Why isnt it Alphabet buying Fitbit, instead of Google? Does that make a difference?
Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
281–290 of 784 posts
Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#282My friends and I have this theory that the top management at Google feels they are extremely close to general AI. With acquisitions like this we would hazard the guess that they want to see what data they are missing that could feed that borg and then buy a company that could supply the missing bits. They just have to promise that they won’t use it for ads. But if that AI gets better and better soon they have enormous new opportunities.
Just a theory though.
Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#283I 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/stor…
Yeah but Facebook got sued for that because those violated existing laws. There’s no regulation around using any data for targeting purposes for most regular or political online ads, and I’m saying that should be the focus when it comes to regulation but have not heard anything other than “Facebook is destroying democracy!”
Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#284so now my watch spies on my like nest? great
Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#285>Google has made progress with partners in this space with Wear OS and Google Fit, but we see an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market. I think it's pretty clear Google hasn't made much progress with Wear OS. Otherwise they wouldn't have needed to buy both Fossil and Fitbit. Maybe they should just use Fitbit OS and scale it up this time.
Maybe they will put Fuchsia on it?
Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not so loyal, also based on personal anecdotes: wife and me both had to have our fitbits replaced and with mine dead again, I'm looking at everything except Fitbit. Scouring forums full of people with bizarre problems with their devices (usually connection related tho that might be only a symptom), I get the impression I'm not an outlier. Fitbit built up a huge fan base but looks to me like it is now in the process o…
I've been getting the same impression. It's the sort of thing that can happen when a company is on hard times and cutting corners perhaps. Glad to see them purchased by a company with deep pockets and a real interest in making Fitbit a success.
Unfortunately Google is known for its terrible customer support and sunsetting services early. It could go either way.
Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#287I 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?
Is there a way to send voice messages without using the phone? Does any of the bigger chat apps offer the "record voice" button?
Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone stated below, YouTube is still not profitable. Waze is really not adding to their bottom line, and DoubleClick was to increase their advertising reach. It’s really not analogous to their hardware acquisitions.
"as someone stated"... Google has never released Youtube numbers, so I can't say that. I will tell you that youtube is the dominant video platform on the internet. You do realize Youtube shows ads? and those ads are part of google's ad revenue? But the numbers have been inferred "YouTube probably generates $16 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue"[1] Waze drives all of their google maps traffic data. Again, indus…
Just an FYI - Google Maps doesn't get traffic or user data from Waze. Maps gets it's data from Android and people who have Google Maps open on their phones.
https://fortune.com/2019/10/11/waze-google-maps-how-it-works...
Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#289Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Fitbit also comes with users, brand recognition and goodwill.