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Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

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Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#221

Post by latexr »

onion2k wrote: post #146
kelnos wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't read as I'm on a no-Twitter diet, so I'm not sure exactly which app they're referring to, but my Oral-B toothbrush has an app that tracks brushing habits over Bluetooth. I decided when I bought it that I would never ever ever install that app or make use of these features (it's tooth-brushing , for crying out loud), and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. I'm sure the company just wants to collect d…

Aren't you buying a toothbrush with a bunch of features you'll never use though? Why not just buy a less fully-featured privacy respecting toothbrush? (Something is up with the world when you're thinking about toothbrushes that respect your privacy. It's like something out of a Douglas Adams book.)

This is speculation, but maybe electric toothbrushes are going the way of TVs, in that most have “smart” features and you pay a premium for one without.

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#222

Post by latexr »

beryilma wrote: post #152

Next we will get subscription toothbrush features. Personally, I want my ultrasonic toothbrush to hum to the tune of Taylor Swift songs. More seriously, at this point, any idiot who downloads such invasive apps deserves its consequences.

> at this point, any idiot who downloads such invasive apps deserves its consequences.

Most people aren’t aware of how invasive these are. That doesn’t make them idiots. Instead of ignoring them you should do the exact opposite: have empathy for them and let them know what’s happening. Only when enough people know what these companies are up to and say “no more” will anything change.

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#223

Post by latexr »

layer8 wrote: post #62
FredPret wrote: post #58

I bought an electric toothbrush from Walmart for $6.99 probably 5 years ago. It takes Oral-B brush heads and AA batteries. It's not capable of using an app. Who know being a tech guy would make me love as-simple-as-possible "retro" devices.

That’s every other tech guy. It’s a common effect.

And it’s common in many industries, not only in tech. We even have an idiom that refers to it.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/how_the_sausage_gets_made

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#224

Post by winternewt »

The "Bose Music" Android app, which is essentially two sliders for controlling volume and noise cancellation, plus a firmware update tool, is also 300 MB.

I remember when my Atari ST had 60 MB hard drive space in total, and I could fit every piece of software I owned on it.

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#225

Post by mrwizardno2 »

mbirth wrote: post #220
mturmon wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, regarding your first point -- the replacement brushes are also an Oral-B product, so prompting for frequent replacement of the brushes would be a way to make more money.

In my Sonicare, the brush heads have an NFC chip in them that stores the “runtime”. After xx uses an icon starts blinking on the handle and the app will tell you that the brush head needs to be replaced. But at least you’re free to ignore that and continue using it.

For now... Just wait, some bright-eyed underling will undoubtedly see this comment and then pitch their boss: "Man, oh man! I know how we can increase revenue, let's DISABLE brush heads when they hit 90 days and FORCE the user to buy a new one!" You've just doomed us all. >.< hah!

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#226

Post by prmoustache »

cj wrote: post #150
alentred wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> showed an up-to-date current world events news feed Say what now? Oral-B? World events news feed?

ADA recommends brushing your teeth for 4 minutes a day (2 mins morning/night). 2 minutes feels incredibly long for a lot of people. Doing something that feels productive or provides 2 minutes of entertainment while simultaneously operating as a timer seems like not so crazy of an idea.

> 2 minutes feels incredibly long for a lot of people.

The tiktok generation. What happens to good old sand timer technology?

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#228

Post by somedude895 »

barbazoo wrote: post #59
eagerpace wrote: post #20

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?

The app probably makes you enter personal information like age and location, which is already very valuable.

But honestly I'd say that it's probably more about them being able to market their own products to you by displaying ads and sending you push notifications on new deals on brushes, rather than selling your data to third parties.

Re: Why is the Oral-B iOS app almost 300 MB? And why is Colgate's app even bigger..?

#229

Post by aequitas »

johndough wrote: post #86
barbazoo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

> What they know is how long the toothbrush is on. How are they going to monetize that data? "We noticed that brushing takes you X seconds longer than usual. Do you want to buy new bristles for your tooth brush?" "We noticed you haven't used our tooth brush in a while. Do you want to buy our new tooth brush?" "We noticed that you started brushing your teeth earlier than usual. This probably means that you started a n…

From a marketing point of view, they don't even need your data. They just recommend/spam you to buy a new brush every few weeks. Als long as they have a way to get into your attention zone, reminding you of them and to push messages for you to keep consuming.
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