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Chronicles

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Review of Amazon's $100 Halo Band, a health tracking bracelet: excessively invasive without offering much in return for the data

and makes the absolute least use of it.” Comes with bonus sexism: “an automated system that essentially says, 'Hey, sweetie, why don't you smile more?'” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Jason Gurwin / @jasongurwin : @Techmeme I've had this for about two months - it's practically useless. The coolest feature - the body fat % tracking is not very accurate and doesn't even need the device to work. Scott Rose / @rprose : finally a holiday gift idea for my enemies https://twitter.com/... Ryan Ritter / @ndtex : Watching a Bezos-owned company roast Bezos is art. https://twitter.com/... Eva / @evacide : Oh look, Amazon has built a wearable that tells you you're fat, not sleeping well, and your voice is “overbearing,” just in case you don't already have an abusive partner to perform this service for you: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Zachary Elwood / @apokerplayer : Piece about wearable Amazon Halo, which reads health-related measurements and reads your tone of voice, by @geoffreyfowler Halo “collects the most intimate information we've seen from a consumer health gadget — and makes the absolute least use of it.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Hannah Dunleavy / @thatdunleavy : Genuinely interested in Venn diagram of people who will buy this and people who worry about Bill Gates' plan to control us all. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Will Oremus / @willoremus : It's extremely gratifying to see mainstream gadget reviews taking into account privacy invasions and societal impacts, not just features & specs & sticker price. @heatherkelly & @geoffreyfowler have been in the forefront of this for a while. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Jessica Bursztynsky / @jbursz : The Wii Fit walked so the Amazon Halo could run https://www.nytimes.com/... Shira Ovide / @shiraovide : Hmm. @bxchen found the Amazon Halo's body fat analysis seemed consistently too high and inaccurate. Amazon said it was consistently high because every other method is inaccurate? https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Sara Morrison / @saramorrison : New York Times reporter reviews a device that calls him fat and says he sounds angry, thereby getting a glimpse of what life is like for many women all the time! https://www.nytimes.com/... Kasie Hunt / @kasie : “Amazon has created an automated system that essentially says, “Hey sweetie, why don't you smile more?"" https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Tom Bennett / @tombennett71 : Amazon decide to round off 2020 with a bang, with the most detestable, unpleasant, intrusive tech imaginable. Charlie Brooker might as well give up, the Black Mirror medal's been won. https://twitter.com/... Christopher Ingraham / @_cingraham : This is wild. Why would anyone want a device that literally polices their tone? Who's been asking for this? https://twitter.com/... Drew Harwell / @drewharwell : Amazon's data-gobbling, tone-policing, hyper-invasive AI wristband said a man's voice sounded “stern” and “opinionated,” while a woman's sounded “dismissive” and “overbearing” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @geoffreyfowler @heatherkelly James Frye / @jamesfrye : People willingly give their DNA to for-profit corporations so I have no doubt that plenty of people won't find this creepy, but yikes. — “The Halo collects the most intimate information we've seen from a consumer health gadget — and makes the absolute least use of it.” https://twitter.com/...

Washington Post

Discussion

  • @adam_k_levin Adam Levin on x
    Amazon's new “health band” sounds like a #privacy nightmare: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
  • @jasongurwin Jason Gurwin on x
    @Techmeme I've had this for about two months - it's practically useless. The coolest feature - the body fat % tracking is not very accurate and doesn't even need the device to work.
  • @rprose Scott Rose on x
    finally a holiday gift idea for my enemies https://twitter.com/...
  • @anacaprana Anne Caprara on x
    Amazon's health band tells you if your voice is too “overbearing” or “irritated.” I don't need to pay $65 for a service that so many men have been willing to provide for free for my entire life. https://twitter.com/...
  • @kyweise Karen Weise on x
    Yikes. Not much love for Amazon's first wearable.... Here's @bxchen on it yesterday, with an expert wondering aloud, “Does it potentially create eating disorders?” https://www.nytimes.com/... And the @geoffreyfowler / @heatherkelly dynamic duo on it today 👇 https://twitter.com/..…
  • @ndtex Ryan Ritter on x
    Watching a Bezos-owned company roast Bezos is art. https://twitter.com/...
  • @evacide Eva on x
    Oh look, Amazon has built a wearable that tells you you're fat, not sleeping well, and your voice is “overbearing,” just in case you don't already have an abusive partner to perform this service for you: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
  • @apokerplayer Zachary Elwood on x
    Piece about wearable Amazon Halo, which reads health-related measurements and reads your tone of voice, by @geoffreyfowler Halo “collects the most intimate information we've seen from a consumer health gadget — and makes the absolute least use of it.” https://www.washingtonpost.c…
  • @parkermolloy Parker Molloy on x
    What a truly weird device! https://twitter.com/...
  • @nythealth @nythealth on x
    In a word, nope. https://www.nytimes.com/...
  • @heatherkelly Heather Kelly on x
    Am I sometimes overbearing, aggressive, stubborn and annoyed? Sure! Should Amazon have made an always-listening wearable to tell literally any woman that ever? Probably not, no. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
  • @garethlpowell Gareth L Powell on x
    So, Amazon have automated that little voice inside that tells you you're too fat and being too loud? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
  • @ekp Ellen K. Pao on x
    Amazon's Halo “collects the most intimate information we've seen from a consumer health gadget — and makes the absolute least use of it.” Comes with bonus sexism: “an automated system that essentially says, 'Hey, sweetie, why don't you smile more?'” https://www.washingtonpost.com…
  • @thatdunleavy Hannah Dunleavy on x
    Genuinely interested in Venn diagram of people who will buy this and people who worry about Bill Gates' plan to control us all. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
  • @willoremus Will Oremus on x
    It's extremely gratifying to see mainstream gadget reviews taking into account privacy invasions and societal impacts, not just features & specs & sticker price. @heatherkelly & @geoffreyfowler have been in the forefront of this for a while. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
  • @jbursz Jessica Bursztynsky on x
    The Wii Fit walked so the Amazon Halo could run https://www.nytimes.com/...
  • @shiraovide Shira Ovide on x
    Hmm. @bxchen found the Amazon Halo's body fat analysis seemed consistently too high and inaccurate. Amazon said it was consistently high because every other method is inaccurate? https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
  • @saramorrison Sara Morrison on x
    New York Times reporter reviews a device that calls him fat and says he sounds angry, thereby getting a glimpse of what life is like for many women all the time! https://www.nytimes.com/...
  • @kasie Kasie Hunt on x
    “Amazon has created an automated system that essentially says, “Hey sweetie, why don't you smile more?"" https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
  • @tombennett71 Tom Bennett on x
    Amazon decide to round off 2020 with a bang, with the most detestable, unpleasant, intrusive tech imaginable. Charlie Brooker might as well give up, the Black Mirror medal's been won. https://twitter.com/...
  • @_cingraham Christopher Ingraham on x
    This is wild. Why would anyone want a device that literally polices their tone? Who's been asking for this? https://twitter.com/...
  • @drewharwell Drew Harwell on x
    Amazon's data-gobbling, tone-policing, hyper-invasive AI wristband said a man's voice sounded “stern” and “opinionated,” while a woman's sounded “dismissive” and “overbearing” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @geoffreyfowler @heatherkelly
  • @jamesfrye James Frye on x
    People willingly give their DNA to for-profit corporations so I have no doubt that plenty of people won't find this creepy, but yikes. — “The Halo collects the most intimate information we've seen from a consumer health gadget — and makes the absolute least use of it.” https://tw…