On Fitbit


Just read an interesting post by Russ Frushtick. The author seems being annoyed by Fitbit and Fitbit related topics. One of his argue point is many people around him wears the Fitbit bracelets. No wonder he feels invaded. Here are my thoughts on Fitbit and other activity trackers.

I’m a Fitbit user since 2011. At that time, we don’t have much choices. All you can get is Fitbit Classic or Fitbit Ultra, which both are small trackers placed on your belt. I feel comfortable to put it under my clothes. No need to explain what it is because nobody could see it unless I deliberately take it out from my pocket.

Then Fitbit Inc. released Fitbit Flex, which is a bracelet. I can’t say that Flex is not good looking but I never considered to own one. Even when Fitbit Force was released in 2013. BTW. Both Fitbit Flex and Force are bracelets. Instead, I upgraded my Fitbit Classic to Fitbit One, which is designed to be hidden.

The main reason not to buy a Fitbit bracelet is that I don’t want to be noticed. Many people around me are starting to wear activity trackers like Jawbone Up and Fitbit Flex or Force. It will immediately get attention cause the bracelet is so obvious. There’s no way to ignore them. So what will happen? An activity tracker will be a good topic to start chatting? Maybe, but I don’t like that. It will take too much time to explain again and again.

The second reason is I wear wrist watch. A watch occupied my right wrist. If I owned a bracelet I have to put it on my left wrist. Then both of my arms are occupied. It feels like being handcuffed. If you are a right handed person like I am. You will feel uncomfortable to wear a wrist watch on the wrong side, in my case it’s on left wrist. Well, a bracelet will make me uneasy.

Last, the bracelet will be a nightmare in sweaty summer. The weather is hot. The air is moist. Even with air conditioning, the summer days are pretty sweaty. In my experience, I have to clean the wrist watch very often. Otherwise, it will stink. But here’s the catch. If you constantly take off something from your wrist, you will have plenty chances to forget to put it back. That happened too many times with my watch. It’s contagious, and it will definitely happen to an bracelet activity tracker.

So I’m happy with my Fitbit One. It is small and well hidden. When I put it in my jeans pocket, I won’t forget to take it. It just works fine. If anyone happen to mention the tracker, I will be glad to be friended 😀

Recently Fitbit released a collection of designer accessories. They teamed up with fashion brand Tory Burch. I have to say the new bracelets are stunning, and the necklace pendant designed is genius. Maybe more and more female will join the quantify self movement 😀

-Typed with Hanx Writer

——中文翻译分界线——

昨天晚上刷 RSS 阅读器的时候看到 The Verge 上的一篇标题为“拥有 Fitbit 是否能让我变酷”的文章，作者是 Russ Frushtick。读完全文，发现作者对于健身记录器的话题深感不安。他自己没有买 Fitbit，而且很瘦也无需刻意健身，但周边的人都在用，因此聊天中少了很多话题。为什么能看出周边的人在用呢，很简单啦，他们都在用手环。

我从2011年7月开始用 Fitbit，那个时候并没有什么选择可以让我纠结。当时只有一款现在被称为 Fitbit Classic 的设备在售，三个月之后推出了外观几乎一样的 Fitbit Ultra，仍然是一款需要别在腰带上的小玩意儿。我觉得把 Fitbit 藏在衣服下面很好啊，除非我乐意否则没人能看到。

随后 Fitbit 公司就发售了手环产品 Fitbit Flex。我不能说 Flex 不好看，但我从未考虑过它。虽然 Fitbit 公司后来又推出了功能更齐全的 Fitbit Force 手环，我依然不曾为之心动。去年想升级一下，直接选择了 Fitbit One，仍然是适合藏起来用的型号。

不买手环有很多理由，最主要的一个是我不希望被人抓住讨论运动手环、健身计划和自我量化运动。我身边有很多朋友在用手环，比如 Jawbone 的 Up 和 Fitbit 系列。因为戴在手上，所以完全不会逃过任何人的眼睛。接下来，就会有人开始问你那是什么，或者是拿出自己的手环或健身记录器开始讨论心得体会心路历程。对一部分人来说，这可能是破冰谈话的好机会。但对我来说，我真的不想一次又一次地重复说过一百遍的话。

第二个原因是已经戴在手腕上的手表，尽管所有设备都能查看时间，但手表仍然是最方便的。我甚至购买了一块相当昂贵的手表，每年秋季和冬季都会拿出来戴着。既然左手手腕上戴了一块表，那么手环就只能放在右手咯。两个手腕上都戴着异物，我会觉得被手铐铐住了。而且作为右撇子，右手手腕上戴着任何东西都会让我觉得不自在。

最后一个原因，手环在夏天简直就是噩梦。天气炎热，空气潮湿，即便是有空调也会出汗的。我戴手表的时候，不得不经常把手表摘下来擦擦汗，否则会产生令人不快的异味。人不是电脑，有时候摘下来就会忘记戴回去。我连手表都会忘，手环也不会例外的。你要知道，忘记带上计步器的话，数据会有缺失哦。

所以我现在用 Fitbit One 也很开心，它小巧玲珑，放在牛仔裤的口袋里刚刚好。因为是牛仔裤，所以换裤子也不是那么频繁，完全不会忘记带它。

我注意到 Fitbit 最近跟 Tory Burch 合作推出了几款设计师配件。手环有金属跟硅胶两种材质，不得不说真是漂亮啊。甚至还有一款将 Fitbit Flex 感应器变成项链挂坠的配件，果然有创意。如果按照这套路发展下去，应该会有越来越多的女性用户加入进来吧，也是好事一件 😀

-本文英文版本使用 Hanx Writer 写作与编辑