I can relate to this very much - all gizmos measuring various attributes seem to effectively remove the most important aspect of these sports/activities - fun,

I can relate to this very much - all gizmos measuring various attributes seem to effectively remove the most important aspect of these sports/activities - fun, and hence in long term much of the motivation. Suddenly you have some metrics, you see that last week you improved, this week you perform like cr_p, and that guy is so much better than you. It's some sort of obscure facebook effect when sport becomes very competitive. Its all great if you're a pro and you have to improve, you have to track progress etc. But for mere mortals, it's worse than useless. I just can't imagine the mindset I would have to have to really benefit anyhow from these devices. I use some old crappy Suunto watches that barely measure altitude (for hikes/aki alpinism), compass stopped working and I used them mainly for time only. If they die I definitely won't be buying any other. On my bike, simple computer died 2 years ago, so I have no clue about speed, distance etc. Again, its great, just road and me and the bike. Being very competitive in my book is a quite negative personality trait - never happy, always comparing themselves to others. On the outside it might look great, but inside it's not. I have no need to support this behavior.