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Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

cnbc.com

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Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#271

Post by judge2020 »

Razengan wrote: post #78

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?

Yes, assuming the customer is aware of the acquisition/aware of their data being under new ownership, and assuming the company isn't malicious about secretly storing this data after the fact, they can ask either fitbit or Google to delete the data. For both PR and Legal reasons they allow this.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#272

Post by qzx_pierri »

windexh8er wrote: post #110
neuromancer2701 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

$99? A brand new Garmin Vivofit 4 which has an always on display and a year of battery life is $79.99 USD. It's the low margin segment of the space and that's where Fitbit put all their eggs. Fitbit didn't really invest in anything behind low-end fitness tracking well. They tried, but people buy other products now. They want heart rate, they want GPS, they want PulseOx and ECG features and will pay for them. Regardle…

Doesn’t support heart rate tracking or phone notifications. Nice try though.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#273

Post by MiracleUser »

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?

It's just capitalism consolidating its losses.

Both sides can lighten up some overworked desks. Fitbit can cut some management overhead by being under google, and google can cut some operations overhead by allocating to fitbit.

Overall it is less of a failure to merge than them failing independently.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#274

Post by briffle »

undefined3840 wrote: post #259

I think all this talk about Facebook and paid political ads missing the key problem I have with ads-based businesses and that is there are certain things you just shouldn’t be able to target ads to people with, including health information. If congress wanted to regulate big tech they should enforce certain basic standards around 1) what information can be used to target consumers with 2) the granularity of the data.…

There have been quite a few lawsuits around related subjects. Facebook got sued because their targeting of ads allowed people to do things like target jobs to only men [0], or only to certain ethnicities [1], etc. Certainly, in some cases, targeting gender makes sense, but allowing it across the board gets a little scary.

0: https://www.vox.com/2019/3/21/18275746/facebook-settles-ad-d... 1: https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-advertising-discriminat...

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#275

Post by sorenjan »

This is $2.1B that would have been better spent on improving WearOS, get Spotify offline support, and maybe make their own Pixel watch.

Google hasn't really showed any interest for watches in years, this is a weird buy.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#278

Post by qzx_pierri »

scarface74 wrote: post #122
kungito wrote: post #49

I for one welcome this change. I want a standalone smartwatch good enough so that I can stop using my phone. The state of smartwatches right now is quite sad (I cannot afford an Apple smartwatch so I cannot speak for those). The simple list of things I want from a smartwatch right now are barely fulfilled by the best I could find which is Huawei Watch 2. I want Google Pay, calls and LTE, proper Maps navigation, sendi…

The Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular is $329. How much cheaper can you get a smart watch with cellular, gps, health sensors, etc?

Does it have a 6 day battery? My Fitbit does.
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