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Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

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Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#91

Post by feniv »

mcormier wrote: post #68

Shameless plug. I've started a project to track any data that I want and stop relying on all of these free sites because of this loss of data issue. The source code is here: https://github.com/mcormier/tallyman and you can see it in action here: http://stats.preenandprune.com I haven't tackled generated graphs from the SQL data yet but plan to eventually. The one graph on the page was generated with Apple's Numbers.…

I've also been working on something very similar (general data tracking with an awesome API) for a couple of months now. It's not quiet ready yet, but I would love to have your input on it once it's online!

(P.S. My project is also heavily inspired by the features and shortcomings of Daytum (namely the lack of an API), which is frankly the best self tracking tool available at the moment.)

Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#92

Post by qdot76367 »

vitovito wrote: post #90
qdot76367 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I will admit that information does end up being the main problem. I've been doing this long enough that it's pretty much second nature these days, and I just find myself going "but what is there to teach?". I've taught workshops on other subjects before, and usually once I get going to writing cirriculum that question answers itself in spades, though. Just need the motivation. I'm finishing up another personal…

I ran fifteen design workshops in 2010, so feel free to ping me off HN if you have questions or need support. The HID protocol used by the USB version of the Neurosky Mindwave EEG headset is also undocumented AFAIK, and I could test drive your training using that. You might also consider trying out Zed Shaw's "Learn X the Hard Way" format as a framework, which he recently formally published: https://gitorious.org/lea…

Huh. I used to maintain bindings for the old bluetooth neurosky mindset for PureData/MaxMSP, never thought about the issues with their new headset with proprietary radio not having drivers. They were usually pretty good about open sourcing stuff too.

Last workshop I taught was http://artandcode.com/3d/workshops/2b-teledildonics-with-the..., which I had to compress into 3 hours so it was more an overview sort of thing. I think this workshop will require a nice device to start reversing from scratch, which is something else I'm going to have to figure out. Fitbit would suck since you'd have to learn USB, then ANT. Would like to get one HID device, one non-HID, just to cover most of the bases.

Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#93

Post by Domenic_S »

beaumartinez wrote: post #29

I feel the same with regards to my Nike FuelBand. I even asked Nike if they would provide an API[0] (they won't). Fortunately their web app keeps your NikeFuel—Nike's activity metric—for every day (in 15-minute increments) as a global JavaScript variable. I wrote a scraper[1] to get me my data. I wonder if you can do the same with Fitbit. [0] https://twitter.com/NikeFuel/status/205424488836370433 [1] https://github.c…

> @beaumartinez Unfortunately, there will be no public API.

I always wonder why company reps phrase it this way. "Unfortunately"? For us, yeah, it's unfortunate. But for Nike...?

Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#94

Post by ISL »

unreal37 wrote: post #85

So this may be a counter argument to the "Hacker" culture, but here goes. Hopefully this can spark an interesting discussion. I own a fitbit, and have loved it. I don't regret paying the $99 for it. I log into the web site, and see my daily totals, and the little graph showing when my activity spikes were. At the end of a grueling day walking around New York City, I can tell my wife that we took 20,000 steps and that…

Spectral analysis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_density_estimation

Without frequent sampling, you can't get access to high frequency information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyquist_frequency

An example (not for regular sampling, but I hope it gets the point across): if a pedometer records the time of every footfall through the day, you can discern whether your pace is faster on Tuesdays than Sundays, even if you take the same number of steps. If those data are aggregated into steps/hour, you'll never see it.

The lack of open access to the data acquired by a FitBit (I'd been considering buying one) is a certain dealbreaker.

Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#95

Post by jessedhillon »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #73
jessedhillon wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah you do in order to use the SaaS, unless you dump the data over USB and process it yourself. Honestly, I have to imagine that the objection to $7/mo is on principle with this crowd, and not a financial issue. This is the same crowd though, who loves to shout "if you're not paying for it, you're the customer" so here we have a situation where you're paying for what you use. Is the price you're paying set by percep…

If they want to charge more, they should charge more. It's not just about overall value. For a moment let's focus on devices that charge solely to get the raw data two feet onto a computer. The user pays $5 for this service. What are they actually paying for the company to do? Nothing. They're not buying a license, they're not receiving any service... It's in fact not a sale at all, it's a gift of $5. You can't have…

You're paying for the SaaS, which not only receives the measurements from the device, but processes and stores it, while giving you a UI to access it. And then they maintain the servers, fix the bugs and add features.

