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RIP local fitness instructors. Already battered by the pandemic, a lot of them have been successfully transitioning to an online only business model. This will

RIP local fitness instructors. Already battered by the pandemic, a lot of them have been successfully transitioning to an online only business model. This will make it harder.

EricE 6y ago
You make a great point. What if Apple did the equivalent of iBooks Author but instead of creating eBooks or iTunes University for creating online courseware it let individual instructors design workouts they could then sell? Then again Apple still doesn't let third parties design their own Apple Watch faces. Seems like it would still be a pretty good and logical extension of iTunes U.
ogre_codes 6y ago
I'm skeptical people who are willing to pay for and desire a fitness trainer would be content with a much more generic service.
jmull 6y ago
I don’t think this would affect personal, live fitness instructors. Although it looks the same on the surface, the value proposition is very different (as is the cost). You don’t make the same kind of human connection when the communication is one-way. Put it this way: if internet streaming was going to kill off fitness instructors, it would have happened already. Apple isn’t doing something new here, they’re just putting their own spin on it and vertically integrating it. Companies doing similar services might have more to worry about, though I think there is a lot of room to grow in this market, and i think it’s “niche-y” by nature, so I think there’s probably plenty of room for competitors.
- cj 6y ago
  I wouldn't jump to those conclusions so quickly. I'm paying my local fitness instructor $25/mo for access to a private facebook group where she streams live classes via Facebook Live every day. The communication is one-way (you can post comments in chat, but the instructor can't see you). Nothing is in person. This directly competes with my local fitness instructor who has transitioned 100% to live stream. Fitness+ is $5 more expensive than the local instructor, but of course cheaper if they bundle that cost into Apple Music, TV, etc. Edit: But TBH, I'll always prefer my local fitness instructor's low-quality live streams. Something about professionally made workout videos with movie quality cinematography is not motivating for me personally.
  - tomp 6y ago
    What's the point of having a local fitness instructor if it's all streaming online? Doesn't that open the worldwide fitness instructor market (except language), so you can just pick the best worldwide?
    - cj 6y ago
      > What's the point of having a local fitness instructor if it's all streaming online? Human connection. The first 5 minutes of the class are personally my favorite - the instructor is a hilariously funny person and a great community builder. I’ve taken a lot of fitness classes with many different instructors. From my experience, people rarely stick with an instructor (or workout program) because of the quality of the actual workout... they stick with it only if they enjoy spending an hour of their day with the instructor on a personal / social level. Most people would choose a mediocre workout with an engaging instructor over an amazing workout with a monotone boring instructor.
- Tiktaalik 6y ago
  Yes but the pandemic has changed things. For at least the next two years personal, live fitness instructors are going away. In Vancouver, BC, where pandemic response has been relatively good, even there a successful in person fitness business Tight Club has opted to stop renting their space entirely and they've pivoted completely to online.
- anmilo 6y ago
  agree with this - I think the tech part of fitness+ here is cool (i.e better data and overlays on screen) However i'm not rushing to switch from my zoom classes where the instructor can see and correct form as well as personalize movements and intensity, because we've built the history and knowledge over time.
theptip 6y ago
Or does it make their lives easier, by increasing the TAM of online-only fitness, which they can participate in? (I suspect it makes things harder for mediocre-or-worse instructors, and better for good-or-better instructors.)
drchopchop 6y ago
Nah, a lot of people want some combination of a) in-person experiences, b) lots of fancy equipment, c) the relationship/camraderie the class has, d) the psychology of going somewhere besides your house to do something
Philip-J-Fry 6y ago
Youtube has been a thing for a long time, and a free service. Apple is doing the same thing except they're making much higher quality videos, with hardware integration, and charging money for it. If video workouts were to replace fitness instructors it would have happened over 5 years ago.
samatman 6y ago
Pandemic isn't going to last forever. I agree that it's bad timing. But where I live, the gyms are open, and I see personal trainers working with clients every time I go. This doesn't compete with personal trainers or in-person gym classes, not really. As indicated elsewhere, it competes with Peloton and YouTube, and where Peloton is concerned, I'd expect them to be announcing an integrating pretty soon.

