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Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

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Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#691

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From https://www.apple.com/ios/health/ > Your health data stays up to date across all your devices automatically using iCloud, where it is encrypted while in transit and at rest. Apps that access HealthKit are required to have a privacy policy, so be sure to review these policies before providing apps with access to your health and fitness data. That it is uploaded and capable of being shared with apps implies that A…

I think all the decryption happens on the phone, so Apple can't actually see your iCloud data.

I would be very surprised if that were true. Apple needs to be able to help users reset passwords and recover data. And it would be a complicated key management situation when adding or removing devices.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#692
post #684

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You already have right to delete in this instance.

In Europe, sure. What about those of us in the United States and other places with laxer privacy laws?

Fitbit allows you to download or delete your data regardless of where you live.

Here’s a quote from the NYT:

“You will always be in control of your data, and we will remain transparent about the data we collect and why,” Fitbit’s chief executive, James Park, said in an email to his company’s customers on Friday morning. “We never sell your personal information, and Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads.”

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#693

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"democracy" literally means "rule by people" or "government by people". You are in effect claiming that America isn't a democracy (which may or may not be true, sometimes you look suspiciously like an aristocracy in disguise). Anyway, over here in continental Europe democracy mostly works. And when people complained about privacy issues for years and Facebook laughed in our faces we eventually got the GDPR. That's ex…

America is not a democracy — it is a constitutional republic with democratic elements. America has democratic election of representatives, the the lawmaking is done by those representatives, not directly. California’s proposition system is an example of true direct democracy. The constitutional part is important too — it limits what people, and their representatives, can do even if they have a majority.

> America is not a democracy — it is a constitutional republic with democratic elements.

People like to say this all the time like it's clever, but being a republic does not preclude being democratic. The United States is a democracy.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#694

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America is not a democracy — it is a constitutional republic with democratic elements. America has democratic election of representatives, the the lawmaking is done by those representatives, not directly. California’s proposition system is an example of true direct democracy. The constitutional part is important too — it limits what people, and their representatives, can do even if they have a majority.

> America is not a democracy — it is a constitutional republic with democratic elements. People like to say this all the time like it's clever, but being a republic does not preclude being democratic. The United States is a democracy.

> being a republic does not preclude being democratic.

No, but the particular form of the US republic does so in practice.

> The United States is a democracy.

The United States may have been built around an idea of representative democracy, but in function it is more of a plutocratic republic with quasi-democratic rituals.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#695
post #677

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what I told you ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21332308 ). The issue is repeating the same thing over and over at any mention of a triggering topic, or even (as in this thread) with no mention of it. Repetition spoils curiosity. When users repeat the same thing so often that it starts to sound like an idée fixe, other users get upset and call it spamming, and eventually we have to ask the person to…

An obsession ... no ... where its relevant I have spoken about it. Like if I say I loathe Google and then asked why I provided the reason. When ATAP released some new tech I pondered X. All done in the last two to three weeks. Further, everything else I commented on in the last two to three weeks had nothing to do with X. Since our last exchange I haven't posted anything about it or had planned to. Here in this hidde…

It's helpful to remember that HN is ultimately an entertainment site. We like to convince ourselves that our words matter and affect the world. And in some cases they do. But in most cases, people come here to distract themselves and to feel good. It's why they keep coming back.

If you want people to listen, you have to make it entertaining. If you want to tell a story, then tell a story! Spend a few hours putting all of your thoughts down on paper (not in a comment, but probably not on real paper, ha; put it on your own website). Go into juicy detail with your experiences. Make people feel like they were in your shoes. Put them in your mindset, your hopes and dreams, make them identify with your motivations. Make them feel how exciting it was when you were invited to Google, and how disappointing it felt to realize what it was really about. Don't tell them; show them. When you do this well, you get people on your side.

Everyone has a story to tell. But if you want people to listen, you have to really work for your audience and show them that you're doing it for them.

Turn it into something fun! I dug deeply into your comment history out of curiosity. The reason everyone is telling you to keep quiet is that when you write, you sound angry and hurt. But we have all experienced situations where someone has made us angry or hurt us. That's what power is: the ability to hurt you and not worry about consequences. It happens.

For various reasons, it's in my best interest to say nothing here. But I note you've been with HN since 2007, and have contributed 594 comments. That counts for something.

