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Google Reshapes Fitbit In Its Image As Users Allege 'Planned Obsolescence' (arstechnica.com) 32

Posted by BeauHD from the post-acquisition-updates dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google closed its Fitbit acquisition in 2021. Since then, the tech behemoth has pushed numerous changes to the wearable brand, including upcoming updates announced this week. While Google reshapes its fitness tracker business, though, some long-time users are regretting their Fitbit purchases and questioning if Google's practices will force them to purchase their next fitness tracker elsewhere.

As is becoming common practice with consumer tech announcements of late, Google's latest announcements about Fitbit seemed to be trying to convince users of the wonders of generative AI and how that will change their gadgets for the better. In a blog post yesterday, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, Google's chief health officer, announced that Fitbit Premium subscribers would be able to test experimental AI features later this year (Google hasn't specified when). "You will be able to ask questions in a natural way and create charts just for you to help you understand your own data better. For example, you could dig deeper into how many active zone minutes... you get and the correlation with how restorative your sleep is," she wrote. DeSalvo's post included an example of a user asking a chatbot if there was a connection between their sleep and activity and said that the experimental AI features will only be available to "a limited number of Android users who are enrolled in the Fitbit Labs program in the Fitbit mobile app."

Fitbit is also working with the Google Research team and "health and wellness experts, doctors, and certified coaches" to develop a large language model (LLM) for upcoming Fitbit mobile app features that pull data from Fitbit and Pixel devices, DeSalvo said. In a blog post yesterday, Yossi Matias, VP of engineering and research at Google, said Google wants to use the LLM to add personalized coaching features, such as the ability to look for sleep irregularities and suggest actions "on how you might change the intensity of your workout." Google's Fitbit is building the LLM on Gemini models that are tweaked on de-identified data from unspecified "research case studies," Matias said, adding: "For example, we're testing performance using sleep medicine certification exam-like practice tests." Other recent changes to Fitbit include a name tweak from Fitbit by Google, to Google Fitbit, as spotted by 9to5Google this week. Charge 5 users are especially concerned after users noticed their devices suddenly stopped holding a charge after a December firmware update was pushed. The problem has persisted with Google offering no solution other than offer discounts or, if the device was within its warranty period, a replacement.

"This is called planned obsolescence. I'll be upgrading to a watch style tracker from a different company. I wish Fitbit hadn't sold out to Google," a forum user going by Sean77024 wrote on Fitbit's support forum yesterday. "Others, like 2MeFamilyFlyer, have also accused Fitbit of planning Charge 5 obsolescence," notes Ars. "2MeFamilyFlyer said they're seeking a Fitbit alternative."
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Google Reshapes Fitbit In Its Image As Users Allege 'Planned Obsolescence' More

Google Reshapes Fitbit In Its Image As Users Allege 'Planned Obsolescence'

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  • Sorry for previous owners (Score:5, Insightful)

    by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) on Wednesday March 20, 2024 @06:04PM (#64332123)

    But for anyone buying new there are many other options out there which aren't GoogleFucked and won't be abandoned the moment some nitwit gets bored of their project and wants to work on something shiny and new.

    Fitbit is dead. Buy something else. Never buy Google products or services.

    • I was actually looking at buying a Fitbit Sense 2 recently but didn't pull the trigger. Which specific devices do you recommend? I'm looking for one with fancy sensors that have all the latest features, gps for distance tracking walks, a watch or strap form factor so I can keep it on while lifting weights, a battery that lasts multiple days so I can capture multiple 24 hour periods with no breaks in data collection, I'd like to avoid a monthly subscription. I don't have an iPhone so an Apple watch wouldn'
      • I donâ(TM)t know if youâ(TM)ll be able to avoid a monthly subscription but the garmin vivomove is highly rated. Whoop is probably the best of the bunch if you can ignore lack of gps and subscription.

