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

Garmin's –$40B Pivot

readtrung.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 317 posts

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#261

Post by canucker2016 »

stouset wrote: post #180
MarkusWandel wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a non-Appleista, what strikes me most is their "silo" mentality. Most of the iPhone /iWatch using fitness types I know log their stuff inside the Apple cloud, and do not crosspost to Garmin Connect or Strava so the non-Appleistas don't see their stuff. Whereas the Garmin/Strava world is relatively open. I can for example take the original Forerunner (pictured in the article) and upload stuff from it to the Garmin…

What strikes me is that I alread have a central authoritative store of health and fitness information on my Apple devices bundled directly into the operating system but every single app in that category wants me to use them as the single database of truth instead. Even when they have integration with Health! Everything goes into Apple Health but individual apps can barely talk to one another. Oura won’t pull heart ra…

Garmin, Polar, and Strava existed before Apple Health/Watch were released. They had to have a solution in a non-Apple world, and I doubt they'd abandon existing users once Apple appeared (and stuck around).

Oura's first Ring was released the same year as the Watch, so I don't think that Oura was given early access.

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#262

Post by searealist »

NoboruWataya wrote: post #14

Interesting article. My partner bought an Apple watch a couple of years ago and I was shocked at what a poor value proposition it was. Very expensive and wouldn't even hold a charge for a day. I guess you get used to it but having to charge my watch every day would drive me mad. Obviously there are things it will do better than a Garmin (and things it can do that a Garmin simply can't) but overall it didn't make sens…

The latest series Apple Watch charges from 0 to 80% in 30 minutes.

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#263

Post by mtalantikite »

KPGv2 wrote: post #230
mtalantikite wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuinely curious, what do you need to change mid-run on your watch? I set an apple music playlist to start, open a run on WorkOutDoors, and go. I really am only interested in heart rate, distance traveled and pace. And if I need to stop for anything walking back to my apartment after a session I have apple pay. Granted, I'm not a serious runner, I only do it as a supplement for my muay thai training (i.e. I'm only r…

FWIW there are a lot of features that are really great on a run, but you might have to switch screens or even manipulate the screen. For instance, zoom in and out on a map. Or instruct your watch to re-route you to the fastest way home, or start guiding you the reverse way you came so you end up doubling your distance when you get back home. You might have other sensors feeding info and the data doesn't all fit on on…

Ok yeah, the map stuff makes a lot of sense then, if I were out on trails or somewhere unfamiliar I can see that being very helpful. I'm always just running the bridges of NYC, so it's hard to get lost! Although I might get more serious this year so I can run the ridiculous williamsburg bridge marathon [1], so maybe I'll check out what I'm missing with Garmin.

[1] https://www.williamsburgbridgemarathon.com/

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#264

Post by stouset »

canucker2016 wrote: post #261
stouset wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What strikes me is that I alread have a central authoritative store of health and fitness information on my Apple devices bundled directly into the operating system but every single app in that category wants me to use them as the single database of truth instead. Even when they have integration with Health! Everything goes into Apple Health but individual apps can barely talk to one another. Oura won’t pull heart ra…

Garmin, Polar, and Strava existed before Apple Health/Watch were released. They had to have a solution in a non-Apple world, and I doubt they'd abandon existing users once Apple appeared (and stuck around). Oura's first Ring was released the same year as the Watch, so I don't think that Oura was given early access.

I’m not asking them to abandon anything.

Apple Health has been around over ten years. Oura could have figured out in the intervening time how to read heart rate data from Health.

All I’m asking for Strava, Garmin, and the rest is to just use Apple Health to import data from other sources and assume that it is the source of truth for externally-generated data rather than requiring direct app-to-app integration or simply ignoring anything their devices didn’t emit.

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#266

Post by exhilaration »

hedora wrote: post #111
scarface_74 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With my Apple Watch, I don’t need my phone when I’m running, swimming or at the gym. I can receive and return texts, make and receive calls and listen to music either stored on the watch or streamed over cellular.

I wish I could just use the watch for everything and dump the phone. It does some ham fisted stuff to prevent this. For example, the watch Bluetooth stack detects that it is connected to a car stereo and refuses to work.

It's kind of a sloppy solution, but what about using a Bluetooth to aux adapter? You would lose the dashboard audio controls but at least you can listen to your stuff.

