You think you’re keeping track of your exercises and certain health metrics. Surprise! Your data may end up with Palantir and the Department of War. From Daphne Posadas at The Epoch Times via zerohedge.com:
According to experts, the best way to maintain a new habit is to track it. I’ve recently taken up running. And as runners typically do, I’m now hooked on tracking my distance, measuring my pace, and setting goals to get better. Naturally, this sent me down the rabbit hole of finding the best tracking device.
There are many options. From Fitbit to Apple Watch to Garmin, there’s a wide variety of gadgets to monitor our habits. Especially since it’s a growing market. According to Yahoo Finance, the global fitness tracker market was valued at $52.29 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $189.98 billion by 2032, growing 17.5 percent every year from 2026 to 2032. Looks like more and more people are interested in quantifying our health.
Beyond smartwatches, there are also rings. Oura, a Finnish company, pioneered data tracking 10 years ago through a smart ring. The design is unobtrusive, and yet it has the capacity to measure all kinds of information, of course, at a price. To access its full power, you need to pay $349 for the ring plus a $6 monthly subscription.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Oura is “the leading smart-ring brand, with over 60 percent of the market,” representing 5 million rings sold worldwide.
Oura and its competitors Ringcon and Ultrahuman have become popular for rings with nice aesthetics as well as a good capacity to track steps, heart rate, sleep cycles, and even menstrual health. But competition will be no more: earlier this year, the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled against Ultrahuman and Ringcon for patent infringement, effectively banning them from import and sales in the U.S. market starting Oct. 21.
I don’t keep track of walk after each meal but it takes up parts of three subdivision sectors.
That way I can see the Fundamental Transformation.
Control freaks and their statist utopian fever dreams are nothing new under the sun.