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Google Buys Fitbit for $2.1B
- taneq 7y agoReminder for anyone who used a Pebble: Your data will have been sold to FitBit and so Google now gets it. Yay!
- ocdtrekkie 7y agoAssuming Google legitimately doesn't try to retain deleted data as they claim, you just need to delete your Fitbit account before the acquisition closes to ensure Google never lays hands on it.
- falcolas 7y agoAssuming you have a fitbit account. I don’t. But I did own and use a Pebble for many years.
- foota 7y agoThat doesn't really follow. Not retaining data is something that has to be built into a product, and so would need to have been done by Fitbit.
- criddell 7y agoI'm in the middle of deleting my Fitbit account. It takes 90 days, so hopefully this deal doesn't close quickly...
- izzydata 7y agoHow does it take 90 days? If that's true then Google is absolutely aware of this and will make sure to take ownership of it prior to then.
- judge2020 7y agoGoogle fully deletes their user data when requested, I'm not sure why malice over data retention is being assumed here.
- criddell 7y agoDo they? Or do they just anonymize it? Companies don't like to destroy assets. I don't think anybody is assuming malice, just incompetence. There are precedents after all.
- judge2020 7y agoI wouldn't blame anyone for not trusting them, but here's their page on it: https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention?hl=en https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention?hl=en
- kccqzy 7y agoI don't think merely anonymizing data when the user requested deletion is GDPR compliant.
- whynaut 7y agoDoes GDPR cover generated insights about that data?
- ithinkiknowthis 7y agoDisclaimer: I work at Google. And even on the smaller service I work on, we go through privacy review. Generally user-data is coupled to user account identifiers and deleted when accounts are deleted. This is the easiest, as your retention plan is automatically approved this way :) All data stores are mapped to retention plans. So you don't accidentally forget something. For anonymization there is some logic which ensures the smallest slice is small enough that users can't be identified. Now, all of this is generally and of course there are exceptions -- but these are a lot of work to get. You need to have good reasons to get exceptions, it takes a long time. So if you want to ship on time, you delete data when it's no longer needed, etc. Exceptions are usually when it would hurt another user to delete something shared, for example.. Sure, incompetence can happen. But Google doesn't have a lengthy record of security holes, data leaks or privacy issues. (I'm sure you can find a few, but my point is that this isn't Yahoo)
- twinge 7y agoI still have the original Kickstarter pebble. Other than my email address and the apps I installed, I can't think of any data at risk.
- vdfs 7y agoThat would be a drop in ocean compared to the data they have on you if you are using Android and Google other products
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 7y agoGood. I'd prefer Google has it over Pebble or Fitbit.
- wvenable 7y agoThere's not much data in there and it's probably not worth even worth importing given that Fitbit data is 1000x larger at least.
- hobo_mark 7y agoHow? By default the official Pebble app notoriously only stored the data on the phone (and reinstalling it lost all history).
- taneq 7y agoDid you ever read the privacy policy that went with that app? It stated in weaselly but still quite clear words that they were entitled to record and sell your everything for whatever reason. Maybe they didn't actually do that but they demanded the right to do so and I never managed to make them (or their lawyers) deny it (which, let's face it, was all I wanted - I just wanted to use my watch without them using it or the companion phone app as a trojan to perv on my life.)
- caligarn 7y agoMakes sense. Google needs access to our wrists and Fitbit is widely used and a cheap company, relatively speaking. That means they've got the Home, Nest, Fitbit, Phone, Computer, Car...all wrapped up. Now I wonder when are they going to buy a drone company. Oh wait, they did that already with Titan Aerospace and Boston Dynamics (even though the latter is gone). Anyhow, with this all lined up, it sounds like the Google 2020 announcements for 2025 will have watches.
- jpm_sd 7y agohttps://news.yahoo.com/google-acquiring-fitbit-130619853.html https://news.yahoo.com/google-acquiring-fitbit-130619853.htm... "Google has struggled to make much of a dent in the wearables category..." "Fitbit, meanwhile, has had issues maintaining growth in recent years." Failure + failure = success?
- falcolas 7y agoA large established and (based on personal connections) loyal fan base is a failure? Growth is not everything. Growth isn’t even really sustainable over a long enough time span, and Fitbit’s been around awhile.
- devnonymous 7y agoFitbit really only took off after the Pebble acquisition IMHO.
- AgloeDreams 7y agoOh no they owned the fitness tracker market prior, the initial Smartwatch product, the Ionic, was a flop, seemingly their launch of the Versa helped because it was a stylish smartwatch with the fitbit brand and focus, the software was still quite bad compared to Google and Apple's efforts. I would go further to say that Pebble's product was actually much better.
- Avamander 7y agoVersa also has hardware design errors, it allows water to leak in (trough HR sensor's bad adhesive seal) with regular use causing massive return rates.
- pjmlp 7y agoMany management boards do live on the utopia of eternal growth and and it stops, a couple of hundred thousand employees get shown the door, just because they need to collect their bonuses.
- ocdtrekkie 7y agoI was hoping to have some time to transition off the platform before this went through. Any idea when the official "Google actually owns it" point will be?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- mongol 7y agoI guess about half a year. For IBM's acquisition of Red Hat the timeline was about 9 months.
- feingold 7y agoMore personal data to use and build a complete model of you.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- kiba 7y agoFitbit was garbage to me before the buy, because the warranty replacement or the software on my phone had stopped doing any real syncing. Could be a fluke, but as a consumer I don't really care about that. Next thing I bought is a bluetooth supported chest strap, but I also resigned myself to eventual malfunction according to Amazon reviews for all the heart straps.
- jeremiahlee 7y agoI loved Fitbit for many years, especially for its strong privacy stance. If my data becomes part of Google's surveillance economy, I will be greatly disappointed.
- bilal4hmed 7y ago"Similar to our other products, with wearables, we will be transparent about the data we collect and why. We will never sell personal information to anyone. Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads. And we will give Fitbit users the choice to review, move, or delete their data."
- hugi 7y agoYeah, sure.
- windsurfer 7y agoIsn't selling your company with the data the same as selling your data?
- sneak 7y agoThis is the same situation as when Facebook bought that cool app Moves, and suddenly Facebook had retroactive access to all of my location history and IP+timestamps.
- mattkevan 7y agoIt's true Google doesn't sell your data: they just rent it out a bit.
- tomComb 7y agoSaying they rent it is almost as misleading as all the people that say they sell it. It implies that the renter gets the data and they don't and that distinction is key. But I too am not sure what the right way to describe it is. I guess you could say they use your data in the product that they sell.
- prepend 7y agoMy first thought is that google will idle and eventually kill Fitbit in four years (see Nest innovation before and after google). But then, I don’t know if Fitbit would still exist in four years if it stayed independent.
