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Comment by in_absentia | Hacker News Reader

It is understandable in some narrow sense because you want the outer surface to be nick-resistant, so you need to make it out of reasonably thick metal. Plastic rings would look terrible after a couple of weeks.

But it's really hard to justify the big picture. It's hundreds of bucks + a monthly subscription for... what, exactly? Why does this need to exist? If you really want to gamify your pulse and sleep patterns for some inconceivable reason, a phone or a wristwatch can collect the same information in a more practical and safer way.

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Thinner skin, so you can in theory get better sensor readings. And you don't have to convince people to give up the watch they already own. Selling somebody who owns a $4000 watch another watch is an uphill battle that requires Apple watch levels of sophistication, selling them a ring is a lot easier

I also find the cost of the Oura outrageous. But getting the $450 smart ring instead of the $20 smart ring from aliexpress is the buyer's choice. It doubles as jewelry, and some people are willing to spend on that. And the software quality is certainly better than with the bargain bin option

> Selling somebody who owns a $4000 watch another watch is an uphill battle

I’d wager the future lifetime spending of someone who owns a $4000 watch on other watches is at least one and maybe two orders of magnitude greater than the general population.

I think the parent is talking about wearing two watches. But I'd guess that the overlap between people who like expensive (almost always synonymous with mechanical) watches and who want achievements for sleep patterns is pretty minimal. It's almost like a statement of two different life philosophies.

I agree with you, but I believe the person you responded to meant that someone with an expensive mechanical watch doesn’t want to wear a smart watch in place of their mechanical watch (and double wristing looks silly). As someone with an expensive mechanical watch who wants to wear that instead of an Apple Watch, I agree with them.

You cannot lift weights with that ring, but you can with a whoop. That, plus the battery life (no display) makes it very practical. Just my 2c as a whoop user

Some people just do not like wearing a wristwatch. I would sleep with a ring i would not sleep with a wristwatch

> It's hundreds of bucks + a monthly subscription for... what, exactly?

Once upon a time I thought this kind of thing would be needed for accurate hand tracking for VR applications, in lieu of a full glove, but it seems to not be a major use case.

Perhaps you could reinforce both the outside and the inside, so any swelling would be directed parallel to the finger?

Or have a cut in the outer ring with an insert filling the gap. A partial ring is easiy to bend outwards, but difficult to bend inwards.

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