I’ve had a Fitbit (the Fitbit Flex 2) for about 4 months. What do I think about it so far?
It works great for the primary reason I wanted one: it vibrates when I get a phone call or a text message. I don’t always hear my phone, especially in a noisy room (you can probably blame my 30+ years of playing drums for that).
So – problem solved!
But of course, the Fitbit Flex 2 does other “fitbit-y” stuff. What do I think about those features?
- Counting steps. Meh. It does that, certainly. It also counts drumming as steps, so there’s that. But getting my 10,000 steps in doesn’t seem like a great indicator of exercise. And I just don’t really care how many steps I’ve taken. Some people do, and that’s cool. For example, I know someone who is spending more time with his wife now – they go on walks together to “get in their steps.” I’m just not that interested, and I exercise in other ways.
- Sleep patterns. I apparently don’t get enough sleep. But then, I already knew that.
- Wearing a “wearable.” I haven’t worn a watch in years, so this is a bit different for me. But I could get used to it again.
That’s pretty much all the Fitbit Flex 2 does (I did buy the cheap one, after all). The Fitbit app can track more things like calories eaten, pounds lost, and how much water I drink. But I have to enter things into the app to track them. Again – not really interested.
That said, I like tracking other things. For example, I sometimes bike, and that’s fun to track with the Runkeeper app. It can track things like a map of where I biked, my average pace, and total miles biked. So that’s pretty useful.
Where am I going with this? A few random thoughts:
- It’s always a good thing to experiment with new technology. You have to play with stuff to see how it works. In this case, I’m learning about wearable tech and personal tracking devices and apps.
- Just because it’s popular (i.e., Fitbits) doesn’t mean it will work for you.
- You might find a personal use that’s not the primary use (i.e., me “feeling” phone calls and text messages by having the Fitbit vibrate on my wrist instead of having to hear them).
Are there library uses for wearables? Sure there are – keeping staff healthy by offering step-counting walking incentives (some health insurance plans do that), learning about new technology (i.e. wearables), and providing teaching opportunities for customers all come to mind. There might be others!
What do you think? Do you own a wearable? And do you like it? Why? Please share!
I wear a Fitbit and have found it to be helpful in getting a sense of my actual fitness level. The sleep tracker was also helpful in determining when I need to cut off caffeine for the day (a depressingly early time).
As for libraries, our textbook rental program (part of the library) is receiving Fitbits for students in one of the health courses this fall. I thought about putting up some posters about the step counts you could get from a quick break, such as two laps of the floor is X number of steps.
We also bought two FitBikes and will be putting those in a study room for students. I respect that a lot of our students are very active and find it hard to sit still for long periods. We’re working on ways to work with that without losing our main purpose as a study space.
Awesome – glad you’re getting something useful out of your Fitbit! Also love the examples of how you are incorporating Fitbits and Fitbikes in your space and services. Cool stuff!
I’ve had an Apple Watch for a couple of years and I love the vibrating notifications for things I would otherwise miss. It also allows me to be a little less attached to my phone–I can leave it in my purse and glance at messages or do quick replies from the watch.
Recently, I bought a Nokia Go to complement the watch. I charge my watch and phone at my desk overnight, so I switch to the Go when I take off the watch. This way I get more complete step information for the day and sleep information at night. I went with this brand because I wanted a scale that could provide some smart metrics and work with the Apple Health app. The scale sends weight, heart rate, and other info to the Nokia Healthmate app, as do the Go and the Apple Watch. I now have a fuller picture of my health statistics because they all work together, and it’s helping me to lose weight and become more active.
Thanks for sharing about your health monitoring setup. Nothing wrong with losing weight and being active! Never heard of the Nokia Go – I’ll have to check it out.
I switched from the FitBit One to the Flex2 because I found I was sitting too long. Yes it’s not the best at counting steps, but it lets me know if I haven’t been active in the last hour I need to get up. For me it gets me out of the IT office and a walk around the stacks.
I wonder if it wouldn’t also be good for librarians on the desk to get out and roam a bit to see if someone needs help.
Hey – I like that idea. If you’ve sat too long at the reference desk, you receive a reminder to get up and roam around a bit. Nice!
I had a FitBit for a year, and within that year the company replaced it five times because of defects. So last year I moved to the Garmin Vivoactive, and I love it for the phone notifications as well. I’ve also synced it with a heart rate monitor so I use it during workouts. But when I saw how my iPhone 7+ will work with an Apple watch, I was sold. It’s up next on my tech purchase list.
I have to agree – I’m interested in an Apple Watch too. I’m primarily an Apple person, so that would make sense. We will see!
I do wear one — a fitbit Charge 2. It has stopped buzzing when I get a phone call, which is annoying, and I can’t get it to start up again. For a while it stopped pestering me to take 250 steps an hour, but it suddenly started up again last week. Otherwise, I really like it. I use the alarm feature to wake me up in the morning, and I like looking at my sleep. I use the steps/distance mainly as a way to see if my baseline stays the same.
My husband recently got an Apple watch. He likes it fine, but it has to be charged nightly.
Cool! Charged nightly – that’s good to know. I almost got the Misfit Ray because it lasts up to 4 months without charging. But decided to go the Fitbit route because I wanted the “Fitbit experience.” Weird that yours isn’t buzzing on phone calls anymore!