# The hidden danger of FitBit, sounding like an idiot. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174 "2015-05-30T03:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/1 "2015-05-30T03:04:31Z")
My company is pushing health, so they bought FitBits for everyone who wanted one, and give an entry into a drawing for a gift card for people who average 5000, 10k or 15k steps a day each quarter. Being miserably out of shape I have been doing it for a couple months now since early spring. Now walking isn’t the most exiciting activity, and I have memorized every comedy album I have downloaded(Reminds me I need to start a thread on some new good long cheap comedy albums to download, cause I’m just tired of music lately) But anyway I spend a lot of time walking around my neighborhood, and have memorized every square of sidewalk within a mile of my house. So I walk around thinking about what path I feel like taking that day, and how far it is. Today someone driving stopped and asked me for directions to a park. It wasn’t until after they left I realized I gave directions of the form “Ohh no problem, just go 1200 steps back that way, take a right, and go 1600 more steps, and it will be on the right.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/2 "2015-05-30T14:35:11Z")
Our company does the same thing. One of my colleagues puts the FitBit on his kids, who do a lot of running around… ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/3 "2015-05-30T14:44:29Z")
I pulled off the “Fitbit” sticker on my company supplied device and it read, “DroneTracker 4000.” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/4 "2015-05-30T15:01:14Z")
Job well done I say. I do the Global Corporate Challenge every year so I would have known just how far you meant by those directions, and it’s always good to have an idea of the distance when receiving directions. I think your listener may have been in a similar position and thus didn’t feel the need to query your interesting directions. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/5 "2015-05-30T16:49:44Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Now walking isn’t the most exiciting activity, and I have memorized every comedy album I have downloaded(Reminds me I need to start a thread on some new good long cheap comedy albums to download, cause I’m just tired of music lately) Audiobooks. If it helps the transition, start with audiobooks by comedians. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/6 "2015-05-30T16:59:55Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Audiobooks. If it helps the transition, start with audiobooks by comedians. And podcasts. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/7 "2015-05-30T19:34:08Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > Our company does the same thing. One of my colleagues puts the FitBit on his kids, who do a lot of running around… Just go down to the hardware store and strap it to the paint shaker for an afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/8 "2015-05-30T19:53:40Z")
I have Plantar Fasciitis, and cannot walk some days. I became annoyed because I couldn’t get the healthcare discounts offered for X-number of pedometer steps. So I affixed it to my chihuahua’s collar and chuckled while watching the totals ratchet up. Sadly, my diabolical scheme had a flaw. One day I noticed it was no longer on her collar, and I still haven’t found it. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/9 "2015-06-10T20:17:37Z")
I don’t know about the FitBit, but the (Garmin) VivoFit is ‘smart’ & adjusts your targeted step count based upon recent history. Go running for a couple of days & your targeted step count goes up so that the day you take off & don’t run you not only don’t meet your target, but you’ve done a lesser percentage of your target than the day last week when you took the exact same number of steps. The inverse is also true, don’t run for a few days & your targeted step count goes down so that when you do a run on the weekend you’re now at 150 or 200% of goal. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/10 "2015-06-10T21:26:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Just go down to the hardware store and strap it to the paint shaker for an afternoon. “1 million steps today, Mr. Jeffries?” “Oh yes, definitely over a million.” “Quite the walker aren’t you, Mr. Jeffries?” “Yep yep, gots the happy feet.” ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/11 "2015-06-10T21:34:22Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > My company is pushing health, so they bought FitBits for everyone who wanted one, and give an entry into a drawing for a gift card for people who average 5000, 10k or 15k steps a day each quarter. Being miserably out of shape I have been doing it for a couple months now since early spring. Now walking isn’t the most exiciting activity, and I have memorized every comedy album I have downloaded(Reminds me I need to start a thread on some new good long cheap comedy albums to download, cause I’m just tired of music lately) > But anyway I spend a lot of time walking around my neighborhood, and have memorized every square of sidewalk within a mile of my house. So I walk around thinking about what path I feel like taking that day, and how far it is. > Today someone driving stopped and asked me for directions to a park. It wasn’t until after they left I realized I gave directions of the form “Ohh no problem, just go 1200 steps back that way, take a right, and go 1600 more steps, and it will be on the right.” :smack: The average man’s pace is damn near a yard\*, so if you just train yourself to say ‘yards’ rather than ‘steps’ you’ll be fine. \*[Most sources say 30 inches](http://livehealthy.chron.com/average-walking-stride-length-7494.html), 2.5 feet so 16% short of a yard, which is near enough for casual directions. And 2.5 feet seems pretty short for me. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/12 "2015-06-10T22:33:47Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > And podcasts. Seconded. If you do a search, there are multiple ‘recommend me a podcast threads’. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/13 "2015-06-11T02:25:06Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > It wasn’t until after they left I realized I gave directions of the form “Ohh no problem, just go 1200 steps back that way, take a right, and go 1600 more steps, and it will be on the right.” :smack: 🙂 It would be worse if you interrupted yourself to say “recalculating…recalculating…” ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/14 "2015-06-11T13:39:43Z")
2000 steps to a mile is a rough approximation. My wife has a FitBit and I have a fancy Garmin GPS watch. When we do things like walking half marathons, she had about 2100 steps per mile and she’s on the short side. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hidden-danger-of-fitbit-sounding-like-an-idiot/721174/15 "2015-06-13T14:00:58Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > The average man’s pace is damn near a yard\*, so if you just train yourself to say ‘yards’ rather than ‘steps’ you’ll be fine. > > \*[Most sources say 30 inches](http://livehealthy.chron.com/average-walking-stride-length-7494.html), 2.5 feet so 16% short of a yard, which is near enough for casual directions. And 2.5 feet seems pretty short for me. I guess I must take very small steps. A thirty inch stride feels extremely awkward, and I’m 5-10 ish. I just measured and my natural steps even at a going-somewhere pace are right around 20 inches toe-to-toe. I guess I’m going to be obsessively watching people walk for a while I guess. I’ve been walking next to people my whole life and never noticed that I am taking more steps than average, in fact I had always thought that most people had a fairly short stride. I’m really weirded out at the revelation actually.