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Meanwhile Garmin watches users (like me) are wondering how it is that syncing my watch that I have bought with an application on my smartphone that I have bough
by Kenji 6y ago
Meanwhile Garmin watches users (like me) are wondering how it is that syncing my watch that I have bought with an application on my smartphone that I have bought requires presence of some distant online service.
You really wonder that? I'm sorry, how stupid are you? It's obviously to harvest data and control users. We've been warning and educating people about this for decades. When are you guys starting to wake up and voting with your wallet? Open services! Open software! Open formats! Own your data! Own your devices! Your life will be full of such disruptions if you keep using products that let corporations dominate you.
- atdrummond 6y agoThis reply strikes me as an uncharitable interpretation of OP’s statement. It’s also rude.
- marcus_holmes 6y agoyeah. I kinda agree with the sentiment, but being rude doesn't help the cause
- jlgaddis 6y agoApparently the "friendly" warnings of the last few decades have largely went ignored. Unfortunately, a much stronger tone is often needed in order to to get people to pay attention.
- ithkuil 6y agoOr to stop paying attention, as when you avoid listening to that crazy person shouting in the subway
- andrewcooke 6y agothe garmin data actually is in an open format. i've written software to decode it using publicly available documentation. the software is free to use. you can copy the (.FIT) file off the watch over USB.
- rconti 6y agoWhat about non-activity data, such as step counts, sleep data, pulse ox, etc?
- snovv_crash 6y agoThat's all postprocessed from the raw data. And the raw data is in the .fit file.
- jlgaddis 6y agoYou are, of course, absolutely right. No one likes to admit that they screwed up, though -- and we all know that the truth can hurt sometimes. --- Unfortunately, you were (likely) downvoted mostly because your blunt, honest statement comes across as condescending and rude: "Maybe you're right, but you didn't have to be such an asshole about it." What those people are either not realizing or conveniently choosing to forget is that, just as you said, we've all been warned about this exact thing* for decades! Apparently, though, the message isn't geting through. When that happens, this type of "tone" becomes necessary in order to get people to pay attention. Unfortunately, most will still choose not to heed the warnings. Evntually, when it (inevitably) happens to them, they'll say something like "Meanwhile ... users (like me) are wondering how it is that [this could happen]" and, of course, they'll avoid admitting any responsibility for their choices. They would much rather play the part of "completely innocent victim who could never have imagined something like this might happen". --- It reminds me a lot of a small child that is told, repeatedly, "don't do 'X' because 'Y' will happen" and, later, is absolutely SHOCKED when they "learn" -- the hard way, typically -- that, when they do 'X', 'Y' happens.
- andreareina 6y agoI think saying that that the parent's statement "comes across" as condescending and rude is taking the principle of charity and presumption of good faith a bit far. It is condescending and rude by any standard of good manners and productive conversation that I care to engage under. If a child learns the hard way that X -> Y I don't berate them and call them stupid for not listening. It doesn't make them more likely to listen the next time. Same with adults, really.
- AlotOfReading 6y agoIn the interests of making this somewhat productive, what open alternatives are there that we should be using? For instance, is there a commercially available, open source cycling computer that I can put my money towards? For a different industry, is there an open source e-reader I can support instead of Amazon/kobo/nook? Maybe I'm stupid as you say, but I genuinely don't know if these things are out there and a quick Google search didn't turn up anything I'd call usable.
- rapnie 6y agoSome that I know of: - https://codeberg.org/jannis/FitoTrack https://codeberg.org/jannis/FitoTrack - https://github.com/OpenTracksApp/OpenTracks https://github.com/OpenTracksApp/OpenTracks - https://gadgetbridge.org/ https://gadgetbridge.org/
- terinjokes 6y agoNone of those are cycling computers. They are applications that can, in some situations, replace cycling computers. Hardware cycling computers, like the Garmin 830 or Wahoo Elemnt Roam, are physical hardware designed for the use case of being strapped to handlebars and being used in a wide range of environments. The battery life and performance is tuned towards always on GPS and Bluetooth for connecting to sensors. They utilize a wider range of GNSS constellations. They have physical buttons as touchscreens don't work well when wet. The screens are designed to be visible in sunlight. Like the GP, I'm not aware of any open hardware cycling computers.
- rapnie 6y agoYes, true. Not exactly what you are looking for, but closer: https://www.goldencheetah.org/ https://www.goldencheetah.org/ Among others reads .fit data directly from Garmin.
- balladeer 6y agoAre there there similar but open and private solutions to Garmin/etc for h/w and Strava/RunKeeper/etc for software? Some solution where I can track my runs, swims, cyclings, treks just like Strava (et al) does does but I can choose to keep the data wherever I wish - local, or sync to an app on computer or to a self hosted server. Maybe not Garmin but I would love to use such an iOS Strava alternative with similar accuracy and detail.
- 0j 6y agoI wanted to recommend runalyze [1] but unfortunately they discontinued support of the self hosted version [2]. [1] https://runalyze.com/ https://runalyze.com/ [2] https://github.com/Runalyze/Runalyze/ https://github.com/Runalyze/Runalyze/
- rapnie 6y agoJust posted https://www.goldencheetah.org/ https://www.goldencheetah.org/ above.