Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

about.nike.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 129 posts

Re: Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

#101

Post by andreareina »

rich_sasha wrote: post #45
PuissantSheep wrote: post #19

For those of you who don’t “see the point” of a device like this, what you are failing to see is your own personal use case. The use cases I can see for others are “anyone who might find this useful or fun”. To me, that means 1) people with medically compromised joints who would like to engage in experiences that their bodies don’t currently allow. 2) people who want to challenge themselves by making these joint addi…

I find running incredibly boring, because the scenery changes so damn slowly around you. I would happily put in the same effort for the same time, but go substantially faster to make it more fun. Not sure I would buy this product, but I see more than 0 use for it.

Get a bike ;)

Re: Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

#102

Post by kccqzy »

UltraSane wrote: post #98
kccqzy wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social rides? I think using a pedal assist bike would more readily lead to social ostracizing amongst friends who are using regular bikes. In my experience, at least among my circle of friends, if one person couldn't keep up they would rather shorten the distance than allowing that person to use an e-bike. Electric pedal assist bikes are best suited for commuting and running errands, i.e. using the bike as a transpor…

Who are you to say what e-bikes are best used for? They are a lot of fun to ride.

It's my sincere opinion. You are allowed to disagree.

Re: Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

#104

Post by kccqzy »

dan-g wrote: post #97
kccqzy wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social rides? I think using a pedal assist bike would more readily lead to social ostracizing amongst friends who are using regular bikes. In my experience, at least among my circle of friends, if one person couldn't keep up they would rather shorten the distance than allowing that person to use an e-bike. Electric pedal assist bikes are best suited for commuting and running errands, i.e. using the bike as a transpor…

This sounds like a gross generalization of cyclists—I hope everyone’s friends aren’t this petty! I’ve gone on plenty of rides on an e-bike/not on an e-bike with folks doing the opposite and have never felt ostracized or made others feel ostracized. As other commenters posted, it gets even more people out on the paths who wouldn’t normally be able to keep up or might feel self-conscious, and I think that’s a really po…

I must admit I don't interact with all kinds of cyclists. My circle of cyclists are the ones who like indoor cycling as much as going outdoors, and they almost always have a power meter and like to challenge themselves for power PRs, and they tend to be Strava Premium users.

Re: Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

#105

Post by michelb »

foolswisdom wrote: post #30
ewuhic wrote: post #25

These are already common in China, and Nike will rip you off with the price for "western engineering".

> Nike’s Project Amplify is the world’s first powered footwear system for running and walking, So this is straight up false?

The Moonwalkers from Shift Robotics from 2022 come to mind, but are noticeably different. Or the Dephy Exoboot: https://www.dephy.com which is also 'the first'

Re: Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

#106

Post by michelb »

jvdvegt wrote: post #8

I'd like such technology very much, as I lack about 80% of my calf muscles due to an auto immune disease. I can't walk without a (non powered) exo skeleton, and perhaps with these I can walk stairs again.

Maybe you can checkout the Dephy Exoboot: https://www.dephy.com No idea how far along they are though, but looks like they are open for early access.

I'm sure you've already seen https://eu.hypershell.tech

I'm hopeful these get cheaper, smaller and lighter, and more powerful. Would be great to have these accessible to a lot of people.

Re: Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

#107

Post by MengerSponge »

MichaelNolan wrote: post #41

A lot of comments are casting doubt on why “athletes” would be interested in this product. In the bike world, electric pedal assist bikes have become very popular. I have some family members who are avid cyclists. They do 100+ miles a week. As they have gotten older (60+) they were losing the ability to engage in social rides with their bike friends, but e-bikes have solved that issue by giving them just a small boos…

People with pedal-assist ebikes do more work and ride them for more distance than people with acoustic bikes.

Less gatekeeping, more celebration: imagine being Pogi and being able to crank 300 watts for hours on end. It would make touring the countryside a joy!

Re: Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

#109

Post by andylynch »

kccqzy wrote: post #95
MichaelNolan wrote: post #41

A lot of comments are casting doubt on why “athletes” would be interested in this product. In the bike world, electric pedal assist bikes have become very popular. I have some family members who are avid cyclists. They do 100+ miles a week. As they have gotten older (60+) they were losing the ability to engage in social rides with their bike friends, but e-bikes have solved that issue by giving them just a small boos…

Social rides? I think using a pedal assist bike would more readily lead to social ostracizing amongst friends who are using regular bikes. In my experience, at least among my circle of friends, if one person couldn't keep up they would rather shorten the distance than allowing that person to use an e-bike. Electric pedal assist bikes are best suited for commuting and running errands, i.e. using the bike as a transpor…

Depends on how decent your friends are… one couple I know in particular, they both love MTB, but have different endurance levels, so with one having an e-bike it evens out nicely.

Re: Project Amplify: Powered footwear for running and walking

#110

Post by rglullis »

6510 wrote: post #87
rglullis wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What value is a friendship or connection that can not withstand a few months of "for the next months I will ride with some slower group" or "I may join you for the beginning but I can not go all the way"?

What does "can not" even mean in this context? You could refuse to use an e-bike just like you could refuse to use an expensive bicycle. Perhaps more interesting, a lot of people I know do train but don't push themselves to the limit. There is always something left in the tank. If their goal is to train to improve it's very [lets say] expensive. They invest a lot for small returns. Now what if you could keep going if…

> You could refuse to use an e-bike just like you could refuse to use an expensive bicycle.

I don't know if we are talking about the same thing. I am taking the argument from OP about "people recovering from surgery might need electric assist to keep up with the A-group", and I'm questioning this need.

If someone wants to have some assistance, then by all means go ahead and use it. I'm just not seeing why someone would need to have this sort of assistance, unless they are just doing some poor post-hoc rationalization for their wants.

Post reply on HN