I've observed the same in manufacturing … and fitness trackers a la FitBit.
There's initial value from training yourself on what something looks/feels like … but diminishing returns after that. Whether there is more value to be found doesn't seem to matter.
Factories would sensor up, go nuts with data, find one or two major insight, tire of data, and then just continue operating how they were before … but with a few new operational tools in their quiver.
Same is true of fitness trackers: you excitedly get one, learn how much you really are sitting(!), adjust your patterns, time passes … then one day you realize you haven't put it on for a week. It stays in the drawer.
Not unless they're threatened with ruin will people make changes to the standard way of doing things. This is actually … not bad! Continuity is important, and this is kind of a subconscious gating function to prevent deviation from a proven way of working. So, the change has to be so compelling or so pressing that they're forced to. Not a bad thing.
While we think things change overnight in this world, they generally take awhile … stay patient … it's worth it.
I went on a diet a few years ago. I obsessively recorded every food I ate in MyFitnessPal. To this day, I know roughly how many calories pretty much everything I eat is. So, I've learned from the process and don't need the process as much any more. (I'm kidding about that - it's easy to underestimate how much you eat, and an extra 200 cal a day adds up over the years.)
I did something similar in my early 20’s. 15 years later the weight is gone and hasn’t come back. It is pretty nice being able to eyeball my plate of food at a BBQ knowing it will not add any flesh to my mid section.
I definitely did not need a multi-PB storage array to reach that goal. Or did I? I am sure someone out there knows roughly the human brain storage capacity in MB.
This is interesting, and I think you're on to something. I got a fitbit when I got serious about running because I had no idea what it felt like to run in zone 2. I can read about it, but that only gets you so far. While running I could actively check my heartrate and adjust. A year into the hobby and now I don't bring my fitbit on probably 50% of my runs. I know how fast I need to go.
Where as a Garmin is a useful ongoing tool for me a runner. I have got through about six watches. I don't use gimmicks like step counters though, turned it off. "Congratulations you completed 10,000 steps!" - well duh, I ran 10 miles this morning.
if youre running 10 miles per morning, even half that, on the regular you're an extreme outlier. the vast, vast majority of folks don't get anywhere near that, and a step counter that gamifies making them move is a good thing.
I used to track sooo much health and fitness data... Then I realized it mostly wasn't actionable, or at least, I wasn't altering my decisions based on it. The answer was always, "more training." So I stopped.
I think they are only useful to runners, where weekly distance, speed and heart rate are massively useful. These are all very accurate things that can be captured, unlike weight resistance (swinging a kettlebell, dead lifting).
There's initial value from training yourself on what something looks/feels like … but diminishing returns after that. Whether there is more value to be found doesn't seem to matter.
Factories would sensor up, go nuts with data, find one or two major insight, tire of data, and then just continue operating how they were before … but with a few new operational tools in their quiver.
Same is true of fitness trackers: you excitedly get one, learn how much you really are sitting(!), adjust your patterns, time passes … then one day you realize you haven't put it on for a week. It stays in the drawer.
Not unless they're threatened with ruin will people make changes to the standard way of doing things. This is actually … not bad! Continuity is important, and this is kind of a subconscious gating function to prevent deviation from a proven way of working. So, the change has to be so compelling or so pressing that they're forced to. Not a bad thing.
While we think things change overnight in this world, they generally take awhile … stay patient … it's worth it.