Nike really gets it: The future of athletic shoes is as much about software as it is about the actual shoes.

The new stuff announced today, Nike+ Training, looks cool: Sensors that track your movement in detail — even capable of measuring your jumps — and turn workouts into a game on your iPhone. Exercise against your friends! I don’t see anything close from any other shoe company.

I haven’t bought a pair of Nikes since the 90s, but this is the sort of thing that might actually bring me back. It’s neat! Even better if it’s actually useful to you, or helps you get in shape.

Everything’s a gadget now.

Ok, well, not everything. But increasingly, the companies that start adding useful and interesting software and electronics to their previously-non-gadgety products could build huge advantages for themselves.

That’s why, as much as I want to make fun of Google for its new computerized glasses project, or call it a distraction, or a sure-failure, I’m actually intrigued by it.

These sort of technologies will probably take decades to perfect — remember voice control in the 90s? Or, uh, Android phones right now? But why shouldn’t glasses in the future have some sort of software installed in them? And why shouldn’t Google be involved in building toward the inevitable future?

Also: The Apple-fication Of Everything

The ABC News/Nightline special report on Foxconn and Apple just aired on the east coast. This was, as a reminder, an unprecedented look inside Apple’s factories in China, led by ABC reporter Bill Weir. (Photos here, full episode video here.) It’s worth watching.

You see what you’d expect: Sterile-looking assembly lines, young Chinese people in white gowns putting Apple products together, dingy looking dorms, the suicide nets, and a few brief statements from Foxconn workers, tied together with some context about Apple and Foxconn, and what Apple’s doing about all of this.

The half-hour goes quickly, and thanks to quick editing, there isn’t really much time for detail or drama. I’d love to see an hour or two of raw footage, to get a better idea of what it’s really like inside one of those factories. But in general, I thought it was a fair report: It definitely doesn’t look like fun, but it doesn’t look like hell, either.

Weir works in lines like, “I don’t know about you, but when I’m enjoying a delicious steak, knowing where it came from changes the experience.” But I don’t think it will do any damage to Apple.

Apple announced the latest version of its Mac operating system, OS X Mountain Lion, this morning. It’s set to ship this summer — earlier than I’d expected a new version of OS X, but I’ll take it.

• The big story is that Apple continues to make the Mac look and feel more like iOS. Given that Apple sold more than 150 million iOS devices last year, and 18 million Macs, this makes sense: If people are going to “halo” over from iOS to the Mac, give them a system they can understand and be immediately comfortable and integrated with. (Related: Cool chart by Horace Dediu at Asymco, showing how Apple sold more iOS devices in 2011 than all Macs sold ever.)
• Important distinction: Apple isn’t merging iOS and Mac OS, just the experience. Many observers seem to think that Macs and iPads will run the same software in a few years, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.
• AirPlay, one-way. You’ll be able to share your Mac’s screen with a TV/projector using AirPlay and Apple TV. This is cool for keynotes, meetings, teachers, etc. But unfortunately, you can’t — Apple confirms — beam the movie that’s playing on your iPhone to your big iMac screen. (I’d love that sort of “AirPlay-catching” mode for Macs.) Update: Bing! That was quick. Check out third-party AirServer (via Jordan Golson).
• iMessage support is an obvious and welcome addition. I’m going to install the preview on my MacBook Air today (I still don’t run Lion on my main iMac, though this might force me to finally upgrade). The idea of being able to manage my phone’s iMessages from my Mac seems like a great idea. Though as Matt Galligan explains here, the iMessage cross-device experience is pretty goofed up. (I still have no idea which messages are going to show up on which device. Although it’s great to be able to consistently iMessage on a plane over wi-fi, or using a different SIM card overseas, which I couldn’t do with SMS.)
• The iPad 3 is way more important to Apple than the Mac OS. Apple could have made a bigger deal out of this. But with the iPad unveil event expected in a few weeks, it’s smart to save up the big bang for that. Anyway, duh:  At $25 billion, the iPad business was $3 billion bigger than the Mac last year, and Apple sold more than twice as many iPads as Macs.
• iCloud is becoming more obviously the center of everything. I haven’t really used iCloud much on my Mac, but forthcoming Reminders and Memos apps — with iCloud sync among devices — seem like simple ways I could start using it daily. (Goodbye, Simplenote?) Remember: iCloud’s biggest success should be its ability to “just work” behind the scenes with everything you do. The less you notice it’s there, the better.
• Apple is gradually nudging developers toward the Mac App Store. John Gruber reports that two Mountain Lion features — iCloud document syncing and a new Notifications center — are for App Store apps only. A third feature, Gatekeeper, is installed by default to only allow users to install apps from the App Store or from developers that Apple has certified. (You can manually change it to allow all apps, which adds security risk.) Some developers might see these as reasons to finally just use the App Store as their sole distribution point. (Also, interesting idea from Gruber: Could this certification process be expanded to iOS, so approved developers could distribute apps without using the App Store? My guess is no, because it takes control away from Apple, but maybe there are good reasons to allow it?)
• No sign of Siri, or iBooks. Maybe Siri will require new Mac hardware with a special sound chip, or something? Maybe Macs are offline too much for Siri to be a perfect feature? Maybe 4G LTE Macs in the future can help solve that problem?
• But there’s a whole section devoted to special features for China, which is now very obviously Apple’s second most important market after the U.S.