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#267

Post by canucker2016 »

eitally wrote: post #161
NoboruWataya wrote: post #14

Interesting article. My partner bought an Apple watch a couple of years ago and I was shocked at what a poor value proposition it was. Very expensive and wouldn't even hold a charge for a day. I guess you get used to it but having to charge my watch every day would drive me mad. Obviously there are things it will do better than a Garmin (and things it can do that a Garmin simply can't) but overall it didn't make sens…

Apple Watches are great for people who want their watch to be an extension of their phone. Full stop. Garmin watches are great for people who prioritize active lifestyles over social contact but still like to have the ability to receive notifications on their wrist. Do note, though, that Garmin's Vivo line has become "smarter" in the current gen, but I don't see them ever tackling Apple Watches directly with Forerunn…

It's more like "Apple Watches are great for people who want their watch to be an extension of their iPhone. Full stop."

Apple Watch is not smartphone agnostic (requiring iPhone for Apple Watch setup). That's Apple's choice. Apple Watch has done well targeting just iPhone users. It makes some stuff easier for devs.

But South Korea has its own walled garden - https://www.gizchina.com/2023/11/13/korean-smartphone-market....

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#268

Post by regus »

maples37 wrote: post #238
regus wrote: post #139

I have a soft spot in my heart for Garmin. I am one of the few people left that still use Garmin's car GPS. I currently use the latest model, the Drive Smart 66. It is my daily driver (lol?). I recently went on a cross country road trip and this thing worked perfectly even when I was in the middle of the desert or driving through a canyon. It was nice to not rely on cell phone service for navigation on this trip. Alt…

Fellow user of a physical Garmin car navigation GPS. The one I use is my dad's old Nuvi from about 2015. In addition to several of the pros you listed, I'd add a few more: - Stupid-simple interface. I was a Google Maps user for a while, and I was not a fan of various popups (from "Welcome to " to "Is this speed trap still here?"). I'm piloting a several-thousand-pound hunk of metal at highway speeds, do NOT interrupt…

I agree with the interface. It only does one thing and it does it really well: it tells you how to drive somewhere.

I also never considered the fact that the UI won't change randomly to be a feature lol.

In the latest model you can hook it up to the internet so when you get home it auto updates itself. You can also hook it up to your phone so text messages and Slack notifications pop up on the side of the screen. I would imagine these are features you would not want to use.

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#269

Post by canucker2016 »

rcMgD2BwE72F wrote: post #194
transpute wrote: post #49

Garmin: - sells an accurate blood pressure cuff with WiFi data sync (sans phone) - is an active R&D contributor to OpenEmbedded Linux - includes optional health data sync to vertically integrated cloud - provides open FIT [1] protocol for local data sync [1] https://developer.garmin.com/fit/protocol

Yet I can't use my new Forerunner 55 watch without connecting it to Garmin servers. They make sure it takes about an hour to have a reliable GPS position unless your make it regularly connect to an active Garmin account, either via Garmin Express (dekstop) or Garmin Connect. I switch to GadgetBridge but without updating the AGPS files, no reliable GPS. How open of them.

Before my workout, I'll take my Garmin watch and switch to a workout mode that requires GPS and leave it by a window while the Garmin gets a GPS lock.

Go prep for workout.

Just before heading out, I'll go by the window and get the watch which has locked on to the nearby GPS satellites.

Start workout.

Re: Garmin's –$40B Pivot

#270

Post by jerlam »

LandR wrote: post #208
jerlam wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> real resting heart rate in the 60s What makes one measurement "real" and the other one "not real", if you're mainly using it as a personal metric? The reason that the traditional definition of resting heart rate exists is people didn't have 24/7 heart rate monitors, and doctors had to measure what they are able to measure. And they still can't measure it well, because patients often have white coat syndrome and the…

What I mean is, you can be pretty unfit and still have a resting heart rate in the mid 30s when you are asleep. The same unfit person takes a resting heart rate just sitting in a chair doing nothing for a minute or two and it's probably not going to be anywhere near 30. I've known people who have had resting hearts in the low 40s, but actual resting heart rate when awake is closer to 70! I think Garmin uses resting h…

I think we're talking about two different things.

You're saying that some devices are measuring "resting heart rate" when it's not using the traditional definition, and comparing that number to the traditional definition is wrong, and I would agree.

I'm saying that the traditional measurement of resting heart rate is bad for a variety of reasons, one of which is that taking it while sitting at your couch at home after 15 minutes and having a stranger take it in the weird doctor's office can have very different results. And if our smart devices consistently measure an RHR on a regular basis, that's probably a better measurement of progress.

Post reply on HN