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Peloton Says Apple's Privacy Rules Limit Its Ability to Gain Subscribers
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I think everyone missing the bigger point here.
The issue is that Peleton and Fitness+ are not competing fairly because Apple can promote Fitness+ willy-nilly without any restrictions whatsoever, but Peleton has to abide by Apple's rules.
Apple promotes Fitness+ to anyone that activates a new Apple Watch. In a way, that is cross-app tracking that Apple is doing.
Apple is basically saying "do as a I say, not as I do" here.
The issue is that Peleton and Fitness+ are not competing fairly because Apple can promote Fitness+ willy-nilly without any restrictions whatsoever, but Peleton has to abide by Apple's rules.
Apple promotes Fitness+ to anyone that activates a new Apple Watch. In a way, that is cross-app tracking that Apple is doing.
Apple is basically saying "do as a I say, not as I do" here.
I'd rather see targeted ads than ads that are for something I have zero interest in.
Totally agree that Peloton sales are down due to gyms opening up again, but I don’t think their pricing is necessarily more per month than at least the one direct competitor which is Soul Cycle. Their 5 pack of classes costs ~$150. I pay ~$100 per month for the bike and class subscription and I’m riding 25 days every month. And with no additional costs, my wife can ride as much as she wants and if our kids are home, they too can ride, which drives the cost down per person quite significantly. But even if it’s just me and my wife, that makes the cost per person per month just $50 (for equipment and subscription), which my wife was paying more when she was spinning at our local gym (that she paid $80 a month to be a member).
The drawback, if viewed that way, is that I’m really only using the spin bike, and not getting any other equipment that a gym membership would offer. The positive, which I still consider a big benefit even with the pandemic waning, is that I can ride whenever I want, without having to travel to a gym and hope the equipment is available to use.
I’m a huge Peloton fan, mainly because they made it easy for me to get back into a daily exercise regime, which in turn has significantly improved my health. I know the same thing can be done for less, using other brands of spin bikes and the Peloton app, but I’m a completely satisfied user and don’t regret buying into the service.
So, what ad tracking does Apple really do? F*c*book and Google have elaborate tracking networks that are embedded in almost every website out there, I've got long lists of domains that get blocked on my network to help keep them out.
But I've never really noticed the same kind of crap from Apple. It could be lost in the noise of everything else, but I don't think Apple really tries to track people the way others do.
If someone wants to stay in shape, but doesn't have the discipline to stick with it, maybe they should just join the military and let a drill sgt. yell at them 24x7. At least that way they get paid to stay in shape, and Peloton can't sell their private information. The tradeoff of course is they might have to be cannon fodder at some point...
Not sure that I agree with that.
The benefit IMHO of the App Store is that it buys security. The cost of this security is a % of sales go to apple.
If there are competing app stores and direct download than that security is lost. Bad Apps will of course become prevalent. Good Apps will sell directly to maximize their profits. We as consumers will have few ways to know which are Good vs Bad.
Maybe we could use customer reviews (hmmm, do you trust the reviews on Amazon? e.g. Hard to believe that 5k+ people spent the time to review a $7 retainer case out of 306 other cases. https://tinyurl.com/3zp5fayx)
Maybe we could use reviews from the pros (hmmm, seems fake reviews are more common than legit ones. e.g. https://tinyurl.com/43vcae4z)
Maybe we could install antivirus software. yeah!, let's bring back the good old days when we all bough Norton AV and hoped it would catch everything (which off course it didn't).
Now what to do with my 85+ year old mother in law who wants to download a new sudoko app? Is she going to research if this app is going to scrape everyone off of her iPad including the passwords to her financial accounts?
I'm happy to keep a single rather restrictive App Store for some security. There's a valid debate on how much security is afforded but it's not nothing (https://tinyurl.com/szbnnkw2) Those who prefer otherwise are free to by Android.
Now is the % of sales that apple takes reasonable to the app companies? 30% seems rather high.
Sounds like highway robbery to me. A quick look on Amazon and there are exercise bikes under $100, and fancy exercise bikes in the $200-$500 range. And those are one time purchases, no monthly subscription required.
If I want to go to a gym, my health insurance offers a multi-gym membership that's about $30/month. That would get me into several local gyms, a few 24-hour chain gyms, and the Y, so access to bikes, treadmills, weights, and swimming pools.
