I love gadgets and metrics and pretty graphs. I've been using Endomondo
to track my cycling, primarily my commute. I know it's about 6.5km an I
ride it in between 22 and 26 minutes. I can even
share or embed my workout here. I love that shit. When I get to work in 21 minutes I feel awesome.
What it doesn't tell me is that riding to work is good for my
health. I don't need a fancy app on my $500 mobile phone to tell me
that.
Fancy pedometers like the Fitbit or Jawbone's newly announced Up are neat gadgets, but are they really going to help anyone become healthier? More importantly are they going to help stem the slide of some countries into unhealthy patterns like obesity?
The target market for these devices is affluent and health conscious. They already know that they should be eating less fat, more fiber and exercising more. They can afford a good bicycle, a personal trainer or fancy running shoes. Anyone who is forking over a hundred dollars for a pedometer already knows more about the impact of their lifestyle on their health than these gadgets will give them.
These gadgets aren't doing anything to educate less health literate Americans about living healthier lifestyles. They aren't doing anything to address childhood nutrition here or around the world. They're a distraction from the real problems we face.
I still kind of want one.