- ts330 7y ago... and will be shutdown in about 18 months when our attention wanders elsewhere ...
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Mortiffer 7y agoI can see them linking this data to medical data and getting sued again. Like last June https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/technology/google-university-chicago-data-sharing-lawsuit.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/technology/google-univers...
- MereInterest 7y agoI've been interested in tracking sleep/exercise/heart rate more closely, but have yet to find a manufacturer that takes privacy seriously. Whatever device I have should transfer data only to computers that are under my control. No matter how pure the intentions of the current maintainers of centralized databases, acquisitions can lead to those databases being in unscrupulous hands.
- klohto 7y ago> have yet to find a manufacturer that takes privacy seriously What's wrong with Apple then?
- deadmutex 7y agoYou need an iPhone. The square design might not appeal to everyone
- klohto 7y agoThat wasn't the point of the original comment at all, this is your personal projection.
- mikestew 7y agoWhatever device I have should transfer data only to computers that are under my control. It might be possible to keep the data local, but it is likely to be neither easy, nor easy to NOT end up accidentally linking it to iCloud. Where I personally don't have a problem with those data living on Apple's servers, parent obviously does.
- buboard 7y agoJeff dean needs more data from you minions! Surely great news for fitbit , lets hope to see more advanced tech coming to our wrists!
- jbj 7y agoLink: https://blog.google/products/hardware/agreement-with-fitbit https://blog.google/products/hardware/agreement-with-fitbit
- Teledhil 7y agoWow, the legal disclaimer at the end is as long as the whole entry.
- JumpCrisscross 7y agoChanges of control typically trigger a suite of investor and creditor protections. I'm beginning to favor a similar set of rights for consumers. Right to deletion would be one. Heightened portability requirements another.
- ci5er 7y agoMost of those "protections" that are triggered are contractual. As a B2B systems provider, we also have those for our customers. If a B2C service provider does not provide these, then you can demand them or not sign up or both.
- lquist 7y agoAn interesting idea but the reason investors + creditors can get these is because they have leverage and can negotiate for them. They are not always able to secure them. Consumers currently have no such leverage. The best avenue to this kind of leverage is probably legal?
- api_dolla 7y agoWe’re in a new era— these things need to be legislated.
- wongarsu 7y agoThe leverage of the consumer is the government whose legislators they elected.
- lquist 7y agoIncorrect. That is an avenue of leverage. Currently driven more by corporate interests than citizen interests.
- wongarsu 7y ago"democracy" literally means "rule by people" or "government by people". You are in effect claiming that America isn't a democracy (which may or may not be true, sometimes you look suspiciously like an aristocracy in disguise). Anyway, over here in continental Europe democracy mostly works. And when people complained about privacy issues for years and Facebook laughed in our faces we eventually got the GDPR. That's exactly the kind of "either get your shit together or we will legislate it" this thread is about.
- jacek 7y agoI have not used Fitbit in two years, but just logged in and deleted my account. They state that data is also deleted.
- wufufufu 7y agoThe good news is Fitbit’s health data sucks so Googles not gaining that much.
- naniid 7y agoDon't understand what you mean by "Fitbit's health data sucks". I find it accurate. My only grouse with them is that they don't give enough data out to be synced with Google fit or Apple health. Which might change now.
- partingshots 7y agoFitbit press release: https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/Fitbit-to-Be-Acquired-by-Google/default.aspx https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-relea...
- rpmisms 7y agoI'll just burn my pebble now.
- Wowfunhappy 7y agoPlease don't, there's a limited number of them in circulation. :) There's also zero chance it will be affected.
- rpmisms 7y agoI'm joking, I love my pebble. Just sad to see the company who should support them begin to die.
- dmurray 7y agoThey "began to die" years ago and had shrunk to less than 10% of their post-IPO valuation. Not that I expect Google to be very price sensitive about this kind of deal.
- solarkraft 7y agoHave they every supported it? My experience with them has been pretty bad. Software is closed, no replacement parts, fewer features than marketed ("It has a microphone" -> you can never get that data, only the text from their TTS service) ... Luckily the software part is changing with Rebble. But I don't see how anything will change for customers.
- Wowfunhappy 7y agoTo be fair to Fitbit, they left the Pebble servers up for something like an extra year at the request of Rebble's developers, who said they needed more time. They also recently helped get the Pebble app back in the iOS App Store after it was delisted a few months ago for some reason. That was pretty critical given the nature of iOS. Pebble was reportedly more or less about to run out of cash on their own, so against that alternative I'd say Fitbit has been decently helpful.
- pictur 7y agohttps://i.imgflip.com/2q12ca.jpg https://i.imgflip.com/2q12ca.jpg
- ben7799 7y agoRIP Fitbit
- yclept 7y agoIs there any way to pull data from the fitbit device itself offline?
- roland35 7y agoI am not sure what to think about this as a Fitbit user! I have been trying to find an easy way to get sleep and exercise data and Fitbit seemed to do the job well enough (I use my phone app during runs to get GPS data). Google's history of killing off successful but stagnant projects (RIP Reader) does worry me a lot! My prediction is that Fitbit merges with Google Fit which I used to work but I had trouble getting any useful data besides daily steps off of it. Maybe I will have to find a new option for fitness tracking! Nike+ -> Google Fit -> Fitbit -> ???
- wlesieutre 7y agoGoing by Google's track record, the top priorities will be 1) Put Google Assistant in everything 2) Discontinue customer service in favor of a useless forum where you can shout in to the void
- bransonf 7y agoIf you actually are looking for another option, my bias is toward Garmin.
- tomComb 7y agoAs a Fitbit user I'm relieved. Fitbit was starting the death spiral and now they are purchased by a company with tons of money and a real interest in making Fitbit more successful. I think this is a save for fitbit employees and users.
- grezql 7y agoworst pairing ever....from customers view. Or maybe not. Facebook would be the worst.
- kerng 7y agoVic Gundotra (VP Google) said back when Microsoft bought Nokia that "two turkeys don't make an eagle". Google officially has become the Microosft of the mid 2000s. Lack of direction and innovation, buying up companies just for the sake of it. Here is a link to Google's anology: https://www.techspot.com/news/42338-google-attacks-nokia-and-microsoft-with-bird-analogy.html https://www.techspot.com/news/42338-google-attacks-nokia-and...
- slightwinder 7y agoGoogle has a long and successful history of acquisitions, as also a long history of lack of direction and headless actions even in their youth days. It's probably just natural for a company with too much money to invest that way.
- nathanyukai 7y agoBut when a company becomes big, they do have to branch out and try a bit of different things right? otherwise they are just relying on a few income source, and potentially miss the opportunity of the next big hit?
