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Comment by neuromancer2701 | Hacker News Reader

Fibit should fit perfectly into the 99$ market for a zillion people that just want to track steps and sleep cycles.

$99? A brand new Garmin Vivofit 4 which has an always on display and a year of battery life is $79.99 USD. It's the low margin segment of the space and that's where Fitbit put all their eggs. Fitbit didn't really invest in anything behind low-end fitness tracking well. They tried, but people buy other products now. They want heart rate, they want GPS, they want PulseOx and ECG features and will pay for them. Regardless of whether or not they need them.

Doesn’t support heart rate tracking or phone notifications. Nice try though.

I didn't say Vivofit 4 had those things. I said people want them.

They’re starting to put some of their data behind a monthly subscription, especially around sleep.

A coworker recommended I look into buying one, but as soon as I saw that I needed to pay $x per month to see data they were already capturing, I immediately passed.

I came across this with my fitbit this week. I immediately had such a clear realization I was done with this company.

You have 10$ chinese brand-able devices for that: https://rbaron.net/blog/2018/05/27/Hacking-a-cheap-fitness-t...

Or just get a $1 pedometer and a sleep app.

Your phone can already track steps and sleep. You don't need an extra device.

And why wouldn’t they just buy a $199 Apple Watch Series 3? How many people are both into fitness and do price conscience that they won’t spend an extra $100.

Well, they could cater to the Android market.

If you have an Android, or even want the option of an Android in the future.

I wish Apple would want some of their stuff cross-platform - I don't like the all or nothing nature of the Apple ecosystem (I consider 'exclusives' to be anti-consumer in general).

Well, there is iTunes for Windows, Apple Music for Android and the Apple TV app for various TVs and streaming sticks.

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