101–110 of 247 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To collect data so they can do marketing and advertising to customers.
How does that work here? Say I have that toothbrush, the app, and say I had to sign up to use it. What they know is how long the toothbrush is on. How are they going to monetize that data?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They should just be made properly - a properly made PDF is less than a megabyte, and model pictures should be just hundreds of KB. Takes a lot of models and instructions to burn hundreds of megs that way.
Eh, I disagree. High res images are big no matter what way you cut it, and my mobile resolution is 2550x1800 - I don’t mind the detail. But I don’t need that detail for 15 different toothbrush models.
That's slightly less than half the height and width of your phone's screen respectively, so a decent representative of a model photo dimensions (which are usually widgets smaller than the screen).
Model images would compress much better as they are edited to be much cleaner with smoothed solid colors and either solid or transparent backgrounds, and for something like a toothbrush you'd have an incredibly narrow image geometry making the final image likely much smaller.
Even if you'd consider this image too small or too low resolution, bumping those would not push us past 150 or maybe maximum 200KB.
(That repo has plenty of examples of other configuration examples if one is curious.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The same reason your smartwatch and bathroom scale has an app: People want to log and track their health data.
But you're logging actual data with those? Or do they make tooth brushes which monitor your mouth's biome or something like that these days?
- Brushing pressure
- How long you brush
- When you brush
- Where you brush (tracking orientation and motion)
With that, you might see some trend of "you brush your left-back-bottom teeth a little harder than the rest, and you're not quite getting your front middle teeth very well".
Now, if that data is actually useful logged and analyzed is another question.
I've got a toothbrush that theoretically has bluetooth connectivity support. I've never used it. But I do like there's a colorful ring that lights up to show the brushing pressure and I do like the 30 second timer feature to help ensure I brush each area of my mouth about the same amount of time. Neither require bluetooth and an app though.
My question is: why do an Oral-B app and a Colgate app even exist?
I'm surprised that health insurance companies haven't started offering "good brusher" discounts the way car insurance companies offer a "good driver" discount when you use their car data logging device/app.
[1] https://www.vox.com/23901293/dentist-delta-dental-insurance-...
My question is: why do an Oral-B app and a Colgate app even exist?
To collect data so they can do marketing and advertising to customers.
That's just an example guess, but the bloat is there for a purpose... I'm pretty sure the app gets updated on intervals too, just like so many others under the guise of "security or functional updates".
We're in an era where data is weaponized for profit maximization... The most simple and seemingly benign data sets when combined strategically can work against consumers deeply.
We need app audit boards now, maybe even on a government level, and specific detail of everything apps do to be displayed in app stores. There should be serious consequences if apps are found to do things that are not detailed in their release/update descriptions. This collected data can persist forever, and be used in some of the most destructive ways.
Device/OS makers also need to do better at preventing/partitioning non-essential apps from collecting data they don't need access to...
Likely reasons why this isn't already in place is because most don't know how it happens, and many others are invested in these companies, so they turn a blind eye on regulation of them.
My question is: why do an Oral-B app and a Colgate app even exist?
Personally I just used it once and ended up removing it, but I can see some people using it to ensure their brushing is efficient.
Anyway, it's completely optional, you can just use the brush ignoring the existence of the app.
My question is: why do an Oral-B app and a Colgate app even exist?
The same reason they now have a toothbrush with AI. Because they are in a race to continuously re-invent the toothbrush every year to create new USPs, create new marketing angles and keep sales high.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They should just be made properly - a properly made PDF is less than a megabyte, and model pictures should be just hundreds of KB. Takes a lot of models and instructions to burn hundreds of megs that way.
Eh, I disagree. High res images are big no matter what way you cut it, and my mobile resolution is 2550x1800 - I don’t mind the detail. But I don’t need that detail for 15 different toothbrush models.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
to log how well you're brushing your teeth, so it can advise you on how to brush your teeth better, so you can have better teeth and not have to see the dentist. it's a late stage technology thing. I wasn't born with an innate ability to know how to brush my teeth or how to shave (my electric razor also has an app), I had to learn how. If the devices I use can tell that I'm using them wrong, and there's a better way…
Except brushing is just one piece of an overall oral health. Flossing is another thing. Then you got your diet which plays a great role in your teeth health. How would one tracking app know all of this?
I don't care for an app-connected toothbrush personally. But suggesting that just because it can't keep track of your diet overall means it can't possibly give any insights in health is overly reductive. A workout tracker app can't keep track of your food intake, but that doesn't mean it can't help the user be healthier.
