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Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

reuters.com

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Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#41

Post by atlasunshrugged »

unlinked_dll wrote: post #23
atlasunshrugged wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something definitely has been off at Fitbit - I had their first device and then after swearing off smartwatches got a new Fitbit for Christmas. 10 months later I'm on my 3rd watch from them - the first one stopped taking a charge after a few months, the second one the screen went out in a week or two. I'm hoping the third time is the charm

> I'm hoping the third time is the charm "fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me"

Ha, does it apply when each time you get a free replacement? But really, one more time and even a free replacement won't keep me from switching

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#43

Post by climb_stealth »

ignoramous wrote: post #16

> Fitbits’ stock shot up almost 30 percent after the first rumors surfaced. In recent months, the company’s stock often traded below $3, down from close to $48 shortly after its IPO in 2015. Today, after the announcement, it went up to around $5.20. Good lord, must the acquisition offer feel like a relief? Surely, Fitbit wouldn't do a Groupon now. The article fails to mention Fossil, but Google recently did acquire t…

I was really happy with the Fossil hybrid watch that I got for christmas two years ago. The bluetooth worked perfectly which I would never had expected.

Whilst the Fossil app is great the actual bluetooth reliability has gone downhill with the latest updates and I'm wondering whether it is related to talent moving to Google.

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#44

Post by gamblor956 »

aluminussoma wrote: post #38

I would think that Google's first choice was Garmin. In my personal opinion, they have better watch products. It was reported last month that Fitbit engaged Qatalyst for a sale. I wonder who leaked the news to Reuters, which did not mention a price: was it Qatalyst, hoping to start a bidding war?

Probably, but it's unlikely that Garmin would sell to Google.

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#45

Post by notatoad »

yalogin wrote: post #10

I somehow don't see the fit. Pardon the pun. Their watches though popular are completely self sustained, as in not connected devices. No link to the phone, cannot install Android on them most likely. So they are buying it purely for their experience making watches and not for their products. Also, I wonder how much Google will want to invest in devices that are not connected to their ecosystem and might neglect exist…

>No link to the phone

wut? being linked to your phone is literally the whole point of a fitbit. it syncs your recorded fitness data back to the phone, and displays notifications from the phone on your wrist.

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#47

Post by soulofmischief »

yalogin wrote: post #10

I somehow don't see the fit. Pardon the pun. Their watches though popular are completely self sustained, as in not connected devices. No link to the phone, cannot install Android on them most likely. So they are buying it purely for their experience making watches and not for their products. Also, I wonder how much Google will want to invest in devices that are not connected to their ecosystem and might neglect exist…

I figure they just want the data.

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#48

Post by ptasci67 »

drcode wrote: post #15

I'd still love to hear a convincing argument from someone as to the benefits of counting steps and measuring heart rate with a wrist band- Are people feeling like they are more fit because they walked to lunch "the long way" so they can reach the 10000 step goal that Fred from accounting has set for them? Do they feel healthier because they were regularly watching their heart rate reading during their hour in the gym…

TL;DR, for me, the individual measurement is not as important as the quantifiable trend you can gather over time.

I can only speak for myself but for me the gamification of fitness is not in necessarily doing extra things randomly throughout the day just to hit the desired number.

I wore Fitbits for years (before switching to an Apple Watch) to be able to quantify my activity levels on a daily basis. In doing that, I can see trends over time and adjust. I feel that it was very informative to see how my average resting heart rates decreased as I focused on being healthier. I was also able to get a better average of my activity levels and correlate that with how I feel and the average of my weight measurement over time. All of those measurements together is where I see the usefulness.

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#49

Post by kkarakk »

drcode wrote: post #15

I'd still love to hear a convincing argument from someone as to the benefits of counting steps and measuring heart rate with a wrist band- Are people feeling like they are more fit because they walked to lunch "the long way" so they can reach the 10000 step goal that Fred from accounting has set for them? Do they feel healthier because they were regularly watching their heart rate reading during their hour in the gym…

most people don't exercise effectively and are too lazy to get a trainer so a workout watch is a good way to know that they didn't really work out as hard as they thought they did.

it's a nice way of tracking your fitness level coz that stuff goes by the wayside in your prime working age 20-50.

if you're a fitness enthusiast then yeah you're definitely monitoring heart rates already with a more expensive watch(more accurate Fitbit matches vs semi accurate Apple)

the value prop exists, people just don't know that much about fitness - there's a reason for the obesity crisis. insurance companies need to start tying rates to medically measured and vetted BMIs

Re: Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit

#50

Post by hobo_mark »

drcode wrote: post #15

I'd still love to hear a convincing argument from someone as to the benefits of counting steps and measuring heart rate with a wrist band- Are people feeling like they are more fit because they walked to lunch "the long way" so they can reach the 10000 step goal that Fred from accounting has set for them? Do they feel healthier because they were regularly watching their heart rate reading during their hour in the gym…

I also find those stats to be gimmicks, but I mostly use my pebble to measure how many hours I work per week (with some simple software I wrote in C, main reason I loved the pebble platform), and since then I stopped working 55-60 hour weeks. In that sense awareness can indeed make a difference.
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