Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#71

Post by windexh8er » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

slightwinder wrote: post #59

kerng wrote: post #46

Vic Gundotra (VP Google) said back when Microsoft bought Nokia that "two turkeys don't make an eagle". Google officially has become the Microosft of the mid 2000s. Lack of direction and innovation, buying up companies just for the sake of it. Here is a link to Google's anology: https://www.techspot.com/news/42338-google-attacks-nokia-and...

Google has a long and successful history of acquisitions, as also a long history of lack of direction and headless actions even in their youth days. It's probably just natural for a company with too much money to invest that way.

A long and success history of acquisitions doesn't mean Google has any advantage of taking a poorly performing acquisition (Fitbit) and stacking it into a failing division of theirs (Wear OS). Google would be better off starting over. But Google wants data and Fitbit comes with data for cheap, IMO.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#72

Post by jannes » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

me_me_me wrote: post #54

And here I was considering getting fitbit... Could anyone suggest an alternative? I really have no trust that google will keep promise not to use the data. edit: thanks all, I have too look into it all back home.

Apple Watch

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#73

Post by kgraves » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

w0utert wrote: post #62

kgraves wrote: post #56

Eventually, all startups will be acquired into the FAANG companies, no matter whatever their "mission statement" is, just like Matryoshka dolls. Pebble -> Fitbit -> Google. I am sure there are more examples.

I'm probably just drawing a mental blank here, but what's the 'N' in FAANG? :-S

Netflix [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook,_Apple,_Amazon,_Netfl...

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#74

Post by fantalamera » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

w0utert wrote: post #62

kgraves wrote: post #56

Eventually, all startups will be acquired into the FAANG companies, no matter whatever their "mission statement" is, just like Matryoshka dolls. Pebble -> Fitbit -> Google. I am sure there are more examples.

I'm probably just drawing a mental blank here, but what's the 'N' in FAANG? :-S

Netflix! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook,_Apple,_Amazon,_Netfl...

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#75

Post by airstrike » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

w0utert wrote: post #62

kgraves wrote: post #56

Eventually, all startups will be acquired into the FAANG companies, no matter whatever their "mission statement" is, just like Matryoshka dolls. Pebble -> Fitbit -> Google. I am sure there are more examples.

I'm probably just drawing a mental blank here, but what's the 'N' in FAANG? :-S

Netflix, added mostly so we don't call it FAAG

/s

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#76

Post by sjg007 » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

jpm_sd wrote: post #31

https://news.yahoo.com/google-acquiring-fitbit-130619853.htm... "Google has struggled to make much of a dent in the wearables category..." "Fitbit, meanwhile, has had issues maintaining growth in recent years." Failure + failure = success?

My wife swears by her Fitbit... my guess is google needs their expertise to compete with Apple Watch.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#77

Post by neuromancer2701 » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

windexh8er wrote: post #63

Garmin and Apple have the fitness market covered. Fitbit never had the hardcore fitness market Garmin executed into and Apple has always had a product that works well across the wearable and fitness. Between these two companies I can't imagine there's much of a niche Fitbit does better. On the extreme hardcore triathlon user even Garmin has taken a lot of market from Suunto and the like. I've owned a handful of Garmi…

Fibit should fit perfectly into the 99$ market for a zillion people that just want to track steps and sleep cycles.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#78

Post by Razengan » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:55 PM UTC

So, the concerning thing is, if Company A has been collecting data on users but not doing much with it, then gets absorbed by Company B who is notorious for infringing on everyone's privacy, do users even get a choice to prevent their data (that was collected by Company A) from being seen/used by Company B?

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#79

Post by pmlnr » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:56 PM UTC

slightwinder wrote: post #59

kerng wrote: post #46

Vic Gundotra (VP Google) said back when Microsoft bought Nokia that "two turkeys don't make an eagle". Google officially has become the Microosft of the mid 2000s. Lack of direction and innovation, buying up companies just for the sake of it. Here is a link to Google's anology: https://www.techspot.com/news/42338-google-attacks-nokia-and...

Google has a long and successful history of acquisitions, as also a long history of lack of direction and headless actions even in their youth days. It's probably just natural for a company with too much money to invest that way.

Please point at some of those successful Google acquisitions - the more I think about it the less I can point at anything apart from Android.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#80

Post by foota » Fri, Nov 01, 2019, 1:56 PM UTC

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #40

taneq wrote: post #29

Reminder for anyone who used a Pebble: Your data will have been sold to FitBit and so Google now gets it. Yay!

Assuming Google legitimately doesn't try to retain deleted data as they claim, you just need to delete your Fitbit account before the acquisition closes to ensure Google never lays hands on it.

That doesn't really follow. Not retaining data is something that has to be built into a product, and so would need to have been done by Fitbit.