- windexh8er 7y agoA long and success history of acquisitions doesn't mean Google has any advantage of taking a poorly performing acquisition (Fitbit) and stacking it into a failing division of theirs (Wear OS). Google would be better off starting over. But Google wants data and Fitbit comes with data for cheap, IMO.
- jsight 7y agoAlternatively, you could view this as a recognition that Wear OS has failed along with a plan to move to Fitbit as a software platform. If they can combine Fitbit's software and community with better hardware, they might actually have a good product here. Or they could just end up with Wear OS on worse hardware and a disaster.
- dyarosla 7y ago
- eeZah7Ux 7y agoMore surveillance.
- kungito 7y agoI for one welcome this change. I want a standalone smartwatch good enough so that I can stop using my phone. The state of smartwatches right now is quite sad (I cannot afford an Apple smartwatch so I cannot speak for those). The simple list of things I want from a smartwatch right now are barely fulfilled by the best I could find which is Huawei Watch 2. I want Google Pay, calls and LTE, proper Maps navigation, sending voice messages through some Facebook owned chat app which everyone uses, some very very simple browser experience, bluetooth connection for headphones, Youtube and Spotify. The Huawei Watch 2 I have constantly crashes, the battery life is horrible, charger doesn't connect well, Google Maps doesn't offer directions (only location), WhatsApp and Discord aren't supported, Google Pay works but I have to use PayEnabler because they don't care, Spotify isn't there and Youtube is very very laggy. I guess the biggest issue is actually Qualcomm because the current chip is 3100 which is 28nm (is that like 5-6 year old tech?). I sincerely hope that with this acquisition and Qualcomm rumored Snapdragon wear 439 (they are rebranding it as 3500 or something) I will finally in the May of 2020 get an actually good (no need to be great) standalone Google Pixel Watch.
- ocdtrekkie 7y agoThat's a completely different product than Fitbit is. Even its full blown smartwatches are very light, very dumb peripherals with very low power that last a week on a charge. They're really not the same type of product as a Wear OS or Apple Watch type device, and trying to turn them into one will take away all of why Fitbit owners choose them.
- kungito 7y agoWell there's also market segmentation you know. Xiaomi is entering the Wear OS smartphone market, no reason why FitBit couldn't also. This move from Google is obviously a way for them to speed up their own watch tech so that they don't have to start from scratch. This doesn't mean there wont be these simpler dumber versions of smartwatches for the people who want exactly those
- scarface74 7y agoThe Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular is $329. How much cheaper can you get a smart watch with cellular, gps, health sensors, etc?
- koolba 7y ago> The company never sells personal information, and Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads. Is there any legal enforcement to prevent this in the future? Besides marketing by health status, I can imagine that advertisers would be very interested in your heart rate before / during / after viewing an ad.
- ceejayoz 7y agoI mean, it's not even true now. They just sold all the data. To Google.
- phonebucket 7y ago> Is there any legal enforcement to prevent this in the future? I expect these will come from TOCs.
- ceejayoz 7y agoWhich will reserve the right to change themselves at any time, and say that continued use of the platform indicates acceptance of the new ones.
- AshwinDurairaj 7y agoGoogle has already been sued for linking health data, so this should certainly raise eyebrows for those interested, and I wouldn't expect Google to have any free pass here either.
- anoncake 7y agoWell, Google can't sell data to itself and nothing says it won't be used for Alphabet ads. So there isn't much to enforce in the first place.
- Cyclone_ 7y agoIf people are interested in alternatives, Garmin and Polar are companies unlikely to ever be acquired by a big tech company that would rely on selling data as a business model.
- me_me_me 7y agoAnd here I was considering getting fitbit... Could anyone suggest an alternative? I really have no trust that google will keep promise not to use the data. edit: thanks all, I have too look into it all back home.
- jannes 7y agoApple Watch
- sheinsheish 7y agoMi 3 or 4
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- yumraj 7y agoIMHO giving your health data to China is worse than giving to Google.
- tolger 7y agoWhy?
- solarkraft 7y agoIt has a clear interest in suppressing any adversarial views and is not bound by any laws. Currently that interest is mostly confined to China itself, but I wouldn't be surprised about that changing. I don't know how they could use that data currently, but they are inventive and usually use everything they can get.
- yumraj 7y agoConsider the recent stories where LinkedIn was used by China to recruit spies. Now consider a person with health issues, whatever they may be. Many people can be turned by using their or their loved ones' health issues. Whether it's the money for health payments, promise of new treatments, organs transplants ... I leave to imagination.
- kgraves 7y agoEventually, all startups will be acquired into the FAANG companies, no matter whatever their "mission statement" is, just like Matryoshka dolls. Pebble -> Fitbit -> Google. I am sure there are more examples.
- w0utert 7y agoI'm probably just drawing a mental blank here, but what's the 'N' in FAANG? :-S
- sanjayts 7y agoNetflix
- paultopher 7y agoNicrosoft
- brooksgarrett 7y agoNecrosoft.
- kgraves 7y agoNetflix [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook,_Apple,_Amazon,_Netflix_and_Google https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook,_Apple,_Amazon,_Netfl...
- fantalamera 7y agoNetflix! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook,_Apple,_Amazon,_Netflix_and_Google https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook,_Apple,_Amazon,_Netfl...
- airstrike 7y agoNetflix, added mostly so we don't call it FAAG /s
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- phaedrus 7y agoYesterday I was reading the Google Graveyard https://killedbygoogle.com/ https://killedbygoogle.com/ so my first reaction on seeing this headline was to think it meant Google is killing Fitbit.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- oyebenny 7y agoWait, AngularJS is going to die?
- samastur 7y agoYes, AngularJS (1.x), not Angular (2 onwards).
- londons_explore 7y agoI'll make an opening bet... The last non-security software update for any fitbit product will be 18 months from now.
- anuraj 7y agoIn international market - Xiaomi decimated Fitbit already. High end is owned by Apple. May be a mixed bag for Google
- windexh8er 7y agoGarmin and Apple have the fitness market covered. Fitbit never had the hardcore fitness market Garmin executed into and Apple has always had a product that works well across the wearable and fitness. Between these two companies I can't imagine there's much of a niche Fitbit does better. On the extreme hardcore triathlon user even Garmin has taken a lot of market from Suunto and the like. I've owned a handful of Garmin devices over the years and have never considered Fitbit. Now that Google owns them my initial reaction is that Fitbit is going to be in a very confusing state for the next year and their products will fall further behind. Unless Google actually scraps what WearOS is today and goes back to the drawing board they've lost this war even to Garmin.
