Am I the only one who goes "meh" at all these wearables?

[s44]

Like for example I will sneak a look at my wife's phone in the morning to see how well she slept, as its a proxy to her mood that day. I know when to walk on eggshells.

That to me alone is worth the $130 or whatever.

LOL

 

[nOOky]

My boss got a Fitbit for Christmas. He's overweight, and his wife figured that tracking his mileage and calories would help him. He started at 275 lbs, and currently he is still at 275 lbs. But at least now he knows he walked 2.8 miles that day as he's stuffing a cheeseburger down his piehole.

I don't like wearable devices.

 

[AnMig]

You CAN use the data to make good conclusions.

Like for example I will sneak a look at my wife's phone in the morning to see how well she slept, as its a proxy to her mood that day. I know when to walk on eggshells.

That to me alone is worth the $130 or whatever.

If it could track her menstrual cycle.it would give men an excellent way of explaining why his significant other is on the warpath. Plus it would give men a ballpark time frame when not to have sex if they don't want to have babies (women ovulate I believe a week after her cycle). The watch or bracelet can glow red during those pms days like a mood ring.

Good idea for an Ap.

 

[Joe1987]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.period.tracker.lite&hl=en

 

[Deeko]

Really? Back then I was just thinking it was a matter of when a smart device will trickle down to the masses. I think price was a huge factor when smartphones were first coming out. Plus data plans. The iPhone 3G pricing changed everything with the $199 pricing, and it's the same reason why every smartphone uses that pricing now too.

I see this kinda like netbooks. It's a niche market, and you can easily replace them with ultrabooks or tablets. Like smartwatches I can see them having a place because they're more of an extension of your phone, but all the whole Lumo thing, really? And Fitbit can be accomplished on a phone I'm pretty sure.

Back then smartphones were unwieldy, not expensive. The iPhone 3G most certainly did not change everything when it comes to smartphone pricing, come on, it only reversed the mind blowing idea apple had to charge $500 for a subsidied phone, you could get a T-Mobile dash for far less than that before the iPhone was released.

Anyway, I have a FitBit One and not only does it offer more functionality than smartphone fitness trackers, it's actually on my person at all times, which is not something I can say for my phone.

 

[Deeko]

Also, if I'm close to my goal for the day, I take the dog on a longer walk at night, and I get up and walk around more at work, too, so it does make a difference. Just having a pedometer wouldn't have been the same because it's not tracked online and I can't easily compete with friends.

 

[bearxor]

Back then smartphones were unwieldy, not expensive. The iPhone 3G most certainly did not change everything when it comes to smartphone pricing, come on, it only reversed the mind blowing idea apple had to charge $500 for a subsidied phone, you could get a T-Mobile dash for far less than that before the iPhone was released.

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you here. The iPhone 3G completely changed the subsidy market. Before it's release, smart devices were still subsidized at the standard rate. This meant that a basic WinMo or BB device were still very expensive. You only got $150-200 off with the subsidy. The last WinMo phone I got on a subsidy was the PPC-6600 and it cost $500 on contract.

The increased subsidy AT&T gave the iPhone 3G at the time was insane. But it worked. People flocked to AT&T's network in droves.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you here. The iPhone 3G completely changed the subsidy market. Before it's release, smart devices were still subsidized at the standard rate. This meant that a basic WinMo or BB device were still very expensive. You only got $150-200 off with the subsidy. The last WinMo phone I got on a subsidy was the PPC-6600 and it cost $500 on contract.

The increased subsidy AT&T gave the iPhone 3G at the time was insane. But it worked. People flocked to AT&T's network in droves.

Exactly. Smartphones were already useful prior to the iPhone 3G, but why would you pay $399 or $499 for a device when you can get a free Motorola Razr?

That $199 price point was brand new just like the $299 price point the Nexus 4 established. It ushered in a huge wave of new users, and pretty soon after the $199 price point became standard.

Deeko's right in that smartphone pricing remained at $600, but that's very irrelevant in the US given that most people judge based on subsidized pricing.

 

[WelshBloke]

Just having a pedometer wouldn't have been the same because it's not tracked online and I can't easily compete with friends.

Are you getting fit for the sake of your health or to impress your friends?

 

[Deeko]

Are you getting fit for the sake of your health or to impress your friends?

Firstly, I've been doing competitive powerlifting for years, I'm in good enough shape without a Fitbit. That said, is the social aspect getting me to move more? Absolutely. To impress my friends? Uh, no - to beat them.

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you here. The iPhone 3G completely changed the subsidy market. Before it's release, smart devices were still subsidized at the standard rate. This meant that a basic WinMo or BB device were still very expensive. You only got $150-200 off with the subsidy. The last WinMo phone I got on a subsidy was the PPC-6600 and it cost $500 on contract.

The increased subsidy AT&T gave the iPhone 3G at the time was insane. But it worked. People flocked to AT&T's network in droves.

I'm fairly certain I paid $99 or $199 for the T-Mobile SDA in 2006. I upgraded to the Dash the next year for $199. Did Apple change the game by charging AT&T absurd rates and still getting a cheap end price? Maybe - but the consumer stupid in that regard. They have no idea, nor do they really care, what the unsubdizied cost was. What they know is that a smartphone in 2006 cost $199-$299, then Apple went insane and asked $500-$600 for the iPhone subsidized, realized that was stupid, and went to the same model as everyone else. Those consumers don't realize what the back end price was.