I'll admit I don't understand the concept of exercise bike classes. I mean, I've known how to ride a real bike since I was about 6, what more do I really need to learn about riding one that doesn't go anywhere and can't fall over?
I would be ok with targeted ads, I have to see ads anyway, they might as well be related to what I like. BUT... All the add companies have proven themselves un-trustworthy and incompetent. So when I see a "Allow app to track you" I don't even think about which app I opened up, I just select no.
If Peloton wants to blame someone for un-targeted ads, they should be blaming the facebooks of the world that ruined customer trust, not the companies trying to fix what they broke.
If Peloton wants to blame someone for un-targeted ads, they should be blaming the facebooks of the world that ruined customer trust, not the companies trying to fix what they broke.
Well, Peloton didn't exist before. The entire existence of the company has been in the age of targeted advertising. So it's not really a surprise that they're distressed by losing it at the same time that they've saturated the idiot rich people market that is their only demographic.
The concept of ad targeting as it exists today is only about 20 years old. It's sad that we've allowed it to last this long, but at least people are finally realizing that they can do something about it.
If companies are complaining about their adverts not being able to get to potential customers then maybe it is about time the compaines re-examined just how much user data they need to acheive that because that is the number one problem people are having with all this data collecting, there is far too much tracking going on. When you go to a website and a window opens asking you to approve the cookie settings. Go look through what it's asking you to agree to and you will be shocked at just how much of our data that advertisers want to know about us, such as what our IP address is, what device we are using, what browser we are using, what our GPS location is, what website we came from, what website we linked to, the time, the date, and it just goes on and on. If Pelton wants to target us with their ad's, do they honestly and truely need ALL that information (and more) to carry it out? I doubt it very very much and this is why people opt out and keep opting out because there are way to many companies that want too much of our data.
All are feeling the heat of Apples new ATT. A win for privacy
Yeah, I love how they act like it’s their right to be able to track what we search so they can target us.
It's not difficult to comprehend others preferences even when they're not yours.
Some people enjoy group activities more than solo. Gym spin classes have had a lot of popularity and Peloton has tapped into that market offering the convenience of doing so from home.
Other folks might only have time for a workout when their kid is down for a nap or not yet awake and they can't leave them alone.
Some live in high traffic areas where an outdoor ride after work is a very risky activity even when it's still daylight.
Weather is also often a factor - most wouldn't go for a run in 40F rainy weather let alone 19F.
Peloton, Fitness+, etc all tap into that market. Even Zwift and others tap into the market of usually-outdoor cyclists who sometimes ride their indoor smart trainer.
(I run run and cycle outdoors, usually alone, yet can understand why folks might like Fitness+/Peloton even though I don't subscribe to either)
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sure, bad Apple, bad iOS users for selecting "do not track" ... there was this article, rather a more objective view imho
www.cnn.com
The Peloton movement may be over. Shares plunge
Peloton investors are going to have to take a meditation class (or several) after its latest earnings report that sent its shares plunging by about a third.
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for and any spin bike that costs $100-$500 is more than likely going to be an expensive clothes dryer. I was paying far more than $30 per month for my Y family membership - it was around $105 per month for our family of 6. As the kids grew up and moved out, we dropped the membership and my wife started going to a local gym for spin classes, that cost about $85 per month, just for herself. Yes, gyms have other things to offer, so that can be a benefit to joining a gym, but when the pandemic hit, that all became a moot point.
Spin classes are not anywhere close to being the same as a casual bike ride. They can be brutal (in a good way) for challenging and developing both your cardiovascular system and/or leg muscles. I’ve had 5 knee surgeries over the past 30 years, caused mainly by my days racing mountain and road bikes back when I was in college, so doing things like running, which I also used to do, is just not an option unless I want to have to go back under the knife for my knees. I was worried when I first got the Peloton that I would blow my knees out again, but I made a point to take it slow initially and re-build my muscles to minimize tendon issues, and I haven’t had anything but occasional minor aches, which go away when I do low impact high cadence rides.
I’m in my mid-50’s and look and feel better than I did when I was in my 30’s and 40’s, driven by my dedication to riding the Peloton daily (6 days a week), and of course tracking my heart health on my Apple Watch, which I pair to the Peloton using the BlueHeart app.
As someone who works in advertising I disagree. Just have to shift your targeting.