- neuromancer2701 7y agoFibit should fit perfectly into the 99$ market for a zillion people that just want to track steps and sleep cycles.
- pmlnr 7y agoYou have 10$ chinese brand-able devices for that: https://rbaron.net/blog/2018/05/27/Hacking-a-cheap-fitness-tracker-bracelet.html https://rbaron.net/blog/2018/05/27/Hacking-a-cheap-fitness-t...
- Invictus0 7y agoOr just get a $1 pedometer and a sleep app.
- xingjiping 7y agoOr a zero dollar pedophile. Problem solved. Money isn't everything.
- scarface74 7y agoAnd why wouldn’t they just buy a $199 Apple Watch Series 3? How many people are both into fitness and do price conscience that they won’t spend an extra $100. Well, they could cater to the Android market.
- Razengan 7y agoSo, the concerning thing is, if Company A has been collecting data on users but not doing much with it, then gets absorbed by Company B who is notorious for infringing on everyone's privacy, do users even get a choice to prevent their data (that was collected by Company A) from being seen/used by Company B?
- geerlingguy 7y agoRefer to what has happened (albeit slowly) with Nest... basically as an end user you get no say or choice in what happens to your data, and you can either give up on it or accept the new terms.
- Razengan 7y agoThis is why I prefer to stick with Apple; even if their commitment to privacy is just PR, at least their stuff won't get bought out by the likes of Google or Microsoft.
- judge2020 7y agoYes, assuming the customer is aware of the acquisition/aware of their data being under new ownership, and assuming the company isn't malicious about secretly storing this data after the fact, they can ask either fitbit or Google to delete the data. For both PR and Legal reasons they allow this.
- partiallypro 7y agoApple would be fools to not offer Android support on the Apple watch on the back of this news... But they are so concerned about ecosystem lock in they might not. There are now officially no stylish or social alternatives to Google or Apple wearables. I'm sorry, but Garmin is just not style focused and one of the benefits of fitbit is the social aspect of challenging your friends. This is a huge blow to wearables.
- scarface74 7y agoWhy would they? There are so many ecosystem tie ins between the Apple Watch and the iPhone. Besides, what does the development tool chain look like? Develop an Android app for the phone and a Swift App for the watch? What is the debugging experience? With Swift UI it should be even easier to use views on both the iPhone and the watch. Offering support for Android goes in the opposite direction. Then on the other hand, with the Watch OS stand alone store, Apple might be moving into that direction of not requiring a phone at all.
- aembleton 7y agoDoesn't Amazfit GTR cover that? https://en.amazfit.com/gtr.html https://en.amazfit.com/gtr.html
- cbHXBY1D 7y agoOr Huawei Watch GT 2 https://consumer.huawei.com/en/wearables/watch-gt2/ https://consumer.huawei.com/en/wearables/watch-gt2/ Or Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-watch-active2/ https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-watch-active2/
- nradov 7y agoGarmin does sell style focused models such as the Vivomove and Vivoactive series. They also provide social challenges through Garmin Connect.
- vader1 7y agoThis is terrible news. As if Google didn't know enough about you already - they will now be supplied with a 24/7 live feed of your most sensitive health statistics. I'll be switching to a competitor and closing down my account there as soon as possible to hopefully prevent years of my historic data from being merged into the (ghost) profile Google has on me. But at this rate it won't be long before there are simply no more competitors to FAANG left anymore. Actually enforcing antitrust laws, anyone, pretty please?
- chrisfinazzo 7y agoTo be fair, Apple does this too to some extent. However, given their most recent commercial re privacy and all of their public statements on the topic, I don't expect them to exploit it for profit quite so shamelessly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py0acqg1oKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py0acqg1oKc
- MBCook 7y ago> they will now be supplied with a 24/7 live feed of your most sensitive health statistics. In Apple land all health data stays on device, not in the cloud like Google/FitBit
- chrisfinazzo 7y agoTrue, and to the extent they would exploit it, this basically amounts to providing a good customer experience (b/c Health information is useful) so that you continue to buy into the ecosystem. Sounds like a solid sales pitch to me.
- mercutio2 7y agoIn Apple-land, health data is synced to the cloud, but encrypted such that Apple doesn’t hold the keys in escrow; they’re peer-to-peer synced between your devices. Similar impact from a privacy perspective (assuming crypto is unbreakable), but the data certainly is synced.
- emmp 7y ago
- el_ninjak 7y agoThe buyout price is unacceptable, expect FIT shareholders to oppose the deal. Basically everyone who has been holding FIT more than two years will take a loss with this deal. IPO price was $20 in 2015.
- AgloeDreams 7y agoHasn't their entire future roadmap been a blank page for a while and the Versa 2 is a flop? If you view their roadmap as a lot of red you might see a buyout like this. (seeing as their opportunity to compete with Apple is quite poor.)
- tomComb 7y agoAnd they almost hit $52 once, but that is irrelevant now. They are in serious trouble and needed this buyout- that's why they put themselves up for sale.
- bobajeff 7y ago>Google has made progress with partners in this space with Wear OS and Google Fit, but we see an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market. I think it's pretty clear Google hasn't made much progress with Wear OS. Otherwise they wouldn't have needed to buy both Fossil and Fitbit. Maybe they should just use Fitbit OS and scale it up this time.
- jsight 7y agoIt'd be pretty shocking if they don't start with Fitbit OS, tbh. Its a much larger community.
- tmikaeld 7y agoMaybe they will put Fuchsia on it?
- bobajeff 7y agoI think for now they should just add Flutter support to Fitbit OS. That way they keep the OS that works while also making it scale up to support more advanced apps. Also, when Fuchsia is ready they'll have a clearer migration path.
- jsjohnst 7y agoTo me, this isn’t about making a stronger push into the wearables market (sure, that’s what they will say), it’s more about collecting as much personal data as they can to better target ads with.
- criddell 7y ago> making a stronger push into the wearables market I can't see an advertising company ever being trusted enough for people to feel comfortable sharing their health data. They can push all they want, but maybe their slice of that market is about as big as it's going to be.
- braythwayt 7y agoJohn Gruber^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Dan Lyons^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Steve Ballmer had another colourful analogy, he used it in response to companies claiming that a merger would create a powerhouse to challenge the market leader: "It’s like taking the two guys who finished second and third in a 100-yard dash and tying their legs together and asking for a rematch, believing that now they’ll run faster." (Thanks to "raldi" for finding the quote on Daring Fireball, and identifying that Gruber was quoting Lyons, who said he heard it from Ballmer, although the words here are Lyons')
- raldi 7y agoI can't find this quote, or anything like it. Was it recent?
- braythwayt 7y agoNot an exact quote, I'm going from memory. I believe it was many years ago.
