Caught me napping!

Last year when Jumbo and I made a class presentation on the product development plan for our imaginary shoe company, conjuring up all sorts of gizmos to fit into our "future-ready" shoes, we chuckled at each other in the middle of it, as amused as the rest of the class at the outrageously sci-fi shoes we said we had plans for.

We had force sensors, health trackers and shock adjusters powered by micro-sized batteries, all fitted into the everyday shoe. Stuff that wasn't gonna be there for the next 20 years at the very least, we were convinced.

I made the same presentation last month in my 'presentation skills' class, delivering the product plan with the same inconviction of its possiblity, this time chuckling at Ankur, who had been at the earlier presentation, all through. We had a good laugh about it after the class, bliss in the ignorance that stuff like this was already being developed at research labs across the world.

This morning The New York Times reported that Adidas had launched just the product to wipe my chuckle out, caught me staring at the screen, dumbfounded, with unbelieving eyes.

Adidas 1 has internal sensors connected to a 20-megahertz microprocessor inside each shoe which takes a series of readings, adjusting the amount of cushioning to the environment and foot-position. Price tag: $250.

I blurted out to myself, "Oh Boy! It's already here!"

Technology caught me napping, there.