Another "smart devices are not so smart" thread- Peleton

[jgl]

I'm not a big fan of 'smart' devices or IoT for various reasons, one of which is that you don't truly control the device.

Peleton (they make fancy indoor bikes and treadmills) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately, and the latest is that they're going to brick their 4K treadmills unless you pay a $40 a month subscription.

At least they are allowing returns, which IIRC companies like Sonos did not do.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peloton...dmill-lawsuit/

[bdw]

This latest craze is launching in Australia on July 14th. Bikes cost from AU$2895 to $3695. Then a $59/month subscription fee to workaround from your own home. They dont have any gyms at all, I guess this some new post-COVID business model that sounds dodgy to me. I only really know of this company because of their safety issues a few months back

[Rob2020]

If you're not running the "smarts" behind your "smart" device yourself, you are at the mercy of the provider.

If the provider doesn't charge a fee, they will either start, find another revenue source, or close down eventually.

Even if you do pay, you never know what will happen.

This is why you should run any smart stuff locally where possibly - yes, this is geek territory.

[Kowloon72]

My mum had problems with this. Also found that the so called smart device was changing her workouts, making her peddle way faster than she'd input, and kept insulting her too!

[jgl]

This latest craze is launching in Australia on July 14th. Bikes cost from AU$2895 to $3695. Then a $59/month subscription fee to workaround from your own home. They dont have any gyms at all, I guess this some new post-COVID business model that sounds dodgy to me. I only really know of this company because of their safety issues a few months back

Bummer, I am hoping that Australians are not going to be sucked in as easily to something like Peleton. Hopefully it does as well as Starbucks did there.

When the initial reports of the treadmill accidents were coming out, I immediately assumed that the fault was with the 'owners', that treadmills have been around for decades and all the obvious bugs have been ironed out, and that people were just targeting Peleton because they're suddenly a big name.

Then I saw a photo of what a Peleton treadmill looks like, and it suddenly clicked with a "WTF did they make it like that?!"

It appears to be a stupid, inherently dangerous design decision based around just making the product look different from the other hundred treadmill options out there.

My mum had problems with this. Also found that the so called smart device was changing her workouts, making her peddle way faster than she'd input, and kept insulting her too!

That's what other people pay personal trainers for

[UK/HKboy]

I'm not a big fan of 'smart' devices or IoT for various reasons, one of which is that you don't truly control the device.

Peleton (they make fancy indoor bikes and treadmills) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately, and the latest is that they're going to brick their 4K treadmills unless you pay a $40 a month subscription.

At least they are allowing returns, which IIRC companies like Sonos did not do.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peloton...dmill-lawsuit/

I remember when I first came back to HK and was amazed at how you can just pay $100 and unlock your phone (locked by the carrier), Playstation, TV boxes, DVD players (regions) etc.

I never knew anyone who did it in UK so assumed the big companies made it too difficult. Where there's a will, there's a way.

[Elefant&Castle]

I think the big deal with Peleton is the social/interconnected aspect - ride with your 'friends'. So I don't think it makes sense to buy their equipment if you don't want to use their app.

Also don't like the idea of a recurring fee - but it's the same issue with a gym.

I'm not aware of too much negative press - there was the unfortunate commercial with the guy who gave a bike to his wife so that she could loose weight which got a bad reaction.

[UK/HKboy]

I think the big deal with Peleton is the social/interconnected aspect - ride with your 'friends'. So I don't think it makes sense to buy their equipment if you don't want to use their app.

Also don't like the idea of a recurring fee - but it's the same issue with a gym.

I'm not aware of too much negative press - there was the unfortunate commercial with the guy who gave a bike to his wife so that she could loose weight which got a bad reaction.

From the articles I read, the negativity is more about it being overpriced for what it offers. A bit like Goop is criticised for being fairly out of touch. Or the "smart" juicer before which was US$1000 and then US$50 for pouches of fruit for the machine when it was something you can just squeeze by hand.

One article was about how VCs and start-ups are just adding "smart" to things which don't need it and end up not being that smart at all.

[jgl]

From the articles I read, the negativity is more about it being overpriced for what it offers. A bit like Goop is criticised for being fairly out of touch. Or the "smart" juicer before which was US$1000 and then US$50 for pouches of fruit for the machine when it was something you can just squeeze by hand.

One article was about how VCs and start-ups are just adding "smart" to things which don't need it and end up not being that smart at all.

Goop is not criticised for "being out of touch," rather it's criticised for dangerously promoting ideas about pseudoscience, where 'opinions' are used to dissuade critical thinking. It's the kind of dumbassery that I would associate with the rise of the anti-vax movement.

The Juicero, on the other hand, was simply criticised for being (laughably) expensive.

[Eva C]

Reminds me of some mainlanders I met years back. their definition of smart was the ability to cheat people out of their money.