3 ms·
This is a rather annoying trend with devices in this class. I own a half dozen otherwise excellent devices like this, each of which require a SaaS subscription
by asher_ 14y ago
This is a rather annoying trend with devices in this class. I own a half dozen otherwise excellent devices like this, each of which require a SaaS subscription to make full use of, any most of which deny me access to the raw data. I have to think that the market for people wanting the raw data is fairly small in comparison to the people who just want a simple, single-device web service, but I think this is disappointing.
The real value in the data is the relationships between various data sources. I really don't care how many steps I take in a particular day, but I do care if there is a relationship between that and my weight, how well I sleep, my heart rate etc. No device, or brand, does everything, nor should they. I want to be able to get my data out so I can use it in interesting ways.
I have thought a lot about not buying any devices in the future that don't allow me access to the data I produce. I think it is probably a good policy, but I would be left with very little in the way of options then. Finding hacks to get data out of devices can be useful, but should we really have to crack each new gadget just to use the data? I think its a pretty sad state of affairs.