The personal life and the work put their challenges on the time table and that has been the reason for the recent silence here, but I honestly would like to activate my writing skills, at least every now and then, but anyway on a regular basis.
My dearest hobby has been running since I was 15 years old. Obviously there have been times when I have been more passive than I would have wanted, but now when the 40 years’ milestone is slowly approaching, it is the highest time to get active and to see what kind of improvements one still can reach at this age.
To motivate oneself, all kinds of toys are essential. This is why I spent last week ~100 Eur on an activity tracker by Fitbit. Fitbit Flex is a simple device attached to the wrist like a conventional watch. The tracker part is placed inside the wrist strap and has to be recharged about every 5 days which is OK, if you are on a business trip and have forgotten the recharger at home. The drawback is that the device does not rely on a conventional micro or mini USB and therefore you are dependent on the Fitbit charger.
It is really simple to take the device into use. One has to create a user profile at the Fitbit Web site and load an app for the iPhone or an Android device – or for a desktop computer. After creating a bluetooth pair with the device the synchronization of data occurs automatically in the background, but according to the manufacturer the battery consumption should not be too high on the smartphone. So I registered an account, attached the device and created a connection between Flex and my iPhone. I was immediately good to go for tracking. If you do not own a compatible smartphone it is possible to sync the data through your desktop computer or laptop as there is a tiny USB dongle bundled with the device.
After having used the device for 1,5 weeks I am still very pleased with the device. One drawback is that I should have waited a couple of weeks more as Fitbit released an improved product with a watch functionality. Anyway, the tracking functions without problems and it is very motivating to see how many steps one takes on a regular day and try to improve the stats on the following day. In that sense the device fulfills its task completely. I am also very fond of the feature that the device can be programmed to set a soundless alarm. Instead of sound the user is waken with small vibrations. This seems to be the feature that my wife is most pleased with, because she no longer wakes up every time I have set up an early wakeup alarm.
Many people are nowadays using multiple trackers and many fitness services – at least I am. Obviously it is important that you can connect your account with Facebook, Twitter for instance. I am a happy Endomondo user since years and now I get additional data there thanks to my Fitbit account.
As the image below shows, the device is pretty small and suits many wrists thanks to the two wrist straps of different sizes that are distributed with the device.
As a conclusion I am happy with the device and wait anxiously what kind of new exciting devices and fitness services the future will provide us. I am also confident that the wearable technology is here to stay and will enrichen our lives tremendously.