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Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

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Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#81

Post by sb057 »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #57
jerf wrote: post #23

'The company has cited "safety and well-being" as a reason for introducing the membership fee.' I've noticed the "fake because" lately seems to be getting more and more brazen from corporations. This is about the third or fourth "for your safety and convenience we're helping ourselves to more of your money" I've seen in the last couple months, and unfortunately all the other ones I've seen are for products or service…

Safety is a modern day god. Corporations are invoking its name to justify whatever they want the same way a medieval lord would invoke god in their justification for sending a dozen dudes to beat someone up. "For your safety you need to swipe your credit card before your riding lawnmower will go into reverse." edit: 'the' vs 'a', modern society's worship of abstract concepts is more akin to ancient polytheistic socie…

>Safety is the modern day god.

Modern day?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salus

Fun fact: the words "Salus" and "safety" are, in fact, cognate!

Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#82

Post by tw04 »

I want to clarify because a lot of people seem to be confused about what's happening here.

"Just run" is tracking your metrics. You can STILL use the treadmill without it, you just won't be getting information on the run like your pace, calories burned, power output, etc. The treadmill isn't bricked, it's just not providing metrics. If you have a garmin watch or insert fitness tracker you can still get info from that.

I can understand why people would be annoyed by this change, and I would hope they add the functionality back in the future. But everyone saying it's "bricked" needs to take a deep breath.

Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#83

Post by ptudan »

bathtub365 wrote: post #72
sunshineforever wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reminds me of Google charging 12.99 a month for the ability to darken the screen in YouTube.

Do they charge $12.99 a month for this feature? I can’t find it

They paywall random features behind youtube premium, I guess that's another one.

Engineers hate these things because they know the relative minimal efforts required, and that the line of free vs premium feature is completely arbitrary.

Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#84

Post by voakbasda »

api wrote: post #31
jerf wrote: post #23

'The company has cited "safety and well-being" as a reason for introducing the membership fee.' I've noticed the "fake because" lately seems to be getting more and more brazen from corporations. This is about the third or fourth "for your safety and convenience we're helping ourselves to more of your money" I've seen in the last couple months, and unfortunately all the other ones I've seen are for products or service…

Running with a heavy wallet is dangerous. You're more likely to lose your balance and any fall would be that much worse due to the added weight. Peloton is helpfully making your wallet lighter to ensure a safe running experience. Seriously though: if something doesn't really need it, any form of Internet-enabling is something I see as an anti-feature and now avoid at all costs. Internet enabled features or apps means…

Network enabled hardware is a plague. I am a senior embedded engineer doing consulting for companies around the world. It’s all utter crap, and no one should trust any of it. Ever. I am not exaggerating or joking in the slightest.

I will never buy appliances, cars, tools, vacuum cleaners, or any other device with any kind of networking functionality. This feature will be used in the future to lock you out of your own hardware, spy on you, serve as a vector for attacks, to restrict its functionality, and to steal that which you have already paid to own. Not if, when.

I drive an ‘83 Toyota pickup, and I will never give it up. Modern cars are trash on multiple levels.

Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#85

Post by sithlord »

bathtub365 wrote: post #72
sunshineforever wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reminds me of Google charging 12.99 a month for the ability to darken the screen in YouTube.

Do they charge $12.99 a month for this feature? I can’t find it

its part of youtube premium

Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#86

Post by alpaca128 »

bathtub365 wrote: post #72
sunshineforever wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reminds me of Google charging 12.99 a month for the ability to darken the screen in YouTube.

Do they charge $12.99 a month for this feature? I can’t find it

This feature is part of the YouTube Red subscription. Which doesn't really add that much in addition, aside from partial ad removal and video downloads, all completely free on PC.

Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#88

Post by CitrusFruits »

blaird wrote: post #73
jasode wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I hate group fitness and cycle studios, and am currently on a 65+ week streak on Peloton. The value is there for me, I understand the value proposition of an internet-connected "virtual class" for motivation, competitive pacing, social gaming, etc but my limited research showed that one can get these benefits with just the Peloton app[1] (the software) without buying the hardware (Peloton branded bike/treadmill). Th…

Using your own bike with the Peloton class never appealed to me as you don't get your power numbers, so there is no competing with others in the room. I hear the Wahoo Kikr is great for cyclists: https://www.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers/kickr/buy

I have the kickr and it is the best thing for a competitive cyclist IMO. As someone who regularly rides outside though, I hate riding indoors, even on a good setup. I know some people who don't mind or love it, but to me it's really anti-fun and makes me dread the workout instead of look forward to it like an outdoor ride.

Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#89

Post by masklinn »

altacc wrote: post #43

> "In our ongoing work to ensure our products are even safer ... we released Tread Lock, a four-digit passcode to secure Tread+ against unauthorized access. Unfortunately, Tread Lock is not yet available without a Peloton Membership..." This is ludicrous. I'm intrigued why it is so difficult to add a 4 digit passcode to a device that regularly receives software updates. It seems that bricking the device was an easier…

> I'm intrigued why it is so difficult to add a 4 digit passcode to a device that regularly receives software updates.

It probably is not, but that was a great excuse to make users pay for non-trivial features instead of just advanced.

Re: Peloton's $3k treadmill now comes with surprise 'subscription fee'

#90

Post by detaro »

CitrusFruits wrote: post #80
detaro wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a subscription, you can set a password.

I mean, they gotta be able to make a free account SKU though that has nothing but "Just Run" enabled. On the flip side, I wonder who bought a Peloton treadmill and didn't intend on getting the subscription service. Not that it makes it right, but I imagine most people already pay for it and the number of affected users is quite low.

"Intend on" when they bought it, sure. Wouldn't be surprised if quite a few people found they don't actually want to stick with the subscription - although then admittedly returning it and getting something else sounds like a good deal, even if it's hassle.
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