Fitbit Force, going down in flames seems pretty fair as I wasted a good amount of time trying to find something that would be good for the workouts I do and in the end cost me too much wasted time.
If I charged Fitbit my hourly rate I am sure they would be pretty pissed at the invoice. Fitbit Force flames is what I think of after the mess of a week of barley-there service and a product that is totally useless to me after the time I spent getting my hands on one.
As a Windows user both for my computer and my phone it is hard to find something that works right for what I need. As a great example, I can no longer use Mighty Text to text from my PC which is easier than fumbling with my phone, all because I upgraded my phone.
Last December I remember reading about how Fitbit was looking for a Windows project manager that could handle what many users were requesting. Not everyone runs around with an older model phone, no offense to anyone reading either but if I can upgrade any of my nerdy toys for a good price, I will.
Even something as simple as using Facebook was hard to do until last week due to the lack of a real app. There are bunches of apps for iPhone and Android users but even when I had both types, they were still slower than the current Windows Phone that I use now.
Now since I have this issue already I knew what I was getting into when I decided that for my last birthday I wanted a fitness band. I had to find something that would work with my phone and not be overly bulky.
After months of research I finally landed on getting a Fitbit Force. I needed something that could track the steps I deal with every day, something that could track the Stronger workouts I do six days a week and something that could track me with the mountain bike (which lo and behold Fitbit does not do).
When I originally went to order it from their website I wanted to overnight it to my home (for my birthday, remember) and by the time I reached checkout on their website it said that they were all on back-order for 6-8 weeks (nothing reflected this at the time until you got to checkout). What the hell? Love that false advertising there dearie! Looking back this was my first moment of frustration and I should have known better and just taken it as a warning sign.
I must have read hundreds of articles, video clips from people who use other Fitbit products, their site, random blogs for fitness and dozens of forums. I thought I figured out what I wanted and I even waited a few extra months just to be sure of things. Hoping to finally have something that I could really use that would work properly.
Other sites are picking up that fitness bands are the “new thing”, Wired promotes an article about “Gadgets Like Fitbit Are Remaking How Doctors Treat You“. The problem with this is that many of the bands, including Fitbit products do not do everything correctly (I will get into this more in Fitbit Force flames – Fully Developed & Decay ).
The short of it is that I got the new Fitbit Force for my birthday weekend and I literally had it for a week. A whopping seven whole days of random madness, too many support tickets, and them blam – a recall. I had to buy it from my local Target store instead of buying it online as people were trying to sell them for outrageous prices, and Fitbit had no real clue when they would have their own products in.
*Fitbit Force flames – Growth coming soon. It gets interesting, it really does. Stay tuned.