- raldi 7y agoIt was actually Dan Lyons, as quoted by Gruber: https://daringfireball.net/2008/02/devils_advocate https://daringfireball.net/2008/02/devils_advocate
- braythwayt 7y agoThanks, attribution fixed. Now that we've got that sorted, what do you think of the analogy with respect to this deal? Does it—cough—fit?
- raldi 7y agoOops, turns out Lyons was just quoting Steve Ballmer: http://web.archive.org/web/20080206081701/https://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2008/02/ballmer-im-completely-out-of-ideas.html http://web.archive.org/web/20080206081701/https://fakesteve....
- yumraj 7y agoEveryone who used Fitbit, now your data belongs to Google - Congratulations!!
- dannykwells 7y agoEveryones getting so upset, but we knew they bought FitBit just to keep their pipeline of projects to sunset full. I mean theres enough here alone to be at least half of their 2021 sunsets.
- hn_throwaway_99 7y agoAll the folks talking about Wear not doing well, I'm always surprised the original Huawei watch wasn't more popular. I love mine, especially because I think it is one of the only smart watches that actually looks good as a watch.
- cptskippy 7y agoEveryone here is talking about the fitness market or the lack of direction at Google. This move is about the Healthcare market. At least where I work, researchers have been eager to partner with Fitbit and other companies to capture more reliable data in their longitudinal studies. Fitbit devices are cheap but provide a wealth of information that's far more reliable than participant surveys. Companies are more than willing to purchase and distribute these devices for free to participants in their studies.
- salimmadjd 7y agoMy feeling is that Fitbit really wanted to sell, especially before the holiday seasons and risk showing unfavorable numbers.
- mfer 7y agoThis made me contemplate the context of a privacy policy. Take a look at https://www.fitbit.com/legal/privacy-policy#how-we-use-info https://www.fitbit.com/legal/privacy-policy#how-we-use-info (the section on how they use information). Sections in here having a context to Fitbit is very different from those same sections as they relate to Google.
- wslh 7y agoSidenote: expecting some company will lead the Android tablet market with an interesting offering because Google discontinued their tablets.
- thrower123 7y agoCountdown to when my fitbit just stops working... And that's probably the end of Fitbit's customer service department. Not that they are particularly great, but, you know, they do exist.
- crb002 7y agoThey might have an X project that could use the Fitbit platform. Hopefully not another Nest mess.
- torgian 7y agoWell, guess Google knows all your heart-beat data now.
- FrozenSynapse 7y agoThey will know when you're excited about an ad they've shown you!
- hesarenu 7y agoCool. Maybe ai can spot some health issues.
- jrobn 7y agoWell, I won't be buying a fitbit ever again. The one I have now will go into goodwill pile.
- undefined3840 7y agoI think all this talk about Facebook and paid political ads missing the key problem I have with ads-based businesses and that is there are certain things you just shouldn’t be able to target ads to people with, including health information. If congress wanted to regulate big tech they should enforce certain basic standards around 1) what information can be used to target consumers with 2) the granularity of the data. For political ads, for example, I think the right decision for Twitter and Facebook would be to allow them but limit targeting e.g. you can specify the district they would appear in (low granularity) but be shown to a completely random sample of users who live there.
- briffle 7y agoThere have been quite a few lawsuits around related subjects. Facebook got sued because their targeting of ads allowed people to do things like target jobs to only men [0], or only to certain ethnicities [1], etc. Certainly, in some cases, targeting gender makes sense, but allowing it across the board gets a little scary. 0: https://www.vox.com/2019/3/21/18275746/facebook-settles-ad-discrimination-lawsuits https://www.vox.com/2019/3/21/18275746/facebook-settles-ad-d... 1: https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-advertising-discrimination-settlement/ https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-advertising-discriminat...
- undefined3840 7y agoYeah but Facebook got sued for that because those violated existing laws. There’s no regulation around using any data for targeting purposes for most regular or political online ads, and I’m saying that should be the focus when it comes to regulation but have not heard anything other than “Facebook is destroying democracy!”
- rdiddly 7y ago...and all the Fitbit data on ~100,000,000 people.
- sorenjan 7y agoThis is $2.1B that would have been better spent on improving WearOS, get Spotify offline support, and maybe make their own Pixel watch. Google hasn't really showed any interest for watches in years, this is a weird buy.
- milin 7y agoSeems like Google got a good deal.
- kpU8efre7r 7y agoIn two years they'll finally release a smartwatch while Apple is releasing AR glasses.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- antipaul 7y agoWhy isnt it Alphabet buying Fitbit, instead of Google? Does that make a difference?
- poisonborz 7y agoGoogle is the software arm of Alphabet, already maintaining smartwatch platform. No reason to keep it separate.
- kshatrea 7y agoMy friends and I have this theory that the top management at Google feels they are extremely close to general AI. With acquisitions like this we would hazard the guess that they want to see what data they are missing that could feed that borg and then buy a company that could supply the missing bits. They just have to promise that they won’t use it for ads. But if that AI gets better and better soon they have enormous new opportunities. Just a theory though.
- longerthoughts 7y agoInteresting. Would they be behaving differently if they were just racing to be first to general AI rather than already being "extremely close"? Seems like they're making great strides with specific applications but given the reported limitations even in that class of AI (see Duplex) I'd be surprised if they were on the brink of general intelligence. Of course, you might consider close to be in the next decade or two, in which case [shrugs].
- webwielder2 7y agoNever attribute to evil genius that which can be explained by corporate flailing.
- moocowtruck 7y agoso now my watch spies on my like nest? great
- teknopaul 7y agoBecause Monolpoly Good. The states doesnt even pay lip service to free market these days. Another 2 billion worth of market assimilated to a monopoly.
- williamle8300 7y agoWelp... say "goodbye" to your biometric data.
- dvcrn 7y agoFitbit always refused to open detailed APIs and integrate with HealthKit to keep people using their stuff which is why I switched to an Apple Watch despite really liking my Charge HR. Looks like that was the right decision and HealthFit will probably never ever come into consideration
- poisonborz 7y agoA simple, thin watch with an epaper/transreflexive display and an open ecosystem. Is that too much to ask for?
- tito 7y agoIs there a pithy name for the “law” that any company that collects your data and promises its private will eventually sell it?
- geodel 7y agoSeems 'joining the forces' is no longer phrase of choice in these acquisitions.
- avonmach 7y agoGoogle taking the lead into the trackers market
- inlined 7y agoI wonder if this will lead to a “semi-smart” watch. The fitness-minded audience can be a new way to push the assistant.
