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Fitbit is now officially part of Google

blog.fitbit.com

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Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#101

Post by RHSeeger »

Dig1t wrote: post #95
tomComb wrote: post #93

I'm sure the sentiment here will be very much against this acquisition, but keep in mind that Fitbit was getting killed and would likely have gone out of business without this. It is tough for a company like Fitbit to compete with Apple & Samsung. This should lead to more competition by making it possible for Fitbit to compete with Apple. If it doesn't then the acquisition was a failure for Google anyway - Fitbit's c…

The reason why it's difficult for them to compete with Apple and Samsung isn't readily apparent to me. There still seems to be a large hole in the smartwatch market for a GOOD Android-compatible smartwatch. There are a lot of options, but, to me, none of them are as polished or feature-heavy as the Apple Watch. It doesn't seem that one of these companies would need access to any special internal APIs or anything to b…

What about the spot it started out in? A watch that keeps track of some vital signs. I don't want an Android-compatible smartwatch. I don't want a smartwatch at all. I want a simple "health" device.

I got a new fitbit for Christmas because I couldn't even initialize it without installing their app on my smartphone. I don't want their app on my phone. I don't want it to report all my info to their servers. I don't want it to have access to my gps location, which is might be reporting in. My old fitbit doesn't need any of that at all, and I don't see the need for a new one (that would meet my needs) to, either.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#102

Post by breck »

tomComb wrote: post #96
Dig1t wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason why it's difficult for them to compete with Apple and Samsung isn't readily apparent to me. There still seems to be a large hole in the smartwatch market for a GOOD Android-compatible smartwatch. There are a lot of options, but, to me, none of them are as polished or feature-heavy as the Apple Watch. It doesn't seem that one of these companies would need access to any special internal APIs or anything to b…

I'm a long time Fitbit user and I think their products are great. From that perspective I'm just happy that they will survive. > so I don't see what Google could add other than lots of money and SWE hours That matters. > IMO letting Fitbit die would have been better for users privacy-wise. Have you seen what some companies do when they are on the brink of insolvency? They start firing engineers, best practices lapse,…

Fellow long time FitBit user and agree with everything you said.

Furthermore, I pay for FitBit Premium and would strongly encourage Google to always keep FitBit a paid product/service and never monetize it via ads.

I don't have any expertise in this area, but my hunch from what I saw with Apple vs WhatsApp, is that in the long run sticking with paid products and not switching to Ads is better for success. Also, likely a lot harder to build up a base of paying users and if you throw that away would be a colossal mistake.

Anyway, I'm not a business expert but am a passionate FitBit user and very happy about this acquisition because just like you I was worried for their survival.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#103

Post by colordrops »

I deleted my account and uninstalled the app a few days ago - just in time to prevent google from slurping up my health data.

I purchased a Mi Band 5 for $35 which is a vastly better device than fitbit equivalents for a quarter of the price. You can use it without data being sent to the cloud if you use the open source package GadgetBridge.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#104

Post by breck »

Dig1t wrote: post #89
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They announced the acquisition in 2019 but it had to get regulatory approval first. A lot of people expected regulators to reject the acquisition. I consider it a massive failure of our governments that whilst acknowledging Google is a monopoly and engaging in antitrust cases against them, they also permitted Google to buy a multibillion dollar company that will expand their monopoly.

Agreed, it is a complete disaster for privacy and competition in this space.

I won't comment on the privacy implications, but can you substantiate your claims about competition at all?

I saw Apple Watch utterly destroy Microsoft Band and Pebble, and FitBit was headed for the same fate. If not for Google stepping in, competition against Apple Watch would have just been from Garmin (solid company, but they too probably would have been crushed).

Source: investor in Apple, FitBit, Garmin, Google, Microsoft; was in the first batch of Pebble 3rd party devs; avid Microsoft Band user and participated in a number of internal projects when I was there.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#105

Post by ygjb »

josefx wrote: post #100
tomComb wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should they really be penalized before being convicted? Consider that Oracle claims that the regulatory actions around the world against Google are because they ran an extensive but secret lobbying campaign against Google to make this happen. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-23/oracle-fo... With enough lobbying dollars much is possible - isn't this a reminder to wait for the outcome before you convict?…

> Should they really be penalized before being convicted? People often land in prison before they are convicted. Also restricting a company that appears to be a bad actor to prevent additional harm on society seems only sensible.

> People often land in prison before they are convicted.

Yeah, and this is seen as a huge injustice by many people. There are clear cut cases where there is a risk of flight or further harm, but in most cases, this type of discretionary pre-trial incarceration tends to impact minorities and people without means to hire lawyers or pay for bonds.

This analogy falls apart there because there are few companies that would be subject to monopoly rules that would lack the resources to defend themselves.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#106

Post by miguelrochefort »

erinnh wrote: post #43
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm waiting for PineTime, personally. My significant other just switched from a Fitbit Ionic to an Apple Watch SE and definitely likes the upgrade. Battery life is your biggest loss if you leave Fitbit, almost nobody was making smartwatches as battery efficient.

How long do they last? Personally, Ive been using Garmin smartwatches for a few years now and they last about a week, with O2 sat scanner enabled over the night. Definitely been happy with them.

I get 24-36 hours on my Colmi P8 (same hardware as PineTime), with step tracking and heart rate monitoring turned off.

The PineTime is a huge downgrade from pretty much everything on the market. It's only good, at least for now, as a platform to prototype on.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#107

Post by miguelrochefort »

aboringusername wrote: post #56
laurent123456 wrote: post #14

I guess it means that if Google blocks your account due to a false positive on an unrelated service, you can no longer use you watch.

Which is crazy to me...Google is... Your photo manager Your search engine Your document storage service Your health monitor Your contacts list Your video hosting facility Your calendar Your document editor Your location history Your music engine And I have no doubt I'm missing a load here, point being why the fuck has the EU not stepped in at this point and said "woah buddy, you're a tad too big to be this unregulate…

Not to mention:

Your password manager

Your 2FA authenticator

Your notes manager

Your domain name provider

Your cloud provider

Your browser

Your operating system

Your smart home

Your phone number

Your mobile ISP

Your analytics provider

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#108

Post by m00x »

tomComb wrote: post #93

I'm sure the sentiment here will be very much against this acquisition, but keep in mind that Fitbit was getting killed and would likely have gone out of business without this. It is tough for a company like Fitbit to compete with Apple & Samsung. This should lead to more competition by making it possible for Fitbit to compete with Apple. If it doesn't then the acquisition was a failure for Google anyway - Fitbit's c…

I have a Fitbit and I love this acquisition. I want to be able to put my fitness data in the rest of the Google ecosystem. The more data Google has on me, the more use I get out of Google's tools.

I really don't care that it has tons of data on me, Google has been super responsible of my data and its uses. The risk/reward is 100% worth.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#109

Post by miguelrochefort »

Grazester wrote: post #21
laurent123456 wrote: post #14

I guess it means that if Google blocks your account due to a false positive on an unrelated service, you can no longer use you watch.

This is my biggest concern, not even the data. Google locks your account and your entire life is disrupted!

I considered going to China, but decided against because of my reliance on Google services.
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