Google Purchases Fitbit for $2.1 Billion (androidcentral.com) 52
Google announced this morning that it has entered an agreement to buy Fitbit for $2.1 billion. In a blog post, Google's Senior Vice President of Devices & Services, Rick Osterloh, said the company sees "an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market." He added, "Fitbit has been a true pioneer in the industry and has created engaging products, experiences and a vibrant community of users. By working closely with Fitbit's team of experts, and bringing together the best AI, software and hardware, we can help spur innovation in wearables and build products to benefit even more people around the world." From a report: Google's Wear OS wearable platform has been in something of a rut for the last few years. The company introduced the Android Wear to Wear OS rebrand in 2018 to revitalize its branding/image, but the hardware offerings have still been pretty ho-hum. Third-party watches like the Fossil Gen 5 have proven to be quite good, but without a proper "Made by Google" smartwatch and other major players, such as Samsung, ignoring the platform, it's been left to just sort of exist.
Forgive my cynicism... (Score:5, Insightful)
Data grab for personalized advertising.
The product will barely resemble a former shadow of itself in a few years.
Older products will be twilighted as soon as they've managed to integrate core features into their own-branded hardware.
Re:Forgive my cynicism... (Score:5, Insightful)
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It's almost like this has happened before (cough)Nest(cough).
And that's one of their more successful acquisitions. Most of the time they straight up kill the product because they really just wanted the devs.
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I wonder if Google has simply been around long enough as a company for the Peter Principle to fully take hold, which would certainly explain the boneheaded decision making going on all across the company. The time frames add up in the case of both companies, but that may just be reading to
Re: Forgive my cynicism... (Score:2)
Nest was already slowly strangling itself. They garbage thermostats. Those of us in the HVAC field do not like them since the way they charge themselves is known to destroy furnace control boards on systems that do not have a common wire.
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Nest was already slowly strangling itself. They garbage thermostats. Those of us in the HVAC field do not like them since the way they charge themselves is known to destroy furnace control boards on systems that do not have a common wire.
Aren't the service calls to replace the boards billable? ;-)
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More seriously, if the Nest was installed with the 3 wire hack doesn't that indicate a self install? A real HVAC person would have run a 4th wire to do the job proper and avoid the damage in the first place. Or used some other hack to properly supply that 4th input (common).
That said, I am a mere ignorant homeowner. One that did some reading on Nest, learned of the issue, checked my wiring, found an unattached common wire had
Re: Forgive my cynicism... (Score:2)
Most companies charge around $600 to replace a board.
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Mod parent up.
However I think the principle that counts most now for the google is "All your attention are belong to us."
As regards Slashdot, I doubt many of the current "contributors" have read the book. Yet I will (mercifully?) save them the search for the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re:Forgive my cynicism... (Score:5, Interesting)
They might actually be interested in buying the FDA fasttrack approval FItbit has. Fitbit has done nothing with it, and now Google can do nothing with it too!
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For no idea who to call say "Ghost Busters".
Re: Forgive my cynicism... (Score:1)
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It is already a former shadow of itself.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Nice algorithm. Delete everything you mind about life. Does the algorithm terminate before you terminate. Highly doubtful. Good lord that we live in a world where this kind of fuckwit framing passes for urgent and cogent advice.
Personally, I regard Google's rapacious data greed as a feature not a bug. They hoover much, share little. So as the least bad of all possible leashes, they're d
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Sure, you're just picking a master in the tech world, but they aren't all equal, and in my view there are two camps. Those are makers and advertisers.
Google and Facebook are advertisers. They make the majority of their money selling ads. All of their products are just ways to collect data for targeting ads, or providing places to display those ads. Apple and Microsoft are makers. They make the majority of their money selling goods and services.
Advertisers don't care about you, because you aren't the re
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Google already tracks all my movements through Maps on my phone (Timeline) and my fitbit tracks my steps. Google already has the broader information pool on me. I don't really care if they have a second source for the number of steps I take as long as the product I purchased continues to work for as long as I want it to.
My fitbit alta is a little over a year old and it is my first fitbit product. I don't foresee replacing it for years to come. If it does fail before I think it should have, then I will asses
Re:Just deleted my Fitbit data & deactivating (Score:4, Informative)
Nah. Attach the fitbit gadgets to your dog's collar and let them have some bogus data.
The only thing worse than no data is wrong data. When you can't tell real from fake anymore, all you can sensibly do is throw it away.
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My dog sleeps all the time.... effectively the same data as if I left my fitbit on the charger....
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Yeah, no. Google doesn't need yet more information about me. Deleted my data, disconnected the partner integrations, deactivated my account, and then I'm deleting the apps and throwing all my Fitshit away.
Another option, though it requires a bit more effort...
I had already ditched Google (search, Gmail, Android, etc.) - with the exception of maps, which I'm still using on occasion via the PC without logging in (since I still haven't found an alternative with as many locations/buildings identified). I've also taken my calendar out of the cloud, opting for an A6-sized dot grid bullet journal instead. And I don't like my health info being in the cloud either.
