after every new year, there seems to be this huge wave of eating right guides, exercise how to's, and whatever else you can think of to get yourself in shape. anyway, during my usual morning television programs, martha stewart happened to be doing a segment on new technological gadget that would be beneficial to the everyday average joe. i found the following pretty interesting...
"GPS-Enabled Sneakers -
Isaac Daniel Group's new GPS-enabled sneakers connect its wearers by the touch of a button to an emergency-response service near them. The shoes provide peace of mind to those caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease or a memory impairment. They'll be available at isaacdaniel.com and meridianhealth.com for men and women in June and for children in the fall. They cost $379 per pair, plus $19 a month for the GPS tracking system. Special thanks to Meridian Health for providing our audience with GPS-enabled sneakers designed by Isaac Daniel."
now, these so called shoes aren't even available to the public yet. what really got my attention was that every member of the studio audience received a free pair of these "tracking shoes" and a free 1 year connection to the GPS system.
yikes! can we say lab rats?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
these shoes were made for...what?
Posted by jami at 1:23 PM
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13 comments:
I Jami:
I’m working with ID Conex – the subsidiary of Isaac Daniel that provides the services for the GPS footwear.
I agree with you this is a pretty interesting value proposition. I was in the set yesterday at the Martha Stewart Show, and the Audience didn’t receive a pair of shoes BUT a certificate for a pair of shoes and service for when they become available. I think Martha mentioned that during the program. Our Lab Rats today are mostly staff family members and close friends that are not relying in the system but they have it for giving us feedback so we can launch a finalized product and good quality service :-).
In the last 24 hours we have received hundreds of responses and inquiries from people looking for solutions for their love ones. Having GPS technology in your shoes is a plus and completely different from any locator in the market. Just think about yourself how many times you left your house and forgot something – for sure was not your shoes!
Here at ID Conex we design applications for different markets. We have very exciting solutions for groups like schools, boy scouts, etc. Imagine a teacher going to a field trip and being able to be notified if any student is away from the group. That is peace of mind! I invite you to visit our web site at www.idconex.com and check our solutions. I’ll be happy to provide more info to you and your public.
Your feedback is very important.
Thank you again!
whatever it takes to sugar coat your product is probably fine for most of today's consumers, but i think i'll stay far from these shoes. im pretty content with my $10 payless sneakers. thanks anyway.
Wow Jami, I'm pretty sure you just made the high rollers table in blogging on this subject.
LBHL - I'm not sure if you are going to keep up on the comments on this page, but I'll leave you a comment anyway. I can see all the positive attributes for the product you represent. I'm sure it would be great for kid's who are lost or kidnapped. This would be great. But...many people could use this in a very negative way. For example, lets say I have an uncle who is on his last days and we constantly worry about him. Some times he doesn't answer his phone and we get even more worried. He has made some pretty bad "friends" that are only befriending him because he has tons of items you would see on and antique road show. Priceless to the family but worth a lot to antiquers. What would stop these "friends" of his from purchasing your product because they are "worried about him getting lost". They call you because he isn't answering the phone and you confirm, "yes he is out of his home." Hundreds of years of family history is now gone because the right people knew when he was away from his house.
Again, I can see the good in this product, but have you thought about all that could go wrong. How about people knowing where you are all the time. Isn't that invasion of privacy. You could make the argument that these people are wearing these shoes voluntarily, but who is going to stop the wrong people "gifting" these shoes without the knowledge of the actual wearer that there is a GPS unit in them? It scares me enough to steer clear.
Let's just skip the shoes & put the implant in our lower regions. Yay for government tracking chips.
haha.. nice
I think this ranks up there with the national id card, and as ben said, the microchip. Just a "craftier" and less suspecting way to monitor our every move.
one more thought... did these people find your blog all on their own? if so, i think that may be creepier than the shoes.
laura- yea, all on their own. i thought so too. i felt like mel gibson in conspiracy theory.. now all i need to do is buy a copy of 'to kill a mocking bird' (i think that's what it was) every time i go out in public.
-The Catcher and the Rye-
yea.. that's the one. close enough! thanks dave, that's why i married you.
Senor,
Thanks for your comments, they are completely valid. We are aware that a good product can be used in the wrong way. In any case let me address some of your concerns.
Regarding privacy, this is one of the first priorities at ID Conex. The GPS device included in the shoes transmit location information ONLY upon user request. That means the GPS shoe WEARER needs to press a button to be assisted, otherwise we don’t have any information about the whereabouts of a person. Different from other products this is not a continuously tracking device.
We have a special application for Alzheimer. In this case the wearer (person to be found) needs to sign a release notifying who can request location information (and we have several layers of security added). That means it will be impossible to give our GPS shoes as a “Trojan gift”. Moreover, the shoe has a way to notify the person that is wearing the GPS shoe that info is transmitted.
At ID Conex we try to provide solutions that answer our customer requests. Comments like yours are extremely valuable and reinforce the way we are trying to do business. Please check our FaQ page at: http://www.idconex.com/faqs.htm
Thanks again
if it's not a consistent tracking device.. how would a person with Alzheimer's remember to push the button? hmm..
Nice LBHL,
Thanks for replying!
Sounds like you guys have thought quite a bit on the security issue. I'm also glad that you are out there telling people what you are really about. Thank you for your response and I hope all the best for you and your company.
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