Apple going after the fitness lifestyle market?
By Leslie Poston
Apple has filed a series of patents that indicate it may be targeting the fitness market in the near future. We already have the Nike Sport package that enhances your running experience by tying your iPod into your Nike running shoes to customize your workout songs and track your miles while you run. The patents they have filed demonstrate that Apple wants to take the concept even further.
The patent filings are all based on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. There were four patent filings in all, each one designed to track a separate piece of one big puzzle. It seems there will be a software application with a similar interface to iTunes, a sensor gadget to track heart rate and other physiological changes, a way to track rewards for reaching various milestones, and a way to make your exercise routine into a group activity.
The device (or system, perhaps - depending on how it ends up) will be able to customize a fitness routine to fit your total lifestyle. It will do this in a way similar to how voice recognition software “learns” its user - through a series of interviews and learning activities. Once the program is trained, it will be able to tailor each aspect to the individual. Where the patent becomes creepy is the portion of the program that tracks your true health history. I am as uncomfortable with Apple knowing that much about me as I am with Google Health and other online health databases knowing that much about me.
In looking at the patent filing, it is clear Apple has even larger goals for its new idea: life integration. The patent reads:
“The lifestyle companion system also can interview the user about non-health related topics, e.g., spirituality/religion, identity (e.g., sense of belonging), relationships, career, financial condition, environment, hobbies, interests, other personal information, and goals regarding the same. An identity (sense of belonging) interview may address, for example, the organizations to which the user belongs socially and/or professionally. A relationships interview can address, for example, the marital and/or familial status of the user. The relationship interview also can address the quality of the user’s relationships with his/her family. A career interview can address, for example, the length of time the user has worked in the present job, the user’s current occupational position, and/or the user’s level of enjoyment of the user’s occupation. A finance interview can address, for example, net wealth, credit situation, spending habits, etc. An environment interview can address, for example, the user’s home, office, clothing, transportation, fitness memberships, access to exercise equipment, etc.”
Relationships? Identity satisfaction? Goals? I’ll admit I have drunk the Apple Kool-Aid and firmly support many of Apple’s products, while trying to avoid entry into the full cult membership, but I’d have to draw the line at this kind of invasion. No single company (or government) needs to know that much about me, or anyone else for that matter. The fitness portion of the patents I am all for, but the rest of it smacks of a company entering Orwellian territory.
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March 27th, 2008
How ironic! In the not so distant past, Apple based an advertising campaign around slagging off Microsoft for turning computer users into clones who all have to conform.
Here we see a prime example of Apple doing exactly the same thing! And Apple zealots claim that Microsoft is evil!
It reeks of the scene from Monty Python’s movie “Life of Brian”:
Apple: You are all individuals; you have to work it out for yourself.
Users: (All in one voice) Yes we are all individuals…
March 28th, 2008
The fitness portion of the patents I am all for, but the rest of it smacks of a company entering Orwellian territory.
WELL SAID.