I just took the definitive steps to free myself of my Fitbit®.
I used a Fitbit exercise-tracking device back in 2015 (see Fitbit® Foolishness). Sometime more recently, I tried a newer version of the old Flex, called an Alta. Our health insurance company offers a discount on them, so why not, even though everything I said in the post linked above still stands?
I can’t remember when I got that and started using it. I do know that the first one died not too long after I received it and started wearing it.
I had to go through a lot of hoops before the company sent a new one. Apparently, Google bought Fitbit® a while back, some time after abandoning their old motto: “Do no evil.” So, it’s not like I wasn’t warned. But, the first one I owned, the Flex, died, and they replaced it immediately, so I assumed the same thing would happen this time. No such luck.
My late, unlamented Fitbit (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Now, the replacement has died, too. It started turning itself off, despite the various “fixes” I tried. I learned in the process that these things rarely last a year, so, screw it. I don’t need to pay that much money to send the company data that they can, and no doubt will, profit from. I’m done.
Not that I’ll miss it. I did enjoy checking to see how much work I’d done, or how I’d slept, but I find I can get by just fine without knowing that about me. Plus, the dongle for it no longer takes up one of my computer’s USB ports.
I set the bracelet aside, and uninstalled the tracking software from my computer and my phone. Like as not, I’ll need to opt out of their emails as well before I’m truly left alone.
Now, I just need to figure out what to do with the stuff that came with it: various bracelets, dongles, and chargers. I’m sure I’ll think of something, such as the thrift store, or maybe I’ll just throw it in the box for the next electronic waste collection.
For sale: My now useless-to-me Fitbit peripherals! (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Whatever happens next, I’m going to try not to think about it very hard. For me, it’s simply not worth it.