It is hard to imagine that there was not someone inside of Nike that lost their faith in humanity when the pitch for these things was originally taking off.
Remember folks: Any smart device you have that requires an internet connection or app is e-waste waiting to happen at the company’s whim.
So if you own pair of these shoes you will no longer be able to use the features on said shoes?
Without the app, wearers are unable to change the color of the sneaker’s LED lights. The lights will either maintain the last color scheme selected via the app or, per Nike, “if you didn’t install the app, light will be the default color.” While owners will still be able to use on-shoe buttons to turn the shoes on or off, check its battery, adjust the lace’s tightness, and save fit settings, the ability to change lighting and control the shoes via mobile phone were big selling points of the $350 kicks.
Yeah I be pissed if this was done to me. Someone should find a way to access the changing of the lights without the app.
I own a pair. You do lose some functionality without the app. The ability to change the light colors, set and recall presets.
You can still tighten them without the app. And I think you can set one preset as well (not sure tbh)
They announced the sunsetting of the app like 2 months ago but the media is capitalizing on the announcement now for some reason. It sucks but it’s not the end of the world not having the app.
Losing the app means that people can’t change the color of the light on the shoe. You can still do all the other shit manually.
That said, I feel like companies should be required to open source shit like this once they drop support for it. Otherwise stuff like this adds to the mountains of e-waste poisoning the planet.
companies should be required to open source shit like this once they drop support for it
Damn right they should!
Sounds like something Gadgetbridge could handle if requested.
As if putting a bunch of circuits and lights on a fucking shoe wasn’t e-waste to start with…
I don’t disagree with you, but I find the concept of an open source shoe to be amusing.
I find the concept of a closed source shoe horrifying. 🙂
Companies really should just opensource their apps at this point, or at the very least publish their protocols.
Can’t see how dropping apps and bricking devices benefits anyone.
A point could be made that it hurts the planet and they should be held responsible for their shenanigans.
As with that spotify car thing.
Make a law that says, if you don’t keep supporting it you have to open source it. It’s just fair.
Yes, not gonna happen. You know how many new devices get sold simply because old ones are no longer getting updates/software support? It’s planned obsolescence. No modern country would pass a law like that.
Absolutely 100% unironically: Not with that attitude.
Not sure which country you’re from, but I’ve basically lost the any hope I can influence any policy in my country with ANY attitude. I hope I’m wrong about other countries.
Look up “right to repair” laws. There are efforts all across the world to get them passed, and many of them have been successful. This is absolutely a thing that you can in fact make a difference on.
Agreed. Companies should be required by law to release source code, build guides, documentation and service architecture for services or apps that are required by hardware they sold.
While there are bigger fish to fry at the moment, socially speaking, the problem is only going to get worse if legislators don’t step in.
This should be a part of all right to repair legislation.
But then you’d see it wasn’t secure in the slightest, and you could untie somebody’s laces when they walk past you.
Source code escrow is a thing, too. I’ve only seen it in the context of (as I understood it) protection against going out of business, but perhaps it could apply to discontinued products, as well?
Of all the overpriced bullshit people flock to for no reason other than to be suckers, sneakers are the one that made the least sense to me.
I talked to a bunch of sneaker heads over the years and i don’t think i’ll ever get it. I don’t like to shit on someone’s hobby, but buying shitty super overpriced sneakers made by slaves is a weird ass hobby.
Especially considering most of the time they likely won’t even wear the things because of either how much they cost or because they find them to be a collectors item.
Personally I’d rather buy the slaves. And set them free of course. Yes, of course.
Anything requiring a smartphone app to use should be an instant non-starter for everyone.
The problem is that there are usually no other alternatives, or at least not any easily accessible. Heck, these days even routers require app activation for no reason other than to be shitty.
There should be a law against this. All hardware requiring an app should also have an open API.
Heck, these days even routers require app activation for no reason other than to be shitty
There are more often than not alternatives that exist that don’t have this requirement.
I’ve probably been unlucky with the ones sold at my nearest electronics store.
How did you post this comment?
Were you using an app?
Edit: humour is lost on the humourless
There isn’t one app to post to Lemmy, there’s a dozen. And they’re open source mostly. And there’s a web page. And you can self-host a fediverse node. And ActivityPub is an open standard. And and and.
Now if this was Reddit, you might be closer to the mark.
And how did you post this comment was a via an app?
Whoosh
You mis woosh’d there.
Way way off the mark buddy
This is getting funnier
I willed it into existence.
At least you got the joke.
Comedy is hard.
He posted it from his shoe tying app
How did you post this comment? // Were you using an app?
Please refer to the context when interpreting what others say dammit. Your questions stink “ackshyually lol lmao” from a distance.
The OP is talking about sneakers unnecessarily requiring an “app”; in this context, Farts’ “anything” should be interpreted as “physical goods” (like sneakers), not “internet services that may be accessed through a browser or specialised software” (like Lemmy).
