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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

#321

Post by kobalsky »

m00x wrote: post #108
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.

Google can now cross reference your historic heart rate against your ad exposure. I'm pretty sure they will responsibly use that info to tune them out for your enjoyment.

They also know what you searched, watched or visited before and after having sex.

There's a lot of info they can pull out of that little device.

The database they bought is worth every penny.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#322

Post by black6 »

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…

> We're fast approaching a dystopian Snow Crash world of all-powerful corporations, and you people are cheering it along.

Walmart is uniquely set up to become the first FOQNE.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#323

Post by njovin »

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.

Whoop has a lot of cool data and is lightweight but has no display, no GPS, and they lock you in with a subscription fee. I

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#324

Post by llamataboot »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #150
dvt wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Such a fucked up thing that that's legal in some parts of the world. It's legal basically anywhere in the United States, as most states follow at-will employment laws. Is it even surprising that young people (20s-30s) job hop every 2-3 years?

They've been talking about a 100% transient (read: contract) worker population for some time now. A lot of the developers I know rotate between contracting and FTE work. They're FTE timeframes line up with your assertion. They stay at one place, get some new tech knowledge, work a few projects and then move on after a few years. The think the age range has greatly expanded though since most of my group is in their mi…

I've actually had it brought up as a negative in an interview that I stayed somewhere for 5+ years.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#325

Post by mindways »

alfongj wrote: post #111

I love my Fitbit hardware but loathe their apps. After 5 years or so, they still suck at data synchronization. I hope Google fixes this

Gods, yes, this. The FitBit app is like someone said "Let's use a wonderful asynchronous architecture so we won't block on retrieving data!" and then completely ignored all the ways that might lead to terrible UX if implemented poorly.

My steps stick at 0, then suddenly are the total of the last 3 days' worth. I log food, and it re-populates the "quantity" field with the old value after I edit it, sometimes up to 8-10 times in a row. My sleep data takes a roulette-spin amount of time to go get processed in the cloud and redownloaded, and even once the main dashboard has the info, the "Sleep" detail page will refuse to admit that I slept last night for another 3d20 minutes.

It's like someone connecting the pieces of a car with Slinkys instead of bolts because they're more flexible. If I didn't like the hardware so much I'd have switched ages ago.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#326

Post by rodgerd »

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…

It's good when companies I want to work with who or give me free candy are winning. They're my team!

It's bad when Nazis and Nazi-adjacent folks don't get a platform because they're my... uh...

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#327

Post by rodgerd »

rvz wrote: post #153

Translation: Google now has access to all your fitness and health data and will be integrated into Google Fit. No thanks and no deal.

Quite. Note that Google have been mailing "welcome" messages to people who... deleted their Fitbit accounts before the acquisition, so that's off to a good start.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#328

Post by mianos »

This can only be good. I have had 3 WearOS watches over many years. None last more more than a few months of use due to the mindblowingly bad WearOS. 256,000 reviews and 120,000 one star reviews. I have a drawer full of perfectly working hardware that I can't throw out.

The bot based support question answers is a complete joke. Maybe not Google's fault but the connectivity between the watches and the phone is the most flakey thing ever. Considering a $20 Xiaomi Band can keep a bluetooth connection forever I don't think it is the hardware. The rest of the software stack is hobbled my a java stack that needs gigs to run.

Re: Fitbit is now officially part of Google

#329

Post by partiallypro »

sneak wrote: post #286
partiallypro wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fitbit is very much a social network, where you can challenge your friends etc. It is very much a selling point to the device. So in the case of Fitbit the user data being online is vital.

Sounds like they were about to go out of business without an acquisition, so I'm not sure how vital it was: it wasn't working to create a profitable business in the first place.

Over a very long period of time, they might have gone under; but their financials weren't terrible, almost 500M in revenue a year, and turning a gross profit every quarter. They just weren't returning shareholder value. The fact is that the Apple Watch is a cultish item, and people within that ecosystem are going to buy a complimentary device. That effectively leaves the others fighting for scraps. Most people just use their Apple Watch as a fitness device without utilizing the other features, but they are willing to pony up regardless.
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