In her new gig at the New York Times, Molly Wood keeps her snarky attitude towards Microsoft intact. An otherwise nice story about sleep tracking gadgets of all types includes some typical sloppy writing by Molly when it comes to a Microsoft product. First, she dismisses the Band as underreporting her sleep in comparison to the other tracker devices she compared it to. Then, in the same paragraph in which only the Band and the Basis Peak are mentioned by name, she includes comments from unnamed experts who dismiss the data from trackers as not as "telling" as the date recorded in sleep clinics.
Molly, as usual your experience with a Microsoft product differs from mine. My Band reported my sleep length and times woken nearly identically to the Fitbit Flex I have also used. The Band, of course, reports far more data. How do you know the other trackers you tested were accurate and the Band was not? You provide no details of your experience so it is easy to dismiss your comments as part of your pattern of commentary on Microsoft products. And why was the information from sleep clinic staff in the same paragraph as your experience with the Band? The effect was a one-two punch to this one product: your claim that it was somehow inaccurate and then a dismissal altogether by some experts. And the fact that the data from sleep clinics is more detailed and accurate than a $100 to $200 tracking device is hardly news. The problem is most people don't need the data they can get from a sleep clinic unless they have a sleep disorder of some type. The information I obtain from both my Fitbit, and now in more detail from the Band, is also not really necessary as I've gotten along fine without it for decades, but it is interesting and it came in handy when my wife and I were evaluating new mattresses in our home.
The bigger point of your story was the variety of sleep tracking devices that are now available for home use, including some I hadn't heard of. For now, I get what I need from the Band. Let go of the baggage Molly. You'll sleep better from that alone.
Molly, as usual your experience with a Microsoft product differs from mine. My Band reported my sleep length and times woken nearly identically to the Fitbit Flex I have also used. The Band, of course, reports far more data. How do you know the other trackers you tested were accurate and the Band was not? You provide no details of your experience so it is easy to dismiss your comments as part of your pattern of commentary on Microsoft products. And why was the information from sleep clinic staff in the same paragraph as your experience with the Band? The effect was a one-two punch to this one product: your claim that it was somehow inaccurate and then a dismissal altogether by some experts. And the fact that the data from sleep clinics is more detailed and accurate than a $100 to $200 tracking device is hardly news. The problem is most people don't need the data they can get from a sleep clinic unless they have a sleep disorder of some type. The information I obtain from both my Fitbit, and now in more detail from the Band, is also not really necessary as I've gotten along fine without it for decades, but it is interesting and it came in handy when my wife and I were evaluating new mattresses in our home.
The bigger point of your story was the variety of sleep tracking devices that are now available for home use, including some I hadn't heard of. For now, I get what I need from the Band. Let go of the baggage Molly. You'll sleep better from that alone.
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