So, word of advice: when you come to an entertainment site, you have to be entertaining. But your HN profile, which is supposed to be about you, is about Google. You call them pigs, right there in your profile. Even if that were hypothetically true, what are people supposed to think when they read that? I search your comment history and see that 85 of your 594 comments are about Google: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

That's a ratio of 14.3%. Almost 15% of your sum total output on HN has been about Google, since 2007. In comparison, the #1 HN user by karma has mentioned Google 1,561 times out of 53,789 comments = 2.9% of the time. You're talking about google almost 5 times more frequently than other long-time members. That's why people are saying it's an obsession.

When people wrong you, and then you make your life about them, that's just them controlling you. Why let them win like that?

Now, the reason I said all of this, and why I'm sticking my neck out here to post this comment, is that I suspect -- just a hunch -- that you might have otherwise been inclined to bring up Google in the future. But I also suspect that if you keep doing this, and you don't change your methods, you're going to lose your HN privileges, and that no one will disagree with that decision. Poof. Gone.

It's Friday, man. It's the weekend. You in Chicago? If so, let me know! We can go out to a bar and I promise I'll really listen to everything you have to say about Google and about HN.

Just... have fun with life, you know? There's more to life than all of this. You're an inventor! Don't you still find joy in finding things to make? What happened to that creative spark?

I believe in you, and I believe you can still invent things and make positive contributions to the world. Don't let all this get you down. Just remember: HN is supposed to be fun. That's the real strength of the community.

Best of luck!

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#696
Negative spin: So your current fitbit will be useless in around 2 years, your data will be used for sales and the whole thing will collapse as a sunsetted product in 4-5 years.

Positive spin: new features, better integration with google ecosystem (whatever that means), ... um?

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#697

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An obsession ... no ... where its relevant I have spoken about it. Like if I say I loathe Google and then asked why I provided the reason. When ATAP released some new tech I pondered X. All done in the last two to three weeks. Further, everything else I commented on in the last two to three weeks had nothing to do with X. Since our last exchange I haven't posted anything about it or had planned to. Here in this hidde…

It's helpful to remember that HN is ultimately an entertainment site. We like to convince ourselves that our words matter and affect the world. And in some cases they do. But in most cases, people come here to distract themselves and to feel good. It's why they keep coming back. If you want people to listen, you have to make it entertaining. If you want to tell a story, then tell a story! Spend a few hours putting al…

So let me ask you SillySaurUs... if Google invites you out to demo your blood/sweat/tears and you have no power/connections/money are you going to accept their invitation?

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#698
post #675

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People were using Fitbit, not Google, and now their data is in Google's hands without their consent. Even if they stop using their devices immediately, Google still has the data Fitbit collected previously. It's a good lesson about being willing to share data: even if you trust the company you're sharing with, a company you don't trust may end up buying that company and getting your data after all. If you're privacy-…

You can download your data [1] and delete your account [2]. These are two things I always check for before trusting anyone with my data. [1] https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1133 [2] https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1285

What you can’t do is delete the data that Google is collecting on you without an account. Data your family gives them. Data from your emails that land in gmail inboxes. Data from the umpteen thousand cookies that lead back to Google.

I’d like to see what Google has on me, but without an account I can’t.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#699

Negative spin: So your current fitbit will be useless in around 2 years, your data will be used for sales and the whole thing will collapse as a sunsetted product in 4-5 years. Positive spin: new features, better integration with google ecosystem (whatever that means), ... um?

I think from history we can see that google will experiment with multiple products in the same space and kill off unsuccessful versions (video, social networks, chat, productivity etc) and that they will also make bets on more fringe areas and kill it if it doesn’t work. Fitbit seems different then, because google doesn’t have an alternative product nor is it a niche market (the fact that Tim Cook says that we will all remember apple most for their contributions to health probably means this space will blow up!). Fitbit clearly couldn’t innovate fast enough so for consumers it’s probably just a good thing.

Re: Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B

#700
post #692

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe, sure. What about those of us in the United States and other places with laxer privacy laws?

Fitbit allows you to download or delete your data regardless of where you live. Here’s a quote from the NYT: “You will always be in control of your data, and we will remain transparent about the data we collect and why,” Fitbit’s chief executive, James Park, said in an email to his company’s customers on Friday morning. “We never sell your personal information, and Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for…

What does that even mean? The company was bought by Google, the data has been sold.
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