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Comment by tdicola | Hacker News Reader

Looks interesting and good on Microsoft for finally getting in front of a new hardware trend. I kind of wonder if all these health trackers are just going to be a fad though. Do you really need to micromanage every calorie and heart beat with a $200 gadget? There's a ton of hand waving about combining all the data, synergies, etc. but what are the actual benefits of these devices over just regular checkups with a doctor?

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Yep definitely a fad. I used up band religiously for a year couple of years when it came out. After a while I got sick of one more thing to keep track of, was just too overbearing.

I see a counter trend where technology becomes invisible, fades into background and still works for us instead of being in out faces all the time.

Smartphones, smart glasses, smart watches everything that wants a piece of our attention is going away soon.

I want to learn the routes around my neighborhood and not need a map in my eyeglasses. I want to talk( or not talk) to friends in real life not text message them. I just want to come home an play my piano not read a twitter battle on my phone. I want fall asleep talking to my partner/dreaming about future, not obsesses about my deep sleep rem cycles. I want wake up when I am done sleeping not by a smart alarm keeping track of my sleep cycles. I just want to eat eggs and toast for breakfast not powdered rice from a plastic bag.

I don't want any of this smart* shit. Please make it stop.

I completely agree with you, I like the concept of "disappearing technology" because just about anything I want to do is somehow stupidly tied to a device with a screen. It's annoying.

With that said, one of the main things I wish I could have during my workouts is something to track what I do without me having to manually input it. So, if it can count the number of reps I do, sweet. If it can count how many steps I took within my 3 mile treadmill run, awesome. If i can see my heartbeat at a glance, great! Because treadmills fucking suck at that.

HOWEVER, and one of the reasons why I'm not considering the band, I don't want tweets, or messages, or updates, or any of that shit even more in my face. I don't want another touchscreen vying for attention. The new Fitbits do that but (luckily) not with WIndows Phones. I have one, and I see this as a FEATURE rather than a detriment. Why the fuck do I need to see stupid notifications while I'm trying to run?

It looks like you'd have the ability to control/turn off all the notifications you don't want. Why would you assume that wouldn't be the case? http://www.microsoft.com/Microsoft-Band/en-us/support/phone-...

i never assumed it wasn't the case.

Then why would you complain about getting alerts if they can be disabled? Or are you complaining about the idea of other people being able to get alerts because you don't approve of the concept?

This is going to sound silly but here's my thing: the Band is built around receiving notifications, that means that even if you disable them, you'll still see text message icons, emails, etc. even if you can't use them.

I want to look at my watch and see "hey, you've walked 30,000 steps today", not "you know, you can check all this crap on here!".

It's the concept, and it's also that mental reminder that you MAY have notifications. I hope that makes sense!

Actually, I think the psychological weight of both notifications and infoglut in general is a very valid concern, but I think making crazy assumptions / rants is silly.

Case in point, what if I told you not only can you turn off the notifications completely (which we established earlier), and that no notification icons show up on the main screen (which is obvious from the video/screen shots - we're not talking about old-school LCD stencils, after all), but that you can further manage the tiles so even if you can't control yourself from actively swiping around you won't see anything?

Because now that I have the device on my wrist and the app on my phone, that's exactly what you can do.

I have very little skin in this game (it annoys me slightly to see rants w/o any basis necessarily in reality, but life's too short for arguing on the Internet), but maybe it can be better to be more reserved about a product critique until having seen how it actually works?

I totally get what you're saying and am happy to hear that it works that well but, I haven't seen anything like that in the shots. The only thing I've seen is the "do not disturb" mode which is probably what I'll do when I get it.

I'd love to hear more about what you like about it and how it is. My main concern was basically not having yet another phone-like device that will annoy the crap out of me. And the Band is begging for it.

Here's my first day thoughts: http://randomfoo.net/2014/10/30/microsoft-band-overviewrevie...

very useful! So I saw that you said it's uncomfortable? That's a major concern for me. I spend the entire day typing. I wonder if my strangely-shaped wrists will alleviate that though.

You can disable notifications with ms band

As an engineer it's fun to work with data. Having data about my own life (heart, sleep, eating, etc) is fun to play with, learn from, and optimize. No, I don't need every calorie or heart beat, but it can be interesting to work with what i've got.

Yes, such a backslash is quite possible, and if one has lived through several decades of similar on/off stages in trends will know (those involved in the sixties culture wouldn't expected young people would turn into apolitical consumerists a mere decade later -- "Family Ties" style).

Unfortunately a lot of conceptually challenged people don't understand anything about social norms, peer pressure etc, and think that using or not using this technology is just "individual choice" ("noone is forcing you", etc). Then again some think that you can get out of a depression just by trying to think more positive...

No offense, but this sounds more like a self-control problem than an issue with technology.

That seems a bit reactionary and perhaps out-of-touch with what most young people want.

Seriously! Too many devices competing for time and attention these days.

When you're on an active weight loss plan these devices can help a lot. You don't even need it to be perfectly accurate in its calorie estimates as long as it is consistent.

The benefits over regular check-ins with a doctor are consistent daily feedback. Combined with tools like MyFitnessPal (which is mentioned on Microsoft's page) it simplifies the overall process of weight management.

I have Garmin devices, but I expect the process is similar to what Microsoft hopes to offer. The fitness tracking device keeps track of movement. My GPS watch and heart rate monitor estimate running and cycling effort. That all goes into Garmin's online system, and produces a relatively consistent and realistic estimate of calorie burn. That data is shared with MyFitnessPal, where I track my food intake. When I open MyFitnessPal's app I can see how things are going for the day, and adjust my behavior according to how active I have been.

It sound complex, but it's mostly automatic. And 45 pounds later I'm a believer in the potential of these tools.

I think there is benefit in at least recording and optionally uploading data to the cloud for now.

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