 

[WelshBloke]

Firstly, I've been doing competitive powerlifting for years, I'm in good enough shape without a Fitbit. That said, is the social aspect getting me to move more? Absolutely. To impress my friends? Uh, no - to beat them.

That makes no sense at all.

 

[Ravynmagi]

That makes no sense at all.

It's pretty common that it's easier to keep goals if you tell other people about those goals. This is what the Fitbit does.

 

[WelshBloke]

It's pretty common that it's easier to keep goals if you tell other people about those goals. This is what the Fitbit does.

Yeah but am I any fitter just because I walk more than my mate Bob who lives on his sofa all day?

 

[bearxor]

Firstly, I've been doing competitive powerlifting for years, I'm in good enough shape without a Fitbit. That said, is the social aspect getting me to move more? Absolutely. To impress my friends? Uh, no - to beat them.



I'm fairly certain I paid $99 or $199 for the T-Mobile SDA in 2006. I upgraded to the Dash the next year for $199. Did Apple change the game by charging AT&T absurd rates and still getting a cheap end price? Maybe - but the consumer stupid in that regard. They have no idea, nor do they really care, what the unsubdizied cost was. What they know is that a smartphone in 2006 cost $199-$299, then Apple went insane and asked $500-$600 for the iPhone subsidized, realized that was stupid, and went to the same model as everyone else. Those consumers don't realize what the back end price was.

My apologies, but those aren't smartphones. Those were feature phones.

The first iPhone wasn't subsidized. The plan cost $60 for unlimited data, 200 text and 450 minutes. The equivalent plan on a subsidized phone was $40+$30+$10. So you saved about $20/mo by buying an iPhone and going no contract.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Yeah but am I any fitter just because I walk more than my mate Bob who lives on his sofa all day?

Walking does burn more calories than laying on the sofa. I'm not sure if this was a rhetorical question?

 

[WelshBloke]

Walking does burn more calories than laying on the sofa. I'm not sure if this was a rhetorical question?

Yeah but if me and Bob just veg out on the sofa all day but I'm the one to walk to the fridge for beers, I beat him but it hardly means I'm fit does it?

 

[Ravynmagi]

Yeah but if me and Bob just veg out on the sofa all day but I'm the one to walk to the fridge for beers, I beat him but it hardly means I'm fit does it?

Fitbit sets the default goal to 10,000 steps. It tries to motivate you with achievements, adding friends and watching their progress and such.

Though some desire to get fit does need to exist.

 

[desura]

Oh, definitely. They're quite silly.

Then again...with Android Phones getting into the 6 inch territory...

 

[Deeko]

That makes no sense at all.

What doesn't make sense? Guys compete with each other. If my number is bigger, I win. I'm not saying that by having a higher step count than my friends, I'm more fit than them...but I like to beat them. Hell, my 60 year old father got a Fitbit for Christmas and it took him all of two weeks to realize he could taunt me via their website.

My apologies, but those aren't smartphones. Those were feature phones.

The first iPhone wasn't subsidized. The plan cost $60 for unlimited data, 200 text and 450 minutes. The equivalent plan on a subsidized phone was $40+$30+$10. So you saved about $20/mo by buying an iPhone and going no contract.

Feature phones? By 2006 standards? No. They were as smart as a smartphone got. They were both Windows Mobile phones that did pretty much everything the latest Palm or BlackBerry could do.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Yeah, Windows Mobile is definitely a smart phone. Smart phones did exist before iOS and Android.

 

[bearxor]

Feature phones? By 2006 standards? No. They were as smart as a smartphone got. They were both Windows Mobile phones that did pretty much everything the latest Palm or BlackBerry could do.

No, I'm sorry, but I'm not budging on this. You were using Windows Mobile Standard phones. Not Windows Mobile Professional phones. Extremely slow processors, low resolution screens, no touch screen and you couldn't install applications made for standard Windows Mobile. It was basically the Windows 8 RT of Microsoft's smartphone OS's.

They were glorified feature phones, and I stayed far away from them.

 

[Ravynmagi]

No, I'm sorry, but I'm not budging on this. You were using Windows Mobile Standard phones. Not Windows Mobile Professional phones. Extremely slow processors, low resolution screens, no touch screen and you couldn't install applications made for standard Windows Mobile. It was basically the Windows 8 RT of Microsoft's smartphone OS's.

They were glorified feature phones, and I stayed far away from them.

Wikipedia calls it a smartphone...

"It comes in three different versions: "Windows Mobile 6 Standard" for Smartphones (phones without touchscreens), "Windows Mobile 6 Professional" for Pocket PCs with phone functionality, and "Windows Mobile 6 Classic" for Pocket PCs without cellular radios."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobile

Internet don't lie.

Feature phones were much dumber than this.

 

[Deeko]

Engadget called the Dash "the hottest smartphone on the American market" http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/11/t-mobile-dash-review/ the version of Windows Mobile was even called smartphone edition!

 

[Kaido]

Am I the only one who goes "meh" at all these wearables?

I presently have no desire for a fitness band, smartwatch, or Google Glass. I think they're cool, but I don't like jewelry, aka wearing anything extra that I don't have to, not even watches. I could conceivably see myself wearing a smartwatch if it was good enough, but I don't like anything currently on the market. Maybe Google Glasses at some point if they got more discreet. Meh overall tho, for sure.