Last fall I read this article from the New Yorker:
Stepping Out: Living the Fitbit Life by David Sedaris
I love Sedaris’ writing and I remember reading When You Are Engulfed in Flames in a single day. But this article seemed over the top even for him. How someone could get this obsessed over such a little nudge seemed definitely a work of fiction.
It may still be fictional in parts, I honestly don’t know, but I do now believe its possible to be truth. Automattic decided to give each Automattician a free fitbit this year, and I mine just arrived in the mail on Friday evening. All weekend it was at the front my mind.
A certain amount of this is just that it’s new, I’m sure. Gadgets that aren’t interesting when they’re new aren’t really marketable. But this feels different than when I got my Nexus 5 (that I still go on and on about how much I love it) or when I switched from Windows to Mac. Those are still tools to make me happy.
I want to make the fitbit happy. I drank water not because I felt thirst but because the fitbit said “Kinda thirsty over here!” Literally, that was a message on the app. Sure, once I started gulping down the water I realized how dehydrated I was, but the making the fitbit stats nicer was the trigger.
It’s a silly little game on my wrist, but I think I’m starting to like it.
Alex Gustafson 
4 replies on “Starting to Understand the Fitbit Life”
The day we ran the SallisawTurkey Trot and I forgot my Fitbit at home was very sad. I put it in first thing in the morning and take it off at bedtime.
😦 I like to think I’m an adult that wouldn’t throw a tantrum if that happened to me. But I know I know would I throw a tantrum if that happened to me.
I’m actually very curious about your continued experiences with the fitbit. I don’t run, my iPhone already counts my steps; and I think I drink enough water, so I’m struggling to find a reason to strap something new to my body. That said, new gadgets *do* appeal to me, so… we’ll see.
I’ve got a second post in the works now that I’ve had it on through pretty much all my use cases. I still love it – but its a tool at the end of the day, and if you don’t have the need you don’t need the tool, right?