. But with the sports footwear market worth somewhere over £10 billion, and competition ever more intense, it was inevitable that the microprocessor would emerge as the latest performance enhancer.
Hence the 20-megahertz computer built into the 1, linked to a sensor in its heel that adidas says takes 20,000 readings every second. These are analysed to determine the type of surface you are running on, for which a motor-driven cable system constantly adjusts the shoe's cushioning.
Yes, it is a gimmick that hardcore runners might scoff at. Still, watch out for the buzz among your friends when the first pairs arrive in time for Christmas.
The 1 may well be the most technologically advanced running shoe on the market, and if it succeeds we can expect plenty more computers in our wardrobes. Although if adidas were really smart, wouldn't it invent a boot that helped Beckham to score penalties?
++++
Skype, the London-based start-up that offers free web-based phone and conference calls, has already given away almost 15 million copies of its software. Now those downloading it (at skype.com) have another reason to celebrate: as well as using it to call other computers, they can also dial any telephone in the world.
Unlike the web-to-web calls that Skype makes simple, these web-to-phone conversations will not be free. But at well under a penny per minute to the United States and much of Europe, the service (called SkypeOut) threatens to kill the business models of more conventional low-cost call providers. You can dial landlines or mobiles, and even the more expensive international call rates compare well with those of standard carriers. You simply register on the website, download the software, and provide your credit-card details to begin.
You will need a broadband connection and some sort of headset, but otherwise you need not be a technical wizard. SkypeOut is currently in test (or "beta") mode, and so does not work as well as it should -but even if you emerge a little frustrated, you will start to understand why the telecoms industry is in turmoil at yet another technology-powered revolution.
+++
A quick question for the Home Secretary.
If a 24-year-old junior employee can allegedly leak 92 million confidential account details from AOL's "highly secure" database, how will you protect our details in all those vast centralised databases you keep building?
(The Times, June 29 2004)
You have bought the iPod, the Blackberry and the plasma screen -but will you also want the computer-powered sneaker? Adidas, known more for its fashion sportswear than its IT prowess, is hoping that gadget fans will soon pay almost £200 to own the latest in hi-tech footwear. Its electronic running shoe, the adidas 1, will not be available until December, but already the company is hyping what it calls "the world's first intelligent shoe". The 1 certainly isn't the first to rely on microchips, but that does not really matter: with its vast marketing push, this trainer could put wearable computing on the map.
We have never really warmed to chip-embedded clothing. Life might be simpler if we wore MP3 players woven into our shirts, or mobiles into our lapels, yet the fashion and electronics industries have never quite hit it off together. But with the sports footwear market worth somewhere over £10 billion, and competition ever more intense, it was inevitable that the microprocessor would emerge as the latest performance enhancer.
Hence the 20-megahertz computer built into the 1, linked to a sensor in its heel that adidas says takes 20,000 readings every second. These are analysed to determine the type of surface you are running on, for which a motor-driven cable system constantly adjusts the shoe's cushioning.
Yes, it is a gimmick that hardcore runners might scoff at. Still, watch out for the buzz among your friends when the first pairs arrive in time for Christmas.
The 1 may well be the most technologically advanced running shoe on the market, and if it succeeds we can expect plenty more computers in our wardrobes. Although if adidas were really smart, wouldn't it invent a boot that helped Beckham to score penalties?
++++
Skype, the London-based start-up that offers free web-based phone and conference calls, has already given away almost 15 million copies of its software. Now those downloading it (at skype.com) have another reason to celebrate: as well as using it to call other computers, they can also dial any telephone in the world.
Unlike the web-to-web calls that Skype makes simple, these web-to-phone conversations will not be free. But at well under a penny per minute to the United States and much of Europe, the service (called SkypeOut) threatens to kill the business models of more conventional low-cost call providers. You can dial landlines or mobiles, and even the more expensive international call rates compare well with those of standard carriers. You simply register on the website, download the software, and provide your credit-card details to begin.
You will need a broadband connection and some sort of headset, but otherwise you need not be a technical wizard. SkypeOut is currently in test (or "beta") mode, and so does not work as well as it should -but even if you emerge a little frustrated, you will start to understand why the telecoms industry is in turmoil at yet another technology-powered revolution.
+++
A quick question for the Home Secretary.
If a 24-year-old junior employee can allegedly leak 92 million confidential account details from AOL's "highly secure" database, how will you protect our details in all those vast centralised databases you keep building?
(The Times, June 29 2004)
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