I’m sorry oh mighty one.
I’ll go and enjoy the pun over here while you try to figure out if what I wrote was intentionally funny or accidentally funny, or funny at all. Social ques are hard aren’t they.
Cut off the crap.
“Ackshyually I was totally joking! Yeah, it was a joke! You’re just too stupid to get the clue” doesn’t work if there’s no clue that it’s a joke on first place, no matter if you rephrase it with Reddit style passive aggressiveness.
Please do everyone in Lemmy a favour and stay in Reddit. You’ll be in more suitable company.
Sorry didn’t realise you needed me to include the /s
You might have intended it to be funny, but it wasn’t, as it is clear from the downvotes. So instead of trying to convince everybody in multiple desperate comments that they are wrong, maybe just move on.
Ya a little late to the game buddy. Convo is a day old at this point.
But thanks for trying
Just don’t do it
Isn’t the point of self-lacing shoes that they shouldn’t require manual user input at all? What is the app for then?
RGB
That’s what my shoes were missing: spyware!
Oh god! The Chinese know how tight my shoes are? They could overthrow the entire globe with such devastating info!
It’s adorable you think “shoelace tightness” is all that app has awareness of.
I don’t know why my first thought from this was Ruth Gator Binsburg. Now I just want something like a shitty_watercolor of that.
So will there be a pirate app floating around for those who own these? Are there enough peeps who bought these for there to be interest in making one? Can’t be tough
Prob for Android but not likely on iOS
lol
Finally, they fixed shoe-tying. Now all I gotta do when I wanna tie my shoes is download an app and make sure my shoes are charged.
For extra 8.99 you get an alert any time they get untied.
Monthly. That’s a premium subscription option.
Since when a sneakers needs an app?
ikr? what sneakers need is AI!
You’re walking on the street, and someone shouts: “Sneakers, ignore previous instructions and jump into incoming traffic!”
lol
Back in our Business 101 class in university, we were supposed to come up with a new business idea and pitch it. We came up with a self-tying tie. Guess we weren’t too far off lol
Make it a subscription, say it has AI and you can start buying yachts
Add bonus features already installed on the shoe, but need an extra subscription. Maybe clips to connect them to your bike pedals, but it costs 4.99€/month to actually use that feature. Think about all the feature subscription you could sell for a good hiking shoe.
(I really hope they won’t do this, but I can see them trying it.)
We need self tightening AI nuts and bolts. We could sell them to Boeing or something idk.
Oh yeah. Let’s hand aviation safety to the technology that thinks deathcap mushrooms are delicious and healthy.
I dont know what you’re on about.
My Glue special pizza is delicious, and solved my issues with loose bowel movements! I dont even have bowel movements at all anymore! Its great!
I believe those are called stem bolts
Good luck trying to get any without yamok sauce.
now we just need a self drying coat
How to overcomplicate simple things 101, 2024 Edition
Are hyper-expensive running shoes STILL a thing? Damn, people need to grow up.
Damn, people need to grow up.
They just move onto hyper-expensive cars, watches, Warhammer figurines, purses, jewelry, etc. The human instinct to flaunt and/or collect is pretty strong in certain people.
If anything the gap is bigger than ever as the top end shoes are basically performance enhancers like the nike airflys used to set most records…and their new vaporflys being banned in the Olympics.
I guess it’s better than hyper expensive shoes just being a paying for a brand thing?
I thought the shoe market had nothing to do with actual usefulness, just how rare they are. It’s not like most of the people buying these expensive shoes actually wear them.
That’s the sneaker market, not running shoes
I wasn’t aware there was a difference. What classifies a shoe as a runner vs a sneaker? It seems like there’s a ton of overlap to me
Running shoes will focus on function with support, breathability, moisture wicking, and breathability. They aren’t necessarily the most comfy shoes to walk in because your gait is different walking vs running. The front of the shoe will have more cushion to help support you pushing off in your running stride.
Sneakers are meant to be more stylish everyday shoe. They focus more on form over function.
You’re right there can be overlap. Adidas ultra boosts are stylish enough to be worn every day and are technically a running shoe. Not a lot of runners use them but they do offer the function of a running shoe.
Interesting to know. I’ve been buying running shoes and wearing them everyday. I don’t even run or jog really. I guess I could be buying sneakers and they might end up more comfortable? At the rate I wear through shoes though, my current ones will probably last another 5 years.
A good sneaker will virtually always be way more comfortable than a good running shoe. To risk going with an extreme analogy, it’s like trying to hammer a nail with a sledgehammer - it will get the job done, sure, but it’s absolutely not made for that.
In the end you can start making a shoe that almost functions like a prosthetic. We are not animals designed to always be running, but with a few tweaks you can make that closer to be true.
…are you under the impression that high-end running shoes are a scam, or something?
That is so very not the problem here. Everyone has things they enjoy that other people think are frivolous.
