Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Fitbit Files IPO

sec.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 108 posts

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#81

Post by clarky07 »

djloche wrote: post #6
RKearney wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that is simply not true.

They are, and it's been their policy to do so since Day 1, but they haven't enforced it widely. edit: Clearer: Apps that work with other watch platforms are now in conflict with Apple's policy of not mentioning a competing platform, because now Apple has a watch platform. It makes sense from an Android-iOS sense, because the systems aren't compatible, so no real need to mention it. But if the entire purpose of your a…

Apple quickly reversed that rejection, and stated that it wasn't their policy in regards to Pebble.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#82

Post by clarky07 »

encoderer wrote: post #69
krschultz wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FitBit has a brand. You can't build that in a weekend. In fact, you don't need to build one at all. AliBaba returns over 14k results for "fitness tracker", and I imagine many of them are exact FitBit clones. However, consumer product businesses are about way more than just the product itself. Marketing matters. Distribution matters. Apple bought Beats not because they couldn't create headphones, but because they want…

A separate fitness tracker is the PDA-and-flip-phone combo of 2015. Once there are popular and mainstream wearable computers, I have no need for a separate fitness tracker. And that will happen as surely as things will continue to get smaller.

It already exists. Apple watch does what fitbit does along with plenty of other useful stuff. I can't imagine why anyone would use a fitbit instead, other than perhaps cost. That's not a great thing to be your only way of competing.

As it happens, while typing this comment, my watch let me know it was time to stand up and move around :-P

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#83

Post by clarky07 »

hbhakhra wrote: post #11
eroo wrote: post #2

Devices in millions [2011,2014]: 0.2, 1.3, 4.5, 10.9 Revenue in millions [2011,2014[: 14.5, 76.4, 271.1, 745.4 Paid active users in millions [2011,2014]: NULL, 0.6, 2.6, 6.7 I realize they sell more than just pedometers, but their core product is a 3-axis accelerometer that calculates a dubious step count w/o really actionable insights. Imagine what this can be once there start to be useful applications/more of the d…

Believe me, I thought the FitBit was a stupid device when I heard about it, but then I got one for free from work. Having it on your wrist all day and tracking all your activity really did make a difference for me and for my friends that have it - to the point where I convinced friends to get the FitBit. The effectiveness of the FitBit, just by my anecdote, is that it tracks all your steps, even for little things suc…

But now, the big question is can it compete with Apple Watch? I didn't really "get" the idea at first, but now that I have an Apple Watch I have actually paid attention and enjoyed the activity app for all the reasons you stated above.

Why not get the Apple Watch instead, and enjoy all of the other features you can have too? I think the comparison in a comment above to camera/video camera is spot on. It's a great feature for this other all purpose computing device I happen to have. I don't expect it will be a standalone product 5 years from now in any significant numbers.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#84

Post by mikestew »

gruez wrote: post #75
wordbank wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wear FitBit for 2 years 24/7, including sleep tracking. It works for a week on a single charge. Can you do this with iPhone or Pebble?

Chances are, you already have a smartphone/smartwatch that you need to keep constantly charged. The device's battery life is irrelevant.

Not only does my Pebble stay charged regardless of whether I use the fitness options or not (because step tracking is not the main reason I wear a Pebble), it will also last 5 days on a charge, which is close enough to the referenced week.

Another commenter put it much better than my original post with the PDA/flip phone analogy. I'm going to wear my Pebble anyway, why would I add a Fitbit to my wrist? Cell phones didn't put Canon and Nikon out of business, but they sure gutted their low end market. And I don't see a Fitbit as offering a fitness tracker that's equivalent to a DSLR. If they did, I'll guess it would start to look a lot like a Garmin or Suunto product. Good luck going up against those folks.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#85

Post by SimpleMinds »

mikestew wrote: post #58

I dunno, this kind of reminds me of the Flip video camera. Great little device, inexpensive. I bought one. Shortly after, cell phones became just as capable of being fits-in-a-pocket video recorders. Maybe not HD, but good enough. (Though some would argue cell phones had nothing to do with the demise of Flip. [0]) I see a similar pattern with FitBit. It's a 3-axis accelerometer with some firmware and software. Someon…

Thank you for the link, I haven't read it before. Interesting part for me was

"That is, when you’re in a Wi-Fi hot spot, the entire world can see what you’re filming. You can post a link to Twitter or Facebook, or send an e-mail link to friends. Anyone who clicks the link can see what you’re seeing, in real time — thousands of people at once."

That's wow for me as this is almost exactly what Periscope is doing, which is popular around me right now. I had to check the date of article, 2011. Wow. 4 years earlier is a lot :)

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#86

Post by visarga »

Are they still here? My FitBit is almost useless for me. It rots in a drawer. When I bought it I had trouble using it with my Samsung S4 - unsupported phone because Bluetooth something yada yada. Maybe they evolved since.

Their website was ugly and hard to use. Their apps too, and they banned specific phone models and countries from installing the app. Very vexing to be left out on purpose, after buying the damned thing.

Sleep tracking? I had to TELL it when I went to sleep and woke up (the magical five-times-tapping). So, basically, it's the same thing I could do with a notepad and a pen on the nightstand.

I use my phone to track my calories since.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#87

Post by lxcid »

epmatsw wrote: post #3

I used to be pretty on the FitBit train, but I don't think that I'm in their camp any more. Refusing to integrate with Healthkit, purposefully building their challenges feature to reject data input through their APIs, and charging for access to raw data are enough to ensure that I'll never buy one of their products again. Kind of a shame, their hardware, dashboard, and app are all pretty great :(

Yep! Exactly why I stop using them and will not consider them at all. It's a crowded market and they are not standing out.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#88

Post by visarga »

ucha wrote: post #37

With revenue tripling every year and projected net income around or over 200M this year, I wouldn't be surprised if Fitbit was valued at a P/E over 50. They would be worth $10+ B which is a huge surprise to say the least.

They put a product out a little before the curve, but now all cell phones can run accelerometer logs in background and there are more prestigious and advanced smart watches.

Maybe if they played nice and opened their API / allowed devs to play with the damn thing, they could compete more with Apple, which does the same for its products.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#89

Post by cdcarter »

Many of the comments on this thread have been about their Surge product and comparisons to the Apple Watch. Though the Surge is their "flagship", in reality I see the One and Zip a LOT more. For people who aren't interested in a smart-watch or wearable (and believe me, there are many people who don't believe in the value of one yet) the Fitbit One fills a great market between a high end fitness tracker, and a cheap free pedometer that you got from work.

Re: Fitbit Files IPO

#90

Post by vtail »

DenisM wrote: post #51
vtail wrote: post #24

I used to be a Fitbit fan, but now I switched to Garmin Vivofit (and later Vivofit 2) and never looked back. My data is open, I have a battery that lasts a year+(!), a watch and an HR monitor (with a strap) in one device.

That's two devices, not one - a watch, and a strap.

Yes, but everything other than HRM is available in the vivid it itself.
Post reply on HN