- cletus 7y agoOof. Goodbye Fitbit. Or, rather, welcome to the world where you're a pawn in internal politics. You may think you have a product but you don't. If your product survives (as in, Google didn't buy you just for the team), your product schedule will have to survive the interests of every other PA/team in Google. - You think you have software to run your products? Ha. The Android team will have a different opinion. - Even if you survive Android, Fuchsia probably thinks you belong on their paltform. - Oh and while we're at it, let's integrate with OAuth2.0 so your device now needs a Google account to even work (and stops working when refresh tokens can't be used as happened to many Google wireless routers). - Your software development is now set in stone as various teams work out how to migrate it to Google infrastructure and rewrite it in [language/framework du jour]. I actually agree with other commenters: Google just doesn't know what it's about anymore. It has no overriding vision. Larry just isn't the leader Google needs to be, which would be fine, except that he clearly wants to be. Disclaimer: Xoogler.
- 1290cc 7y agoJust like any massive global tech company.
- taurath 7y agoThey don’t care about the product in so much as they care about the avenue to suck up more data, no?
- cletus 7y agoActually, no. I find this whole "they're selling your data" trope to be trite and just annoying at this point. I actually expect this more a reaction to Apple's pivot into health with the Apple Watch (people seem to forget the ex-Burberry CEO positioned the Apple Watch 1 as a luxury product--anyone remember the Apple Watch Edition for $10k?--health came later).
- taurath 7y agoRight, but they’re not going to make money off the hardware, it’s going to be the services and ad targeting based off of the data. You think chromecast is to make a profit?
- Urgo 7y agoAs this has been rumored for a little while now and I've been a fitbit user since day 1 it got me to think a lot about what goolge might be able to do with the data and machine learning and it got me to think of two things that I don't think I heard anyone reference yet. 1) Presence. Right now Google often doesn't know WHO is watching YouTube, whether it be the logged in user or someone else in the house. If they know you're watching on a desktop or TV but your activity shows you're walking around its likely you're not actively watching or someone else is. They could hold off on showing an ad or not target it directly to you until they think you're there to watch it. 2) Involvement. Wasn't exactly sure what to call this but what I mean by this is they can measure your heart rate to see how you react to various things you're looking at now. There might already be studies on how best to control peoples heart rates when buying something or keep them watching longer but if not they'll be able to do a ton of machine learning to test this out. This can help determine when to run ads on YouTube videos to keep you from clicking off or when the optimal time would be to show you an ad to cause you to buy something.
- cdnsteve 7y agoGoogle makes 80% of revenue from ads. It covers the entire web with adsense/adwords, records anything you search, has users login to chrome, scans gmail for purchase history, tracks your gps location and where you live and work with your commute + waze.. plus much more through android. It has microphones in homes and knows about all your iot devices with nest, it knows about any other online accounts you have because google sso.... Now it has something it couldnt really capture, detailed health data that users willingly provide. This is all in support of the monster data vacuum that google has become - not about web indexing, its about people indexing, health indexing, interests, habbits all to support ads. It knows exactly what its doing.
- ohazi 7y ago> detailed health data that users willingly provide. I'm skeptical that an accerometer on your wrist and maybe an optical heartrate monitor can really provide detailed health data. Honestly, most of the "personal health monitoring" consumer device companies are selling bullshit. They don't have purpose-built devices that are capable of monitoring specific health parameters as you sleep or as you work, they have a pile of "these particular electromechanical / electro-optical sensors happen to be cheap enough and low power enough to put in a wristwatch" and are hoping that they can gain insight by throwing machine learning at the problem. In that sense, perhaps this is a perfect match, since that's what the hype-chasers at Google/X seem to love, but sometimes the best signal you can find just isn't all that useful or interesting.
- jononor 7y agoMaybe not detailed for many medical or health improving things. But Google does not care about that... It just need to be detailed enough for increasing their ability to map the world (see Waze, Niantic), deliver ads, and maybe things like pricing of insurance policy etc.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- rednerrus 7y agoThey do know how much you move and when you move. If I was selling health-related goods, I would really like to know who's thinking about getting healthy. Who's sticking to their goals, who are faltering. Are you up and moving around in the middle of the night. Are you having trouble sleeping. Are you stressed? All of these things could be extrapolated from the data they have. Seems valuable to me. $2B valuable, I don't know.
- xhruso00 7y agoI read Google buys Fitbit's data for $2.1B. Wondering what ML model they are going to feed with this data. Any product tips?
- SurgeArrest 7y agoRIP FitBit. Google bought you, which means that a good lineup of products will be killed or infected with buggy, slow, limited and unimaginative software from Google. Prepare to reboot your Fitbits daily. Maybe those always on displays can display Coke or Pepsi ad or two while you are jogging and figure out that you are dehydrated and out of the water, as ad-tech is the only thing that works in the whole Google empire. At least there is Xiaomi.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- tristanj 7y agoYou have it backwards. Fitbit was already dead before Google bought them. They couldn't keep up with the competition, they laid off hundreds of employees, and their stock crashed 90%. Google is mopping up the pieces. Spending $2B for Fitbit is chump change for Google.
- SurgeArrest 7y agoI know about the state of Fitbit, but I would have preferred any other company over Google to buy them, including Samsung or Amazon.
- ehsankia 7y agoI don't see any other company doing things as imaginative as Loon, Soli, Waymo or Duplex. What other company do you know with such a breadth of innovation? But yknow, they killed Reader 10 years ago so you're right, RIP FitBit I guess.
- SurgeArrest 7y agoI'm not talking about Google Reader, that's long gone. The companies you mentioned are technically Alphabet, not Google. If you look at Google all their consumer software efforts are an abomination. WearOS/Android Wear is at best at a level of a basement hobby project. Google Fit app became usable only after many years of updates. Their phones, i.e. hardware are the worst android phones except for the camera and even that leads only in still imaging. Technical details of how they implemented Android support for chrome OS just horror story for users who want to use it on underpowered laptops running Chrome OS. Hardware horrors continue with Google Home Mini, where G. had to disable the top button just days after releasing the device. Their 2 microphones better than 7 in Echo show its weakness as soon as you try to use Google Home to make calls - their AI can understand somehow what you said but humans can't. Their hardware products all feel like MVP from a startup not something designed for regular humans to use. Software horror stories continue, I was quite an early adopter of Google Apps for the business, it definitely was way better than early Office 365, where it would take 5 or more minutes for email travel between co-workers, however, if you signed up directly via Google (a major mistake at that time) there was no way even to backup your company accounts. Once Vault was introduced companies that were set up prior to the introduction of Vault couldn't migration to use Vault, a new company should be set up with 0 user migration tools available. Admin could not even edit the global address book to enter phone extensions of the employees. This was Google's business product. Look at Google's current Nest offering, barely changed in years, took years to deliver even simple multi-room sensors and speakers (Max for example) is the ugliest device you can bring into your home, reminding plasticky Altec Lansing beige speakers from 1990s.
