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

Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 200 posts

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#141

Post by [deleted] »

charlieflowers wrote: post #114
iamleppert wrote: post #97

"Jawbone Health is at the forefront of revolutionizing primary care for millions of patients worldwide. Combining more than 20 years of proprietary wearable technology with clinically relevant signals, Jawbone Health connects patients and physicians like never before with continuous, data-driven dialogue." How exactly is a company that just started from the ashes of a glorified bluetooth speaker company revolutionizi…

Right? I found myself wondering what the wearable technology of 20 years ago really was. A skinny, awkward teen with a 50 pound CRT TV strapped to his back?

[deleted]

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#142

Post by icebraining »

charlieflowers wrote: post #114
iamleppert wrote: post #97

"Jawbone Health is at the forefront of revolutionizing primary care for millions of patients worldwide. Combining more than 20 years of proprietary wearable technology with clinically relevant signals, Jawbone Health connects patients and physicians like never before with continuous, data-driven dialogue." How exactly is a company that just started from the ashes of a glorified bluetooth speaker company revolutionizi…

Right? I found myself wondering what the wearable technology of 20 years ago really was. A skinny, awkward teen with a 50 pound CRT TV strapped to his back?

Twenty years ago we already had PDAs and palmtops. The Atari Portfolio is from '89, and fits in a pocket. That tech was used to create wrist-mounted computers: http://edgarmatias.com/papers/chi96/

Most weren't commercially viable, but the tech has been around for a long time.

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#143

Post by lloeki »

ma2rten wrote: post #90
hammock wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do the big corps succeed (Google, Apple, Amazon) and the startups fail. I guess all three of those have had failed hardware products and successful one as well. So they can afford a failure? Startups just need more runway?

I would say: Amazon is putting large ads on the amazon.com homepage for it's products. I don't think if a startup had build exactly the same product they would have been succesful. Apple had Steve Jobs, who had both a great vision and a cult of personality that made people buy apple products. Apple didn't have another major successful new product since Steve passed. Google doesn't really have that many successful har…

> Pixel (which benefited from good timing, the biggest competitor had to recall their flagship phone)

Is it even available anywhere outside the U.S.?

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#144

Post by twblalock »

cbhl wrote: post #132
shas3 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problem with hardware startups is more subtle. Unless you open up a fundamentally new market segment or find a niche application, your product is asking to be commodified. Smartwatches and fitness trackers were too obvious a category and Samsung, Apple, etc. were sure to swoop in and win. There really is no distinguishing feature for Jawbone or Fitbit. Other hardware startups like Anki are doing stuff tha…

I'd argue that the incumbents wouldn't have thought it possible to build a smartwatch or fitness tracker if it wasn't for these start-ups, though. They're just really good at acquiring and copying. When the iPhone first came out, the way you measured your heart rate was by putting your finger over the camera on the back of the phone.

> They're just really good at acquiring and copying.

Right, but that's why the products become commoditized. The inventors get an early burst of success and easy money, but everyone else figures out how to make similar products very quickly.

Even smartphones are commoditized. The iPhone and the Samsung phones are the rare examples of commodity hardware that can beat the competition on the strength of their software experiences. The other companies are fighting tooth and nail in a textbook example of a commoditized market where the profits are difficult to eke out.

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#145

Post by tluyben2 »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #18
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The days of consumer hardware company's access to startup capital is over. So I haven't worked at a hardware start-up but it seemed pretty difficult even before these companies to raise funding versus a pure software play. I'm not necessarily convinced this makes it easier or harder. Is there a specific reason you think it will be harder now? Also, for what it's worth, Fitbit and GoPro are still going. I'm convince…

It's so easy for Shenzhen to just copy them though. There's nothing defensible about hardware.

That depends on what you make. Some things are still really hard and have things you cannot copy. In my field the hardware alone is very difficult so just copying will not work but even if you are persistent and get it done, you need a lot of external factors to go along as well which takes years. And explains some of the failures we have seen.

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#146

Post by mpermar »

mahyarm wrote: post #137
bschwindHN wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed that it's unfair to call it a failure. GoPro is what most people think of when you suggest filming something sports-related. They made a product which does what it says it does, and has become a very recognizable brand for action filming. Nothing lasts forever, I'd mark their efforts a success.

Why buy a gopro when a $100 china commodity clone will do good enough? The sensors & lenses are going to be the same size, from sony and rubber gaskets with a hard plastic shell is not hard to do.

Why would you buy an iphone if any cheap $100 android phone will do good enough?

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#148

Post by dx034 »

shas3 wrote: post #48
stingrae wrote: post #11

The days of consumer hardware company's access to startup capital is over. With so many high profile VC backed (Fitbit, GoPro, Hello, Juicero, Coin, Pearl, ect.) and kickstarted (Lily.ai, Pebble) failures, no one is willing to risk it.

I think the problem with hardware startups is more subtle. Unless you open up a fundamentally new market segment or find a niche application, your product is asking to be commodified. Smartwatches and fitness trackers were too obvious a category and Samsung, Apple, etc. were sure to swoop in and win. There really is no distinguishing feature for Jawbone or Fitbit. Other hardware startups like Anki are doing stuff tha…

> Smartwatches and fitness trackers were too obvious a category and Samsung, Apple, etc. were sure to swoop in and win.

They swooped in but wouldn't say that they won. At least in the UK I seem to see more people with a Fitbit than with an Apple Watch.

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#149

Post by dx034 »

ma2rten wrote: post #90
hammock wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do the big corps succeed (Google, Apple, Amazon) and the startups fail. I guess all three of those have had failed hardware products and successful one as well. So they can afford a failure? Startups just need more runway?

I would say: Amazon is putting large ads on the amazon.com homepage for it's products. I don't think if a startup had build exactly the same product they would have been succesful. Apple had Steve Jobs, who had both a great vision and a cult of personality that made people buy apple products. Apple didn't have another major successful new product since Steve passed. Google doesn't really have that many successful har…

Chromecast is only successful because it's so cheap. Similar as much of Amazon Echo's success is due to the discounts they often offer. That's nothing a startup could really compete with.

Re: Jawbone is being liquidated as its CEO launches a related health startup

#150

Post by dx034 »

dankohn1 wrote: post #105
bogomipz wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did you continue to buy generation after generation of a product that you felt was sub-par?

The same friend kept buying the Jawbone and telling me how great they were! I've now converted him to AirPods as well.

But why airpods and not one of the countless other bluetooth headphones? There are so many alternatives with equal or better sound for a cheaper price. Or is the design the appealing factor for many people?
Post reply on HN