Nike has just done it

In Dr. Shamp's 2020 class last fall, we learned that Nike had combined their easily recognizable shoes with Apple's iPod, which is getting more and popular by the day. My initial impression was something along the lines of "you must be kidding," but come to find out, they definitely weren't. In this article from the New York Times, I learned that there's actually a website that is attached to the rest of the offerings from the product. People can interact with each other online, discuss their runs, and maybe even get together and hang out, if they so choose. The fact that this has come from what appears to just be a pair of tennis shoes is a little incredible to me, and as I keep reading on, I'm discovering that I would like a pair, too. There's a sensor in the shoes that connects with your iPod, sending a workout rundown to the MP3 player that you can view when you dock it. This is just one of the ways that the company is branching out, and inevitably away from traditional advertising vehicles.
As an ad major, I'm a little concerned about that, but definitely a lot happier to be studying new media.