So your only gripe really is that they're selling it as a service, instead of a single box install. Which is fine, but let's not pretend that this isn't a legitimate business model and probably the prevailing way of making a dollar in our industry. It's completely legitimate to sell SaaS and allow access only on a subscription basis.

Why shouldn't you pay to have your data stored and compiled into reports on an ongoing basis? And if you don't want that, as I've said, the serial protocol is completely hackable by even noobs.

Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#96

Post by berkay »

jessedhillon wrote: post #95
Dylan16807 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they want to charge more, they should charge more. It's not just about overall value. For a moment let's focus on devices that charge solely to get the raw data two feet onto a computer. The user pays $5 for this service. What are they actually paying for the company to do? Nothing. They're not buying a license, they're not receiving any service... It's in fact not a sale at all, it's a gift of $5. You can't have…

You're paying for the SaaS, which not only receives the measurements from the device, but processes and stores it, while giving you a UI to access it. And then they maintain the servers, fix the bugs and add features. So your only gripe really is that they're selling it as a service, instead of a single box install. Which is fine, but let's not pretend that this isn't a legitimate business model and probably the prev…

The problem is not being able to use the device at all without the paid service. You have to pay regardless of whether you want them to store your data or not (I don't). I don't think it's surprising that many people have aversion to paying for a product that they can only use as long as they continue to pay a monthly fee.

Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#97

Post by ejain »

unreal37 wrote: post #85

So this may be a counter argument to the "Hacker" culture, but here goes. Hopefully this can spark an interesting discussion. I own a fitbit, and have loved it. I don't regret paying the $99 for it. I log into the web site, and see my daily totals, and the little graph showing when my activity spikes were. At the end of a grueling day walking around New York City, I can tell my wife that we took 20,000 steps and that…

The total number of steps in neat, but I'm more interested in seeing how often and how long I move (or don't move). I consider 20,000 steps followed by 6 hours of non-stop slouching in front of the computer less ideal than just 10,000 steps but never sitting for more than an hour at a time. Fitbit doesn't provide this analysis, but I can do it myself with access to minute-by-minute data.

Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#99

Post by Gormo »

jessedhillon wrote: post #27

The Bodymedia FIT, in addition to being a superior device overall(1), has an API which let's you access caloric burn and other data up to single minute detail levels. If you Google around, there are some blog posts describing how to dump data from it using standard USB serial port drivers. API webpage: https://developer.bodymedia.com/docs/read/Home 1- The Bodymedia gives you steps taken as well as accurate sleep and…

Are there any similar products that store and analyze data locally? I've been looking into getting something like this, but I wouldn't want any of the data uploaded to the internet at all.

Re: Fitbit, why can’t I have my data?

#100

Post by Gormo »

jessedhillon wrote: post #95
Dylan16807 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they want to charge more, they should charge more. It's not just about overall value. For a moment let's focus on devices that charge solely to get the raw data two feet onto a computer. The user pays $5 for this service. What are they actually paying for the company to do? Nothing. They're not buying a license, they're not receiving any service... It's in fact not a sale at all, it's a gift of $5. You can't have…

You're paying for the SaaS, which not only receives the measurements from the device, but processes and stores it, while giving you a UI to access it. And then they maintain the servers, fix the bugs and add features. So your only gripe really is that they're selling it as a service, instead of a single box install. Which is fine, but let's not pretend that this isn't a legitimate business model and probably the prev…

But why is the software designed as SaaS in the first place? Capturing and analyzing data and providing a UI are functions easily accomplished by a desktop application. Why are users locked into a subscription model to access the data output by hardware that they've purchased?
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