I saw that the New York Times had an article on the Fitbit Tracker last week and wanted to post a short follow up for our readers.
We first mentioned that the Fitbit Tracker was shipping back in September. We were impressed by the device’s size, features and price (not to mention that is has no monthly fee after the purchase, unlike many of its competitors).
Unfortunately, we discovered late in October that their planned shipping date had slipped from the end of October to the end of January. We also lamented back then that their initial openness with the development and production of the tracker had disappeared. There have been no updates to their blog since September, and the last posted comment was in late October.
The NYT article, however, was confusing at best on this issue. It seems that the company may be communicating with some of their pre-order customers directly, but one of these potential consumers stated that he hadn’t “heard anything yet” while maintaining “They’ve been really open and transparent about where they are in the process, and that’s made it easier to tolerate the wait.” I’m hoping that the Fitbit is fit for prime time delivery soon and that it works as advertised.
As for consumer interest, there are eleven on sale at eBay today, with two featuring “Buy It Now” prices of around $250. That is quite a bit more than the $99 price for someone with patience, but it speaks to the interest that people have in this device. eBay lists twenty (20) having been sold for prices between $162.50 and $405. Perhaps some of these are destined to sit under the trees of some lucky recipients.
On a bit of related news, I learned recently about Zeo, a “Personal Sleep Coach”, that made its debut back in June. This seems to be much more comprehensive than the Fitbit in its sleep monitoring functionality but comes at a much steeper price – either $249 plus $7.95/month (or $79.95/year) for access to guided coaching or $349 with lifetime access built-in. The $349 price makes sense if you plan to use this for a while, and if you think the company has staying power.