- dbrgn 7y agoIs there some alternative firmware for fitbit devices that makes them log into a self-hosted service?
- auiya 7y agoIt's become clear your data is not safe no matter which company you choose to do business with, considering virtually all companies are in jeopardy of being purchased by bigger companies which don't value your data privacy. Perhaps it's time the US enacts laws similar to GDPR.
- oftenwrong 7y agoOne step closer to my dream of Google Maps navigation being able to offer you the "least stressful" route.
- cascom 7y agoJust deleted my fitbit account
- xyst 7y agoFitbit was absolute trash before the buyout. Garbage in, garbage out. My previous company provided one of those Fitbit bracelets and it just stopped working one day after a month of usage. While it did work, step tracking was spotty, at best. Haven’t looked back at wearables since then but I’m leaning towards the Apple Watch series. Maybe on the next refresh though.
- synaesthesisx 7y agoI had a feeling this was long coming - I loaded up on some Fitbit stock in early 2018 (when there were reports of their acquisitions in the glucose-monitoring space). I believe Fitbit was a target for acquisition by Apple/Google/etc due to their health patents.
- jotjotzzz 7y agoUGHHHHHHHHH... will by FitBit data be shared and sold? Wonderful! What will happen :(?
- kcorey 7y agoFor heaven's sake, please let this mean that Google finally gives a shit about wearable devices!?! I know wearOS devices have been struggling. I hate the thought that I have to buy a watch from China to get decent battery life (a Huawei band 2) which means that my data goes through some sketchy companies in China. I already have given everything to Google. Why would I want to do that for Huawei, Samsung, and whoever else is making hardware? I want to control when my devices talk back to a server and what they say, so I started using net guard and monitor the URLs my data is going to. I want to see the data stream so I can get even more detailed in my blocking efforts.
- dang 7y agoDiscussed recently but before it happened: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21378471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21378471
- xibalba 7y agoThe sooner they can integrate Fitbit with Google Fit, the better. I had to buy a Fossil smart watch (!) bc Fitbit doesn't talk to Google Fit and Noom.
- dang 7y agoWe changed the URL from https://twitter.com/JonErlichman/status/1190252267406069760 https://twitter.com/JonErlichman/status/1190252267406069760 to an article which adds at least a little more information. The press releases are https://blog.google/products/hardware/agreement-with-fitbit https://blog.google/products/hardware/agreement-with-fitbit and https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/Fitbit-to-Be-Acquired-by-Google/default.aspx https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-relea...
- chipperyman573 7y agoI see you replying to these threads sometimes, and you usually say "we" did thing. Are these decisions actually being made by a team and you the (possibly self selected) community lead? Or are you just saying "we" as in "I, someone whose actions represent the desires of the mod team, did thing"? Just curious, I've never had a problem with your changes.
- paul7986 7y agoI know I was told I can no longer talk negatively about Google on Hacker News nor point to a popular HN thread that puts Google in a bad light. I told my story for awhile on HN and lo and behold after doing so another student/inventor told a similar story with evidence of Google getting caught doing X. I do wonder who is making up these rules and why do they care what I say about Google? If I talk frequently about the same Yahoo story one that is neutral and I am neutral are you going to tell me to stop/say that is spam too?
- chipperyman573 7y agoI think you may have replied to the wrong comment friend :)
- paul7986 7y agoHmmm i was following your question about who makes the rules up. I was shocked to hear and be told I can no longer talk negatively about Google on Hacker News and provide my reason why if asked.
- longerthoughts 7y agoAny chance this plays into a broader strategy with Verily? Not sure how that would work organizationally since it's Google and not Alphabet acquiring Fitbit, but seems like the data would be especially useful there.
- womitt 7y ago"We won't merge the databases - pinky promise!"
- kevincrane 7y agoIf you want to try to keep your health data away from Google: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1285 https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1285 > Within 30-90 days: Most of your personal account info is deleted within 30 days of when you confirm your deletion request. This includes any subscriptions you have, like for Fitbit Coach. It may take up to 90 days to delete all of your personal info, like the data recorded by your Fitbit device and other data stored in our backup systems. This is due to the size and complexity of the systems we use to store data.
- hbbio 7y agoIf Google wants to be successful in the devices segment, they should first try to release appealing products. I am currently in the market for a better phone, and had high hopes in the Pixel 4. Sadly, the reviews about the battery life will make it a pass. For a giant company like Google, this seems like a major mistake you can not afford to make given the level of the competition.
- ycombonator 7y agoOne strategy “trick“ up Google is start a film studio like Amazon and Apple and they all will look alike cannabilizing each other.
- mettamage 7y agoSimple question: why is the stock up so much considering the sentiment that it is bought up by Google?
- amelius 7y agoThey couldn't launch a similar product for (say) a tenth of $2.1B? Or is this an acquihire? How many devs will this give them?
- haditab 7y agoI think they are mainly paying for the data from the last 10 years and the fitbit users.
- gandutraveler 7y agoExpect the Google fit app to have these branding changes over the coming years : Fit - > Fitbit -> Google Fitbit -> Android Fit -> Finally back to Google Fit in 2023
- paulddraper 7y agoWill it make it that long?
- bitpush 7y agoAre you saying this because you know this or just to get a giggle from people reading? When did the quality of HN comments go down so much?
- burnte 7y agoHonestly, it's a fair prediction. Google has too many cooks in the wrong kitchens.
- jsight 7y agoYeah, the only one that I'd leave out is "Android Fit". Google doesn't brand much as Android these days.
- Kiro 7y agoYou're getting downvoted but you're absolutely right that HN comments are too much about sarcastic jokes and giggles nowadays, starting to look like reddit. With that said, I don't think this comment is one of the worst examples.
- hugi 7y agoExcept in China where it will simply be: Fit -> We know where you are -> We're gonna make you into mush with tanks. Thanks for the help, Google.
- avocado4 7y ago
- gavreh 7y agoWhat are some good FitBit alternatives?
- tehjoker 7y agoAnyone remember when Fitbit exposed numerous clandestine imperial bases around the world? https://fortune.com/2018/01/29/strava-heat-map-fitbit-fitness-tracking-military/ https://fortune.com/2018/01/29/strava-heat-map-fitbit-fitnes...
- Accujack 7y agoCongratulations to all Fitbit users on becoming Google data products!
