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The Bodymedia FIT, in addition to being a superior device overall(1), has an API which let's you access caloric burn and other data up to single minute detail l

The Bodymedia FIT, in addition to being a superior device overall(1), has an API which let's you access caloric burn and other data up to single minute detail levels. If you Google around, there are some blog posts describing how to dump data from it using standard USB serial port drivers. API webpage: https://developer.bodymedia.com/docs/read/Home https://developer.bodymedia.com/docs/read/Home 1- The Bodymedia gives you steps taken as well as accurate sleep and caloric burn readings.

heyitsnick 14y ago
Could you explain a bit more when Bodymedia FIT is superior? The FitBit One and Ultra tracks steps taken, floors climbed, and sleep efficiency, and tells you calories burned and distance travelled (the latter two i assume just simply calculated from the raw data collected; you can input your weight and stride length on the site).
- b3b0p 14y ago
  I believe the Fitbit is nothing more than a step counter type of device. I could be wrong, but that's what it looks like. The Bodymedia FIT has actual sensors, it's an armband you have to wear. It monitors temperature among other things. It has been tested against, a $40,000 "portable oxygen analyzer", the gold standard for measuring calories. (source: http://www.bodymedia.com/the_science.html http://www.bodymedia.com/the_science.html) Regarding the Bodymedia FIT developer program. It looks you still need a subscription though and one still needs to upload the data from the armband to the website to get at it. Seems kind of pointless. I would want to get the data directly from the USB armband without a subscription.
- jessedhillon 14y ago
  Suppose you did 100 squats. Which will be closer to reporting your true caloric burn -- a pedometer or a sensor directly contacting your skin and measuring your skin temperature and other variables. The latter, right? The former would probably report 100 steps taken, very slowly. The total costs are higher though. The Fitbit is a onetime cost of $100-125 where the Bodymedia is $120-150 once and $84/yr. But for me, the cost of the Fitbit is too high for the relatively inaccurate method of collection.
darklajid 14y ago
Repeatedly asks me in which of a list of four places I am (Answer: Neither). Doesn't say 'Because, you know, we won't sell stuff to you if you are not on the list' until you try to check out. When you reach checkout, you'll see that they are asking you if you're in the US, Canda, Australia or New Zealand, while the shop contains the helpful "Currently BodyMedia FIT only ships within the U.S. and Canada (does not include Quebec)". What happens if I _am_ in Australia or NZ? Weird. Product looked nice, wanted to impulse buy one right now, but .. guess not. 1: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1194203/bodymedia.png https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1194203/bodymedia.png
- jfb 14y ago
  Or Quebec?
  - freehunter 14y ago
    I would guess the reason they don't sell in Quebec is because their product is not localized for French speakers. The company I work with is nationwide in Canada except for Quebec because of the legal hassles and logistical troubles of localizing for French speakers as mandated by law in Quebec.
    - jfb 14y ago
      That makes sense. I'm still trying to get used to living in Canada.
kgarten 14y ago
"*Subscription required. The LINK Armband does not display information on its own, but rather works in conjunction with the online Activity Manager. Package includes a free 3-month trial period subscription. Monthly, 6-month, and 12-month subscriptions are available." aehm ... do I understand that correctly, I have to pay them $7 bugs a month to get access to my data? WOW, yes so much better than fitbit :D
- jessedhillon 14y ago
  Yeah you do in order to use the SaaS, unless you dump the data over USB and process it yourself. Honestly, I have to imagine that the objection to $7/mo is on principle with this crowd, and not a financial issue. This is the same crowd though, who loves to shout "if you're not paying for it, you're the customer" so here we have a situation where you're paying for what you use. Is the price you're paying set by perception of value, rather than cost of goods sold? Yes, mostly. It is a business. But Bodymedia is aggressive in making their product (both SaaS and armband) better over time, so your subscription fees aren't pure profit. So if you accept that $7/mo is a negligible cost, and that the price does not need to be simply an invoice of labor and hardware, but an expression of value, then I think this is a no-brainer. This easily delivers $7 of value even without using the API. A biometric sensor with minute-by-minute granularity of data access for $84/yr plus one-time cost of ~$150? That's very well priced, IMO. It's just the idea of paying twice for a product you already own which hurts -- it's not the easiest pill to swallow, and it kept me from buying one for a while too.
  - Dylan16807 14y ago
    If they want to charge more, they should charge more. It's not just about overall value. For a moment let's focus on devices that charge solely to get the raw data two feet onto a computer. The user pays $5 for this service. What are they actually paying for the company to do? Nothing. They're not buying a license, they're not receiving any service... It's in fact not a sale at all, it's a gift of $5. You can't have a contract without consideration on both sides. I'm not interested in giving away money just because a product is neat. Charge me the real price up front if you want more money. Or do it right and charge me for analysis but not for raw data dumps.
Gormo 14y ago
Are there any similar products that store and analyze data locally? I've been looking into getting something like this, but I wouldn't want any of the data uploaded to the internet at all.

