BusinessWeek looks at Nike/Apple partnership, Sport Kit

BusinessWeek has an article with several interesting details on the Apple and Nike partnership, as well as the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. The article says that Apple had approached Nike about being its MP3 player supplier, but that Nike executives had an idea for something bigger. Nike and Apple designers first met 18 months ago to create a smart shoe product, but were met with some challenges—the sneaker sensor was initially too big for Nike engineers and too small for Apple. Another challenge was battery life (close to 1,000 hours, which is said to outlast the shoes) and wireless technology. “Wireless takes power,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said. “The last thing you wanted was a wire going down your leg. It looks deceptively simple and that’s how it should be. It took a while to get it right. But there is a lot of technology there.” Jobs said he also wanted to keep the price point low for the Sport Kit. “This thing is over 90% accurate right out of the box, which is huge. Something like this would normally cost a lot more money. We priced it so everyone can afford it because we want everyone to try it and experience how cool it is.”