5 ms·

I precisely like garmin watches because if you don't setup their bluetooth, you are not tracked by anyone, it's not required to connect to servers etc... It's e

I precisely like garmin watches because if you don't setup their bluetooth, you are not tracked by anyone, it's not required to connect to servers etc... It's enough for me because I only need to check BPM.

amelius 6y ago
Of course there isn't any guarantee that at some point, some marketing manager won't decide to break that.
- lxgr 6y ago
  How could that happen for an existing, standalone device? (Assuming there aren't any time bombs waiting in the code only to be fixed by a firmware update, like the GPS week number epoch rollover, of course.)
  - reportgunner 6y ago
    They stop manufacturing it, the parts it needs and then they wait for your standalone device to stop working.
- nanidin 6y ago
  It seems unlikely, Garmin is a very engineering led company. At least it was when I worked there 10 years ago! Part of that engineering focus is an insane attention to the BOM, and to support(call center) and warranty (returns & repairs) costs. I think both of these things make it unlikely that Garmin will add a cellular modem to start tracking otherwise unconnected devices.
  - polymorph1sm 6y ago
    I spoke with one the engineers at their hiring event last year, I can confirm they are still a very engineering led company.
  - amelius 6y ago
    > Part of that engineering focus is an insane attention to the BOM Do they develop their own ASICs?
  - nradov 6y ago
    Garmin does already sell one smart watch containing an LTE cellular modem and is supposed to release another one later this year. LTE is an extra cost option, like with the Apple watch.
  - rconti 6y ago
    Interesting. It surprises me how BAD most of Garmin's software is. They regularly break syncing functionality for weeks at a time. Sometimes watches need reboots to figure out how to sync to a phone. The sunrise/sunset graph on my $600 watch has NEVER been right. You can push activities to your Garmin account but they don't bother engineering in any additional functionality, eg, to show your last activity if uploaded from outside, or to account for externally uploaded activities in your training metrics. It never feels like they're interested in improving the functionality of existing devices. Don't get me wrong, I'm happier with my Forerunner 945 than I was with my Apple Watch, but only just. Basically, it does enough things that my Apple Watch can't do, to make suffering with the majority of things it's somewhat worse at, worthwhile as a tradeoff.
    - count 6y ago
      I think they're hardware engineering focused, not software engineering. Hence your Forerunner 945 will last most of a week (minus gas-enabled exercise time), where your Apple Watch goes about 2 days at most.
      - amelius 6y ago
        In that case, perhaps they should open source the software or open the hardware interface.

amelius 6y ago

Of course there isn't any guarantee that at some point, some marketing manager won't decide to break that.

lxgr 6y ago
How could that happen for an existing, standalone device? (Assuming there aren't any time bombs waiting in the code only to be fixed by a firmware update, like the GPS week number epoch rollover, of course.)
- reportgunner 6y ago
  They stop manufacturing it, the parts it needs and then they wait for your standalone device to stop working.
nanidin 6y ago
It seems unlikely, Garmin is a very engineering led company. At least it was when I worked there 10 years ago! Part of that engineering focus is an insane attention to the BOM, and to support(call center) and warranty (returns & repairs) costs. I think both of these things make it unlikely that Garmin will add a cellular modem to start tracking otherwise unconnected devices.
- polymorph1sm 6y ago
  I spoke with one the engineers at their hiring event last year, I can confirm they are still a very engineering led company.
- amelius 6y ago
  > Part of that engineering focus is an insane attention to the BOM Do they develop their own ASICs?
- nradov 6y ago
  Garmin does already sell one smart watch containing an LTE cellular modem and is supposed to release another one later this year. LTE is an extra cost option, like with the Apple watch.
- rconti 6y ago
  Interesting. It surprises me how BAD most of Garmin's software is. They regularly break syncing functionality for weeks at a time. Sometimes watches need reboots to figure out how to sync to a phone. The sunrise/sunset graph on my $600 watch has NEVER been right. You can push activities to your Garmin account but they don't bother engineering in any additional functionality, eg, to show your last activity if uploaded from outside, or to account for externally uploaded activities in your training metrics. It never feels like they're interested in improving the functionality of existing devices. Don't get me wrong, I'm happier with my Forerunner 945 than I was with my Apple Watch, but only just. Basically, it does enough things that my Apple Watch can't do, to make suffering with the majority of things it's somewhat worse at, worthwhile as a tradeoff.
  - count 6y ago
    I think they're hardware engineering focused, not software engineering. Hence your Forerunner 945 will last most of a week (minus gas-enabled exercise time), where your Apple Watch goes about 2 days at most.
    - amelius 6y ago
      In that case, perhaps they should open source the software or open the hardware interface.