        Pretty much everything else is owned by Google or Apple. Iâ(TM)ve been very happy with my whoop

      • I'm someone that does a lot of runs/triathlons, but I also do a lot of lifting and other things. I have been team Fitbit for quite a while and own a Sense 2. I was always annoyed at the fact then tended to last about 15 months at best and my last Fitbit died because it got water logged. My friend had been suggesting I try a Garmin so I hit Mercari and picked up a cheap Forerunner 935 (a 2017 model!) for about $100. I've gotta say it kicks Fitbit's butt in most cases. I've been wearing them both just to see

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by waspleg ( 316038 )

      I had a Charge 4 which died. I was going to get a 6 until I read that it requires linking to a Google account and will not work with existing Fitbit ones.

      So that made me look at alternatives, I bought a Garmin Instinct instead. I love it. It's far superior in every way but size as it's pretty big (not really a problem though). Granted, it cost more, but was completely worth it. Still has all the fitness shit the Fitbit did including linking external sites if you want. Has tactile buttons no touch scre

    • Buy something else.

      Unfortunately, other internet devices are full of spyware (eg. Oppo) or always-on crapware (Samsung) or security holes (anything IoT).

    • But for anyone buying new there are many other options out there which aren't GoogleFucked

      Congrats on missing the point. These people didn't buy a Google product.

      Fitbit is dead. Buy something else.

      This is ... like ... do you even understand what people are complaining about? Like did you read even a single word in TFS? Heck did you even read the title?

  • Mine's been acting strangely and I do catch a whiff of deliberate behavior in it, but it could just be incompetence. As for the AI stuff, I mean, that sounds absolutely stupid, so that'll be in for sure.

  • ... why do FitBit users seem to think that google's purpose in acquiring FitBit apparently was not to steamroll over them and then exploit them and their data for all they are worth?

  • I am done with fitbit, google has done a really good job of ruining the website. Once you went to a google login you have to relogin every 12 hours, and it has been that way for 9 months, so they really don't care for their customer experience.

    It is making me think about moving away from other google products where possible just because they appear to be untrustworthy.

    We went from "Google Rules", to "Google Drools"

    They did search better than all others and I don't see that they have improved search (and m

  • This is Google there is no such thing as 'Planned Obsolescence', its all 'Unplanned Obsolescence' .

  • Bookmark my comment.
    Anything that Google touches is like a death sentence.
    It must be the rotten corporate culture within Google because Fitbit was a decent product.

    • I've gone through a few FitBit devices, but after the current one stops being useful, I'm switching to something else. I noticed a distinct enshitification of FitBit after Google bought 'em, and I don't care for it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Kokuyo ( 549451 )

        I use my fitbit mainly to track my sleep. I don't think its readings are accurate enough to give me any scientific edge. The sleep quality measurement has about a 50% chance to fit the way I actually feel.

        First thing I did after activating my subscription was cancelling it. I have no idea, none whatsoever, what possible benefit I'd have from paying ten bucks a month. Which still is much better than the Whoop membership at 265 Euros a year.

        These products, IMO, are nothing but gimmicks. If they cost up to a h

  • Sounds like an eventual lawsuit.

  • Their battery life fiasco was the first and last time I bothered with their consumerist, non-r2r, "FU pay me" gotcha capitalism bullshit.
  • Got a charge 5 towards the end of its life cycle, and it has been struggling to hold charge since before the December update cycle, the batteries in these things seem to only last about a year until they die. I have a collection of 2 dead Charge 5s on my desk, all from the battery dying after about a year, since its always about a year in I always get the warranty replacement.
  • When is this guy getting fired!!! Before he took over in 2015, everything about Google was amazing. I liked my Fitbit way better than I like my Apple Watch, but the app hasn't changed in nearly 10 years. Nothing about Fitbit has changed. The devices look the same each year. I still use my Fitbit scale daily...it's OLD AF, but works great. I used to love Android a lot more than iOS, but each Pixel release is boring, expensive, and pointless. A Pixel Pro is the same prices as an iPhone Pro?...and does

  • My fitbit a few years ago bricked itself one month after the warranty expired. My wife bought herself a Versa Two awhile ago. It got stuck in an endless reboot cycle and couldn't be reset. It was a few months after the warranty ended. Based on our anecdotal experience Fitbits already kill themselves as soon as is economically feasible for them.

  • A product with a very simple function in a very limited domain does not need a fancy natural language interface, nor fancy natural language output. It just needs a clear and simple UI. Sounds like Google, drunk on AI Kool-Aid, is doing the opposite.

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