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0 pointsbreck5y ago0 comments

It's a reasonable perspective, and one a lot of my friends share. I guess I look at value/cost. I drive a $2,000 car and use a $1,000 phone because I get a lot of value for the extra $500 in the phone, but wouldn't get more value out of having a nicer car. Like you, I also find it nice to worry less about the car because the replacement cost is low.

But I view the value of smart watches in the $100,000+s if not $1M+s. How much is your health worth? How much is it worth to passively keep an eye on your heart rate, and stress levels, and oxygen levels, and sleep levels? Granted, I still think it is very early for smart watches, and the value we are getting now is ~1% of the value we will be getting from them in 5-10 years (if they aren't replaced by a "smart tooth" or "smart necklace" etc). But I think at this point the value is definitely there and easily worth 10x+ the cost.

Making a single actionable decision based on data received from a wearable could have a life changing impact.

And again, speaking in probabilities here, and it depends if you look at the data and adjust your life based on it, but I think expected value of these is huge, and probably the best single health measure anyone can take.

I would say try the cheap one, and think about upgrading if you like it.

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4 comments · 2 top-level

antasvara5y ago· 1 in thread

I think your last line is key to why a low price is a good idea. As someone who did a lot of research before buying my first smartwatch, I found it difficult to actually estimate how much benefit I would get from owning a smartwatch. What this essentially does is lower the barrier of entry. Now, a prospective buyer doesn't have to see much benefit to take a chance on buying the product.

breckOP5y ago

Yes, and I realize that maybe my comment about Wyze is harsh——I think it is a FANTASTIC thing that more companies are making these things (and getting the price down!). I just think from a business point of view the smart watch business is all about the top end, because the real estate is so valuable, literally on top of someone 24/7, that the focus should be on how much value can you deliver to that person, and target a 1% of their income price point (hopefully delivering a much greater benefit than 1%). But absolutely, this is an awesome development, to have a $20 smart watch, and I agree if Wyze is getting more people wearing these things, that will be a huge win for the world.

throwaway2011035y ago· 1 in thread

> How much is it worth to passively keep an eye on your heart rate, and stress levels, and oxygen levels, and sleep levels

For me, zero? Or close to it. I can't imagine obsessing about this stuff. I think it would cause me more stress than it would help. That's to say nothing about the privacy issues.

nottorp5y ago

> How much is it worth to passively keep an eye on your heart rate, and stress levels, and oxygen levels, and sleep levels

Yeah, if you need to monitor that perhaps you need to work on what's causing the need to monitor it instead ;)

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