I have both a Fitbit One and Charge 2. The Charge 2 I
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Time to ditch my Fitbit (Score:5, Insightful)
Yet another interesting product that's been taken over, that'll feed the Google dataraping collective if I keep using it. Oh well...
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if I keep using it
Not just if you keep using it. Google now owns all your past data too. This is why you should never buy stuff that gives the manufacturer access to your data. Your data is only one buyout away from ending up in the coffers of a data pillager.
Can anyone explain this to me? (Score:2)
It looks like everything about Fitbit is not just completely and utterly useless, but on a level that is actively harmful to the world, by the direction is is moving the world to.
Even the premises of the premises of what justifies thes existence, are the harmful wrong choice. Like they fell from an anti-universe where people wear "evil goatees" and shoes on their hands and bicycles have no brakes.
Ok, I am falsely implying that there is something to explain and it actually has to have some kind of sense.
fitbit sucks (Score:3, Interesting)
The worst part is they lock down the device and force you to use their crappy REST service to get data. If I wear a fitness band, that is my data. I'm letting them use it, but it is my data. They put up so many damn barriers to getting the data it's infuriating. when ever a person asks me which fitness band to get I tell them to stay away from fitbit.
Re:fitbit sucks (Score:5, Insightful)
Repeat after me...
YOU are the product. It is NOT your data even if you generated it.
You signed that right away the moment you paid for the thing.
Now it is Google's data. Not yours.
My question is...
How long before Google close the whole thing down like they have done with so many things that promise to be the latest and greatest thing leaving all users with just a bit of useless tat that is only fit for recycling.
Re:fitbit sucks (Score:5, Insightful)
YOU are the product.
The title reads:
Google Purchases Fitbit for $2.1 Billion
The title should read:
Google Purchases Fitbit Users for $2.1 Billion
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Well deserved insightful mod.
In solution terms, (1) excessive market share should incur excessive taxes on the resulting profits and (2) you should own your personal data and be able to keep it where and ONLY where you want to keep it.
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I have had a FitBit Alta (not HR) for over a year and I have tested the steps in several different scenarios with a clicker and the step counts are pretty accurate. Usually the FitBit is about +5% or so due to hand gestures and whatnot. As long as you know that, you can set your step goals accordingly. I set mine to 12000 instead of 10000 for this reason.
I would never trust a wrist-worn sensor to accurately measure heart rate so I don't even bother with that and activity tracking is just machine learning co
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Real QUICK (Score:1)
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Re: Real QUICK (Score:1)
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Mod parent up.
However, I think the main driving factor is that the google is trying to avoid fossilization. They understand that they are too large, but are pretending to be a bunch of smaller companies. To a degree, this allows them to kill some of the obvious tumors as they calcify. The google is really just one corporate cancer that is metastasizing in various directions.
Pebble (Score:2)
Fitbit bought Pebble. Google buying Fitbit gives them access to Pebble staff and software.
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You know what that means. Android laptops with e-ink displays!
Re:Pebble (Score:4, Informative)
Most of the Pebble people were let go before the acquisition happened. No idea how many were left but I would imagine a lot of them bailed afterwards.
Fitbit begins the Google death march (Score:5, Interesting)
It is the same for any acquisition. Google is buying the customers first and the product second. No-one beats Microsoft at killing products they buy, however. Which reminds me: how is it that Linked In is still alive?
What does this mean for other Google wrist comp (Score:2)
So what does this mean for Android powered watches in general, has Google given up supporting those and will focus on beefing up the OS from Fitbit? Or combine them into some kind of franken OS?
It seems a strange and kind of desperate move that I don't see has a clear path.
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what's the problem? google also releases their own phones.
FIsh Eats Fish Eats Fish.... (Score:2)
Fitbit eats Pebble.
3 years pass
Google eats Fitbit
3 years pass
Still don't have a really good smartwatch that's always on with 5-10 days of battery life!
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Re: FIsh Eats Fish Eats Fish.... (Score:2)
FitBit is Tremendously Profitable (Score:5, Interesting)
This is a good move from a business standpoint more than it is from a technology standpoint. The tech in FitBit is not impressive at all. But, where fitbit succeeds is not in its technology, it is in its business.
FitBit has gotten pretty highly integrated in the insurance and employee wellness industry. FitBit's bread and butter is in how it helps motivate compliance with employer and insurance company mandates. People love their fitbit because it quietly counts their daily quota of steps so they can get their $50 quarterly gift card and 10% discount off of insurance premiums, all in exchange for allowing the insurance companies to monitor their health data.
To wit, FitBit's biggest customer is not consumers wanting to keep track of their fitness, but rather insurance companies wanting to ensure customer compliance to maximize profits. Insurance companies pay handsomely for that data from Fitbit as part of their various data sharing and market access agreements.
What for it... (Score:2)
Well, it was nice knowing you (Score:1)
so why did google buy it (Score:2)
did google buy it for the fitbit devices or the amount of data fitbit collected over the years. fitbit has a lot of personal information including height and weight.
Google (Score:2)
"We're not satisfied knowing where you are, what you're doing, and what you like at every moment of the day; we need to know your BP, heart rate, and temp. FDA won't (yet) let us stick a probe up your ass, so this is the next best thing!"