‘People like me’ got very excited when Nike Plus arrived. Although many of us didn’t buy it or try it.

But we still love the idea of adding this new dimension to physical experiences. Having an ‘actionable information trail’ that turns an act that leaves almost no trace (apart from smelly gym clothes) into an on-going, archived narrative. Blah blah.

Anyway, ‘people like me’ love the idea of The Internet of Things in general. A couple of weeks ago I saw (on breakfast show Something For The Weekend) what must surely be the perfect example of such a product that could really hit the mainstream. Even more than Nike Plus. It’s called Body Trace: a “bathroom scale connected to the Internet”.  It’s basically Nike Plus for weight measurement. Stand on the scales, the data gets logged. You can imagine the rest. Or read about it on their site.

I’m not posting this because it’s spectacular. It’s far less sexy than Nike Plus and far less interesting than geekier examples. But it’s important because I can imagine a 50-year old woman who’s never heard of Nike Plus or Spime buying it in Boots.

That makes it culturally very interesting.

Tags: behaviour, interesting, technology