heyitsnick 14y ago

Could you explain a bit more when Bodymedia FIT is superior? The FitBit One and Ultra tracks steps taken, floors climbed, and sleep efficiency, and tells you calories burned and distance travelled (the latter two i assume just simply calculated from the raw data collected; you can input your weight and stride length on the site).

b3b0p 14y ago
I believe the Fitbit is nothing more than a step counter type of device. I could be wrong, but that's what it looks like. The Bodymedia FIT has actual sensors, it's an armband you have to wear. It monitors temperature among other things. It has been tested against, a $40,000 "portable oxygen analyzer", the gold standard for measuring calories. (source: http://www.bodymedia.com/the_science.html http://www.bodymedia.com/the_science.html) Regarding the Bodymedia FIT developer program. It looks you still need a subscription though and one still needs to upload the data from the armband to the website to get at it. Seems kind of pointless. I would want to get the data directly from the USB armband without a subscription.
jessedhillon 14y ago
Suppose you did 100 squats. Which will be closer to reporting your true caloric burn -- a pedometer or a sensor directly contacting your skin and measuring your skin temperature and other variables. The latter, right? The former would probably report 100 steps taken, very slowly. The total costs are higher though. The Fitbit is a onetime cost of $100-125 where the Bodymedia is $120-150 once and $84/yr. But for me, the cost of the Fitbit is too high for the relatively inaccurate method of collection.

darklajid 14y ago

Repeatedly asks me in which of a list of four places I am (Answer: Neither). Doesn't say 'Because, you know, we won't sell stuff to you if you are not on the list' until you try to check out. When you reach checkout, you'll see that they are asking you if you're in the US, Canda, Australia or New Zealand, while the shop contains the helpful "Currently BodyMedia FIT only ships within the U.S. and Canada (does not include Quebec)". What happens if I _am_ in Australia or NZ? Weird. Product looked nice, wanted to impulse buy one right now, but .. guess not. 1: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1194203/bodymedia.png https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1194203/bodymedia.png

jfb 14y ago
Or Quebec?
- freehunter 14y ago
  I would guess the reason they don't sell in Quebec is because their product is not localized for French speakers. The company I work with is nationwide in Canada except for Quebec because of the legal hassles and logistical troubles of localizing for French speakers as mandated by law in Quebec.
  - jfb 14y ago
    That makes sense. I'm still trying to get used to living in Canada.

kgarten 14y ago

"*Subscription required. The LINK Armband does not display information on its own, but rather works in conjunction with the online Activity Manager. Package includes a free 3-month trial period subscription. Monthly, 6-month, and 12-month subscriptions are available." aehm ... do I understand that correctly, I have to pay them $7 bugs a month to get access to my data? WOW, yes so much better than fitbit :D

jessedhillon 14y ago
Yeah you do in order to use the SaaS, unless you dump the data over USB and process it yourself. Honestly, I have to imagine that the objection to $7/mo is on principle with this crowd, and not a financial issue. This is the same crowd though, who loves to shout "if you're not paying for it, you're the customer" so here we have a situation where you're paying for what you use. Is the price you're paying set by perception of value, rather than cost of goods sold? Yes, mostly. It is a business. But Bodymedia is aggressive in making their product (both SaaS and armband) better over time, so your subscription fees aren't pure profit. So if you accept that $7/mo is a negligible cost, and that the price does not need to be simply an invoice of labor and hardware, but an expression of value, then I think this is a no-brainer. This easily delivers $7 of value even without using the API. A biometric sensor with minute-by-minute granularity of data access for $84/yr plus one-time cost of ~$150? That's very well priced, IMO. It's just the idea of paying twice for a product you already own which hurts -- it's not the easiest pill to swallow, and it kept me from buying one for a while too.
- Dylan16807 14y ago
  If they want to charge more, they should charge more. It's not just about overall value. For a moment let's focus on devices that charge solely to get the raw data two feet onto a computer. The user pays $5 for this service. What are they actually paying for the company to do? Nothing. They're not buying a license, they're not receiving any service... It's in fact not a sale at all, it's a gift of $5. You can't have a contract without consideration on both sides. I'm not interested in giving away money just because a product is neat. Charge me the real price up front if you want more money. Or do it right and charge me for analysis but not for raw data dumps.

Gormo 14y ago

Are there any similar products that store and analyze data locally? I've been looking into getting something like this, but I wouldn't want any of the data uploaded to the internet at all.