- oarabbus_ 7y agoGoogle is terrible at anything hardware-related so this sounds like a big fat loss
- unlinked_dll 7y agoMaybe someone can explain this to me. Why does Google want to compete in wearables? Why do companies feel the need to spend time/money investing in a product for no apparent reason besides the fact they aren't? Google (and tech) has always found its success in developing new markets, not chasing existing ones. That's some Balmer era Microsoft group-think. Is it just investor pressure?
- hcurtiss 7y agoOther than iMessage, the principal reason I'm not on Android is because I absolutely adore my Apple Watch. I suspect there are many like me. Google Assistant on a watch that that worked as well as Apple's would be amazing. Despite years of runway, no OEM has been able to make a competitor to Apple Watch with Assistant. I think Google has decided they'll just have to do it themselves.
- gnulinux 7y agoI guess the reasoning is that the more industries you have your products in, higher the chances of your survival will be. If the economy fails, hypothetically there will be some industries that'll survive.
- rodgerd 7y agoYour wearable knows where you are. It knows when you sleep, when you fuck, when you run. You tell the software associated with your wearable what you eat, how much, and when.
- GrumpyNl 7y agoThey want the data.
- Twirrim 7y agoHow long are we figuring it will be until Google gets bored of _this_ project too, and shuts it down?
- kops 7y agoWell done Google. So now you won't spy on me only when I am typing something on a computer or phone but also when I breath or when my heart beats. *uck FitBit. There it is in the dustbin and everyone else I see wearing it is an idiot or is an idiot. I hope insurance companies don't make it mandatory to provide my google account details while signing up. But who am I fooling.... So much for "Don't be Evil"....RIP
- akerro 7y ago>So much for "Don't be Evil"....RIP https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/10/02/as-google-becomes-alphabet-dont-be-evil-vanishes/ https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/10/02/as-google-becomes-al...
- kops 7y agoBehind a paywall. Unfortunately I don't pay people/organisations to tell me what their opinion is. They can very well keep it to themselves.
- SilkRoadie 7y agoThis news made me discover where the line is. My Android device is always listening, it tracks my every journey knowing where I travel to and how I get there. Google scan my email and undoubted have traced the majority of my internet activity. Now they want to know each time my heart beats, how many steps I take, how many calories I am burning etc. Nope. No thanks. Never been one to boycott devices but the Fitbit is now in the draw. I will be looking for a garmin this weekend.
- icinnamon 7y agoIf one doesn’t want their data to be consumed/owned by Google, what’s the best alternative fitness band (not smart watch) on the market? I specifically do not want all of the smart watch features... just fitness/health tracking.
- kops 7y agoGoogle: Says "Don't be evil" I : yippee. 20 years later Google: This is what being evil means....okay.... I : ok. But do I have a choice.... Google: well.....if you did, we'll buy it anyway. So please fall in line....
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- jammygit 7y agoThe PineTime is a new Linux smart watch - I imagine a future version could do the basics pretty good. I really just need notifications and a step counter, personally https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/09/pinetime-linux-smartwatch https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/09/pinetime-linux-smartwatc...
- nloladze 7y agoIsn't it boomers that just use this? And by boomers I mean anyone 30yo and over.
- dkersten 7y agoWell, this sucks. I only got a fitbit at the start of this year, but I’m also trying fery hard to de-google my life. Damn :-(
- rs23296008n1 7y agoNegative spin: So your current fitbit will be useless in around 2 years, your data will be used for sales and the whole thing will collapse as a sunsetted product in 4-5 years. Positive spin: new features, better integration with google ecosystem (whatever that means), ... um?
- daniel_iversen 7y agoI think from history we can see that google will experiment with multiple products in the same space and kill off unsuccessful versions (video, social networks, chat, productivity etc) and that they will also make bets on more fringe areas and kill it if it doesn’t work. Fitbit seems different then, because google doesn’t have an alternative product nor is it a niche market (the fact that Tim Cook says that we will all remember apple most for their contributions to health probably means this space will blow up!). Fitbit clearly couldn’t innovate fast enough so for consumers it’s probably just a good thing.
- jszymborski 7y agoI've had an irrational grudge against Fitbit ever since they bought and buried Pebble. There's a cold, spiteful sliver of myself that takes pleasure from this. Now for Google to be swallowed by the firmament...
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- yownie 7y agoReal honest question here, is there any viable open source competitor to fitbit devices and why not?
- floatingatoll 7y agoHow could they combine the location data from Fitbit with the location data from Ingress/Pokemon/Potter? Is that data alone worth $2bil?
- notatoad 7y agoto everybody worrying about "the data", what do you actually believe google could possibly learn about you through your fitness data? as far as i can tell, the most valuable piece of data they could harvest through a fitbit acquisition is whether or not you're the type of person who uses a fitness tracker (and they already know whether or not you installed the fitbit app through the play store). It seems insane to me that they would pay 2.1B to feed your heart rate or step count into their ad-targeting algorithms - it's just not that valuable.
- RaiseProfits 7y agoI would LOVE to hear what you think they collect. I’m sure it’s absolutely nothing, right? Fuck off asshole.
- dang 7y agoWe've banned this account, obviously. Could you please stop creating accounts to break HN's guidelines with? It's in your interests to do so, because we're trying to have a community that stays interesting for everybody. Going down in flames gets boring pretty quickly. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- thkim 7y agoIf I were to guess: got $100bn cash, not many obvious opportunities to spend on, why not add a device to portfolio? OS + device seems to be Google corporate strategy. Fitbit has disastrous financials. It's been losing money for four straight quarters and they are losing grip on the market. If this was viewed as non-tech company they would have gone to Chapter 11 already. Tech bubble is real.
- jackcosgrove 7y agoThe data is deep but not wide. I don't think Fitbit data has much value alone, or even joined to some broader user profile. I see more value in using the FitBit customer base as a market for other wearables. FitBit has developed some trust regarding collecting health data, which is hard.
- mdonahoe 7y agoAnyone else not realize that "Google Fit" was already a thing? https://www.google.com/fit/ https://www.google.com/fit/
- Glosster 7y agoA better phrasing would be: Google buys Fitbit's customers' private data for $2.1B. Privacy suffered another big loss today.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- protomyth 7y agoThis thread gets a whole lot scarier https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10932968 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10932968
- dbrgn 7y agoWhen looking for open and hackable alternatives, I stumbled over OpenHAK: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1222384528/openhak-the-worlds-finest-open-source-fitness-tracker/rewards https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1222384528/openhak-the-... Too bad the Kickstarter didn't succeed. If you wish it did, leave a note in the forums: https://groups.google.com/d/forum/openhak-beta-testers https://groups.google.com/d/forum/openhak-beta-testers
- frankzen 7y agoIf there was any decent level of customer support at Fitbit, users can say goodbye to that.