Beware the Nike+iPod Shoe Chip in Airports

I was in New York last week and stopped by the incredible Apple Store in Manhattan. While browsing, I found the Nike+iPod kit. It is a tiny chip that gets implanted in the sole of your left Nike shoe. As you walk or run, it transmits information about your workout to your iPod Nano.

After writing 2500 pages in 2006, I had put on too much weight and wanted to walk more in 2007. I figured this gizmo would be a cool geeky way to find motivation to walk. I bought the chip in New York, the shoes in Tucson, and then hijacked my son's Nano to try it out. You can rack up some miles walking through airports, so I was wearing the shoes as we left for the early 6AM flight from Tucson back to Ohio.

The Apple manual warns you that the chip is sending out blue tooth signals, so you should turn it off on the airplane. I had processed this bit of information and figured I would have to deactivate the chip before boarding.

However, I was barely awake as I fed my laptop, sport coat, belt, and the shoes through the x-Ray scanner. Holy cow! The TSA lady completely freaked out. She saw a tiny electronic package hidden in the bottom of my shoe. Instead of my bags coming out of the conveyer belt, they went back into the x-Ray machine for another look. She was ready to throw me in the brig - "What do you have hidden in your shoe?". I had to quickly explain it was a workout thing. I pulled the insole out and showed her the Nike logo and explained the whole bit.

She wasn't amused. "I would advise you to NEVER put that through an airport X-Ray machine again." So - hey - if you have the Nike thing in your shoe, take the chip out before sending it through the x-ray machine.

Other than the airport snafu, this is a pretty cool device. It tracks how far you walk, the speed, the distance. When you sync with iTunes, you can send the data to Nike.com where charts will track your monthly progress, progress towards a goal, progress vs the other 3,000 males aged 40-44 who have the shoe, and more. You can set up a group of your friends and work jointly towards a mileage goal, even if you are half way around the world. If there are any other MrExcel readers who want to get fit with the Nike shoe chip, drop me a note and we can set up a MrExcel group. Bill at MrExcel.com...