RIP local fitness instructors. Already battered by the pandemic, a lot of them have been successfully transitioning to an online only business model. This will make it harder.

EricE 6y ago

You make a great point. What if Apple did the equivalent of iBooks Author but instead of creating eBooks or iTunes University for creating online courseware it let individual instructors design workouts they could then sell? Then again Apple still doesn't let third parties design their own Apple Watch faces. Seems like it would still be a pretty good and logical extension of iTunes U.

ogre_codes 6y ago

I'm skeptical people who are willing to pay for and desire a fitness trainer would be content with a much more generic service.

jmull 6y ago

I don’t think this would affect personal, live fitness instructors. Although it looks the same on the surface, the value proposition is very different (as is the cost). You don’t make the same kind of human connection when the communication is one-way. Put it this way: if internet streaming was going to kill off fitness instructors, it would have happened already. Apple isn’t doing something new here, they’re just putting their own spin on it and vertically integrating it. Companies doing similar services might have more to worry about, though I think there is a lot of room to grow in this market, and i think it’s “niche-y” by nature, so I think there’s probably plenty of room for competitors.

cj 6y ago
I wouldn't jump to those conclusions so quickly. I'm paying my local fitness instructor $25/mo for access to a private facebook group where she streams live classes via Facebook Live every day. The communication is one-way (you can post comments in chat, but the instructor can't see you). Nothing is in person. This directly competes with my local fitness instructor who has transitioned 100% to live stream. Fitness+ is $5 more expensive than the local instructor, but of course cheaper if they bundle that cost into Apple Music, TV, etc. Edit: But TBH, I'll always prefer my local fitness instructor's low-quality live streams. Something about professionally made workout videos with movie quality cinematography is not motivating for me personally.
- tomp 6y ago
  What's the point of having a local fitness instructor if it's all streaming online? Doesn't that open the worldwide fitness instructor market (except language), so you can just pick the best worldwide?
  - cj 6y ago
    > What's the point of having a local fitness instructor if it's all streaming online? Human connection. The first 5 minutes of the class are personally my favorite - the instructor is a hilariously funny person and a great community builder. I’ve taken a lot of fitness classes with many different instructors. From my experience, people rarely stick with an instructor (or workout program) because of the quality of the actual workout... they stick with it only if they enjoy spending an hour of their day with the instructor on a personal / social level. Most people would choose a mediocre workout with an engaging instructor over an amazing workout with a monotone boring instructor.
Tiktaalik 6y ago
Yes but the pandemic has changed things. For at least the next two years personal, live fitness instructors are going away. In Vancouver, BC, where pandemic response has been relatively good, even there a successful in person fitness business Tight Club has opted to stop renting their space entirely and they've pivoted completely to online.
anmilo 6y ago
agree with this - I think the tech part of fitness+ here is cool (i.e better data and overlays on screen) However i'm not rushing to switch from my zoom classes where the instructor can see and correct form as well as personalize movements and intensity, because we've built the history and knowledge over time.

theptip 6y ago

Or does it make their lives easier, by increasing the TAM of online-only fitness, which they can participate in? (I suspect it makes things harder for mediocre-or-worse instructors, and better for good-or-better instructors.)

drchopchop 6y ago

Nah, a lot of people want some combination of a) in-person experiences, b) lots of fancy equipment, c) the relationship/camraderie the class has, d) the psychology of going somewhere besides your house to do something

Philip-J-Fry 6y ago

Youtube has been a thing for a long time, and a free service. Apple is doing the same thing except they're making much higher quality videos, with hardware integration, and charging money for it. If video workouts were to replace fitness instructors it would have happened over 5 years ago.

samatman 6y ago

Pandemic isn't going to last forever. I agree that it's bad timing. But where I live, the gyms are open, and I see personal trainers working with clients every time I go. This doesn't compete with personal trainers or in-person gym classes, not really. As indicated elsewhere, it competes with Peloton and YouTube, and where Peloton is concerned, I'd expect them to be announcing an integrating pretty soon.