Now trying: Jawbone UP - who needs the stinking cloud anyway?

Elsewhere I have discussed how I was disappointed by the FitBit Charge as a replacement for my Basis B1 watch activity tracker.  So I returned the FitBit Charge, and am now trying the Jawbone UP.



I plan to use the Jawbone UP not as a replacement for my Basis B1 watch, possibly not even as an activity tracker at all - but as a vibrating alarm gadget on my wrist.



Why?  I think that vibrating on the wrist, rather than ringing annoying on the handset, might be the killer app for watches.



 I was reasonably happy with my Basis Watch as an activity tracker.  Certainly, it has upped my fitness level.  But I was frustrated by the following Basis shortcomings: (1) no sharing of data with other users, no friendly social scene; (2) no counting of vertical.



I bought a FitBit One to try to remedy these Basus shortcomings.  I have certainly liked the vertical distance metric: Portland ain't flat! I hoped to like the social aspects, LoseIt.com or MyFitnessPal.com - but that has not worked iout so well, yet.



I greatly disliked the FitBit One reporting only total steps, not tracking time of day. I disliked the FitBit One's wristband.



But mainly, I found that I *LIKED* the FitBit One's vibrating alarms: both wakeup, and occasionally during the day (time to head out, midmorning, lunch, midafternoon, time to head home, time for bed).  Should I admit that I often get so swallowed up by work that I don't notice what time it is?





I had hoped that the FitBit c=Charge would fill the bill.  Unfortunately, my Charge did not charge its batteries, or else discharged them far too quickly: it only worked for 15 minutes after charging for 24 hours.  Normally I would do an exchange - but the Charge felt like such a piece of shit - its interface being a single button that I could not tell if it had been pressed or not (as opposed to the nice tactile feedback of the button on the FitBit One or Garmin Vivofit) - that I did not feel like bothering.





So instead, I am trying a Jawbone.  Not the more expensive Jawbone UP3 or UP24, but the origional Jawbone, not wireless, which can be found fairly cheaply (especially if you are wiling to take an unpopular color).





MY plan, my theory:  I can use the Jawbone just for the "cvirbatuon" features:



(1) vibrating wake from sleep (aka a smart alarm)



(2) vibrating idle alert



(3) vibrating reminders.



Unfortunately, as usual there are annoying limits:



-- only 4 each of alarms and reminders



   ++ Stupid short sightedness.  HOw about a vibe alarm every hour of two?



-- the reminders seem to always generate a notification on my phone. Damn phone centric mindset: I do not want to have reminders on both phone and watch. I want to avoid the slowness of my phone as much as possible.





I may not want to use the tracking features of the Jawbone at all, except implicitly for the idle









After fitness, I think that notifications may be the killer app. But not a wrist notification for every email - selectivity!!!