So, if Lion was “Apple’s Vista”, is this its Windows 7? Har har. As I said earlier, I still haven’t felt Lion compelling enough to install on my main machine, but it also hasn’t generated the widespread gag-reflex reaction that many Windows folks felt about Vista. This does seem like an opportunity for Apple to really polish some things, though, so I’m looking forward to trying a stable version of Mountain Lion when it’s ready. (And given that Apple doesn’t seem to have reverted to Snow Leopard versions of any major features, it seems Apple is happy overall with Lion.)

Btw, Apple pre-briefed some of its preferred outlets on Mountain Lion earlier this month, so here are some reactions from folks blessed with early access: MG Siegler at TechCrunch; Jason Snell at Macworld, and David Pogue at the NYT, among others. And John Gruber shares a nice account of the novel way Apple personally presented the software to him, which seems to be a rather different way of handling things than when Steve Jobs was alive. Full coverage, of course, at Techmeme.

Also: Apple’s Monster Christmas In Charts

Time is ticking! Starz movies will vanish at the end of February.

1. Toy Story 3: I actually haven’t seen this yet, but how could you go wrong with a Pixar movie?
2. The Pixar Story: Speaking of Pixar, a great little documentary, including interviews with Steve Jobs, John Lasseter, etc. Super fun.
3. Big: Tom Hanks discovers growing up is bogus. Ah, the 80s.
4. HappyThankYouMorePlease: Josh Radnor (“How I Met Your Mother”) tries for (and doesn’t get) Zach Braff/”Garden State”-like success with this indie thing about artsy/hipster life lessons. Still, decent.
5. Warren Miller’s: Storm: When sorting by rating, this had the highest of all the Starz movies — almost four full stars. Extreme skiing!
6. Mallrats: My personal favorite of the Kevin Smith / Jay and Silent Bob movies. Incredible dialogue and so 1995.
7. Twins: One of the movies I’d watch over and over on VHS (or was it Beta?) when I was a kid. Kinda great, kinda terrible. But Arnold and Danny DeVito going nuts!
8. The English Patient: Won nine Oscars for 1997, including best picture, best director, best cinematography, and best supporting actress.
9. Scarface: Pacino. Over 200 F-bombs. Not for kids.
10. Sorority Girls’ Revenge: The lowest-rated of the Starz titles. One review: “Completely unwatchable. Even the soft porn spanking sucks since the girls in this film arent that cute or wearing anything actually sexy.”

Btw, it was hard to find 10 movies that don’t look laughably bad. Netflix isn’t going to miss Starz very much, I don’t think.

Update: Some suggestions are rolling in: Breaking Away (via Peter Kafka) and Teen Wolf and The Secret of My Success (via Dan Maccarone).

The Knicks homepage redirects to this full-page ad.

It has been a particularly memorable week living in New York, as unexpected Knicks star Jeremy Lin has taken over the city. (Good intro/explainer here by Peter Kafka.) I am a lifelong Chicago Bulls fan and have hated the Knicks forever, but even I have watched the last two entire Knicks games live to check out the Harvard kid.

“Linsanity” is also having a profound business effect.

• Madison Square Garden (MSG) stock — the company that owns the Knicks, plus the stadium they play at and the cable network they play on — is up ~11% since the end of trading on Friday, Feb. 3. That was the last day of trading before his big splash performance on Feb. 4. Today, MSG hit an all-time high of $33.18 before dipping a bit. (Via Joe Weisenthal.)
• Lin gear sales are on fire, as this Bloomberg article notes. NBAStore.com has a temporary Lin banner up to funnel jersey buyers through the buying process.

Lin’s rise may also force MSG to finally figure out a new deal with Time Warner Cable, the dominant cable provider in NYC. Since Jan. 1, MSG Network hasn’t been on the air for TWC subscribers, because MSG is demanding a ~50% raise per subscriber for its channels, and TWC doesn’t want to pay it.

It wasn’t a big problem for a while because the Knicks were bad. But now, people want to watch the games, so it’s starting to become an issue. If Lin’s streak continues, it could force a deal… or riots! (Or, he could stop playing well, and then it might not matter.)

Btw, semi-related, this is a great example where corporate greed — whether it’s on MSG’s side or TWC’s, or both — is actually forcing piracy. And media companies can only blame themselves for it.

You don’t have to look hard to see prominent people semi-publicly sharing links to pirate streams of Knicks games these days, because it’s the only option. These are people who are paying a lot of money to receive a service they signed up for, but aren’t getting it, because two giant companies can’t figure out a deal.

Piracy — particularly among adults with disposable income — is rarely about getting stuff for free so you don’t have to pay for it. It’s about getting stuff, period, that you know exists but aren’t allowed access to. Knicks games. European or Canadian TV series. Movies/shows at a particular quality level or release time. Whatever. Artificial barriers from media companies will be defeated by piracy, always and forever.

The smart companies will figure out a way to profit from demand. (I’ve paid quite a bit of money out of pocket, in addition to my cable bill, to stream MLB/Cubs games and full Tour de France stages the past few years. And I’m happy to do it: The product is great!) The dumb ones will whine about piracy.

Also: Why Apple Would Dare Partner With Those Evil Cable/Telco TV Providers