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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

#311

Post by nradov »

GeekyBear wrote: post #204
m00x wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No company with surveillance capitalism as their business model should be allowed access to health data from an acquired company without the user explicitly opting in. However, I sincerely doubt Fitbit would have been worth anywhere near as much under those conditions.

Fitbit doesn't sell medical devices. The data they gather is health related but legally it's not "protected health information".

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#312

Post by webdood90 »

Pxtl wrote: post #309

Great. Bring back Pebble. Low power, unlit low-res screen, week-long battery. Give me notifications, directions, and the time on my wrist and nothing else and I'm happy.

Have you considered a Fossil HR smartwatch? Checks all of the boxes you've listed.

I picked one up last year and have been super pleased with it.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#313

Post by nradov »

thenewwazoo wrote: post #98
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…

> There still seems to be a large hole in the smartwatch market for a GOOD Android-compatible smartwatch. In order for there to be a market, both sides have to exist: sellers and buyers . I'm not convinced Android users have the appetite for multi-hundred-dollar accessories the same way Apple users do, and given Apple's engineering skill and vertical integration, nobody is going to sell a smartwatch that's as good fo…

Garmin seems to find plenty of customers willing to buy high end smart watches that cost even more than Apple watches. Many of those Garmin devices are paired with Android phones.

As one data point I just spent $1300 on a new top end Garmin watch and use it with Android.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#314

Post by nxc18 »

dwighttk wrote: post #241
nxc18 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unpopular opinion here, but I think the Fitbit versa (from 2018) was/is better than Apple Watch (latest) in significant ways, even when paired with iPhone. I replaced my versa with Apple Watch when the versa died. I don’t necessarily regret it, but it didn’t feel like an upgrade and came with significant downsides. In particular, Fitbit gives far more control over notifications, especially for built-in apps like mess…

>...media controls easily accessible - on Apple Watch, they’re always moving and hard to get back to especially during a workout. Swipe right from workout screen. (Finger moves right to left... not sure if that is swipe right or left :)

Thank you so much! I’ve had my watch for 4 months, I don’t know why I didn’t see that earlier. I have been going to the app switcher this whole time.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#315

Post by IgorPartola »

gretch wrote: post #291
IgorPartola wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DuckDuckGo makes 100% of its revenue from advertising. How you advertise matters, no?

That’s exactly my point. Put DDG into your original post. It refutes your own argument which was based solely on how google is an ads company and Apple is a hardware company.

Except Google has a proven track record of collecting way more data than is reasonable for it and sharing it with partners. DDG was created partially in response to Google’s flagrant disregard for privacy. Apple on the other hand was the one phone manufacturer who straight up told the FBI that it’s latest phones cannot be unlocked by them because of the full device encryption they used.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#317

Post by IgorPartola »

confiq wrote: post #237
IgorPartola wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point isn’t which protects your data better from outside breaches (though I would argue Apple does a better job of protecting its phones), but how they use your data and who they can expose it to. Apple provides storage. Google sifts through your data to help them direct you towards products from which they can get kickbacks. It’s not some external entity that you have to worry about. It’s the company to whom you…

It could be that I've blocked ads in my network or my extreme hate for ads lead to have unpopular opinion about it. Every company uses my data for analytic purposes. Ads that I do see in google play are almost same as I see in apple store. Both take my data and try to serve me the best. In fact, I don't think it's necessary evil but what bothers me is pretending that one company save my data better or make me believe…

If Apple decided to downsize and focus on their core competency, which part of the company do you think they would deem essential to their business? I am sure they make decent money on all their stuff but Apple has also taken a public stance on privacy and their devices aren’t seemingly backdoored as seen in the LEAs trying to get help unlocking them and being told by Apple that they can’t help.

Look it all comes down to trust and I see way fewer reasons to trust Google than Apple. Both deserve a baseline measure of mistrust, but Google has all the incentive to spy on you while Apple has little to none. And when it comes to investigations of “why do you have this data in the first place?” Google’s answer is “we need it to advertise” while Apple’s can only be “we need it for this specific service” and if they fail to show why, they are liable. Google and Facebook have a virtually identical business model: collect, aggregate, advertise. If you don’t trust Facebook, why would you trust Google?

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#318

Post by justapassenger »

Vermeulen wrote: post #15

I don't understand the fear of Google from FitBit users in these comments. Google has a clear user agreement with how they use your data, including not selling it - and they rely on users trusting them. I'd rather my data be with one of the tech giants than a unprofitable start up

This. If you read HN comments, only big tech like Google, Amazon and Facebook are after your data, and every single other company is amazing. I’ve worked at FAANG and small companies, and there’s waaay more shady business at small, struggling companies.

But I do understand that shady stuff at big companies have bigger blast radius, as they have more users, and often more diverse data, but I trust them way more than random startup.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#319

Post by stormcode »

j0ba wrote: post #115
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…

> Fitbit was getting killed and would likely have gone out of business If this is a reason for acquisition, then why wouldn't G*gle wait until they were "killed" so they could come in and buy their business for pennies on the dollar? We're fast approaching a dystopian Snow Crash world of all-powerful corporations, and you people are cheering it along. How can these both be true? - it's bad all US legacy media is owne…

If we do enter the Snow Crash mega corp/gated burb future I want to become a Deliverator for the pizza mafia.

I'm also not for this. I wasn't for nest either. I now trust the device on my wrist less.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#320

Post by sorenjan »

brlewis wrote: post #68
petercooper wrote: post #28

What is a good lightweight 24/7 heart rate and sleep tracker that's not a Fitbit? I have an Apple Watch but the Fitbit's sleep tracking is way better and I keep it on for days (whereas I charge my Apple Watch overnight). I am super happy with my Fitbit but given Google I assume it will be "sunset" within a year or two so I want to switch early.

> I am super happy with my Fitbit but given Google I assume it will be "sunset" within a year or two I work for Fitbit. I don't speak for Fitbit, but now that the deal is closed I can share my own opinions and ask my own questions. What makes you think Google wants Apple to have the only good smart watch? That would be the main effect of sunsetting Fitbit. Nest still exists after their 2014 acquisition by Google, and…

> What makes you think Google wants Apple to have the only good smart watch?

Wear OS shows how little Google care about good smart watches. It's six years old and still bad, if they wanted it to be good they would've fixed it years ago.

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