Hello all,
I am a few months into my life in the "Garmin Ecosystem". Previously, I used a Polar Loop with MapMyFitness, MapMyRide, MapMyHike, and MyFitnessPal. Two features I enjoyed about gear tracking on MapMy... were: 1) When adding shoes, I could add them with miles already run on them and a max value (This made it very easy to transition shoes already in use), and 2) I could designate the gear I would use either before or after a run,bike,walk, or hike. (This was useful if my road running shoes were designated as default and I ran in my trail shoes instead. Easy as pie, change the shoes in the activity page after the fact and the math was recalculated for the shoes.)
I am using the Forerunner 25 (Running) and the Edge 25 (Biking), Garmin Connect Mobile (Google Nexus 4.5), Garmin Connect Web (Dell Chromebook), and Garmin Express/Garmin Connect (Asus Laptop)-[since USB sync cannot be run on a Chromebook using a web-based app].
My experience using Garmin Connect's Gear Tracking left me wanting. 1) Adding my existing shoes with miles on them was a bit of a brain game. Setting the max remaining for the pair of shoes was not too bad. But when trying to get past runs marked with the gear using the "assign this gear to all runs since (date)" option, I had to manually change all trail runs to a separate pair of shoes one activity at a time and estimate the mileage used before buying the Forerunner 25. 2) From what I can see, I can designate only one pair of shoes for default for each activity type (Walk, Run, Bike, Swim, etc.) I can change the shoe for a specific activity after the fact (when enter the title) using Garmin Connect Web-based or Garmin Connect PC application; however, this cannot be done on Garmin Connect Mobile. (This maintains a dependency on legacy systems and architecture that is not consistent with current technology users or infrastructure trends.
I love Garmin products!! I am working on transitioning all members of my family to the Garmin Infrastructure. However, there are some serious adoption issues for me and my family. I maintain a Windows 10 laptop kiosk in the house for antiquated systems that do not fully support the current and future computing user-based architecture of mobile device with cloud computing. Garmin misses this point in several ways: 1) (Garmin wearables/watches that must use a PC/iOS app and cable to initialize, receive firmware updates, and transfer user/device setting changes made in the Web or PC Connect app. 2) Garmin Forerunner 25 will not sync with Connect mobile unless both Bluetooth and a WIFI network are available. Really annoying when actually out and about without wireless, especially in a hotel with overpriced WIFI (think Europe). 3) Several user interface niceties available only on Web-/PC-based Connect but not Connect Mobile. 4) Insisting on WIFI connectivity, when a phone has a wireless data connection.
This brings me to my conclusion with suggestions:
1) Garmin needs to think in terms of the wearable/watch, mobile device, and PC/iOS and Bluetooth, Wireless Data, and WIFI as "point of collection", "point of use", and "point of analysis", respectively. By this I mean: The wearable/watch/device should provide basic interface to collect information (let me choose Run type, HR, etc. ALONG WITH ASSOCIATED GEAR), the activity should transfer to the phone with bluetooth (no WIFI required or Wireless data for that matter) as soon as the run ends and the mobile device is in range, I should be able to look at my performance in depth and compare this run to previous runs while I am cooling down, later at home I should be able to look at multi-month graphical trends, etc. with the WIFI and a bigger screen. Similarly, I should be able to look at my overnight sleep quality on my phone at breakfast, after I wake up and shower, without using WIFI (seriously, how much computing power does a sleep quality algorithm take to run), then later with WIFI and a big screen I can see how my sleep trends over the last quarter. The watch to mobile device interaction should be bluetooth only and the mobile device with Connect Mobile should allow for all "point of use" quick analysis without requiring a connection to "the mother ship" via WIFI. If WIFI is required, allow users to choose to let Garmin Connect us their phones data plan if they are mobile.
2) Garmin needs to work toward getting away from PC/iOS required hardware/software to enable and support their wearables/watches and mobile apps. Increasingly, the average person in k-12 today uses a Chromebook and a cell phone as their main technology. I use the same two, and a Linux Mint laptop. I loath tethering to the Windows 10 Laptop, when it is absolutely necessary.
3) In the full Garmin line supporting running, it is time to acknowledge that Trail Running "is a thing". As such, it needs to be its own activity type allowing trail shoes to be tracked as trail running not running. That would enable a useful analytic graphic, which has an analogue in pool and open swimming.
Cheers,
Danny