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| "G" found a great review of this Garmin watch on a bicyclists blog. Good information is everywhere we just need to get it organized [please support our work by going to Amazon through the links here] |
A few days ago, "G" was telling me about his experience in searching for a sports watch. "G" is a recovering pre-diabetic casual athelete. He was diagnosed with pre-diabetes (much like O'Connell in "Sugar Nation" book) over two years ago. Like many, "G" let the diagnosis "slide" for a year. Until on a second visit to his doctor, it was clear that diabetes is knocking at the door and he better take things seriously. So, "G" did what most techno-geeks do these days: get information on the internet! Wow, what a mess can you get into with a few hours with Google and ten blogs. I say "mess" not to be condescending or negative. Exactly the opposite! My perspective, much like "G"s is that there is just too much information out there and most of it is not useful. Not useful because it is out of context, has a biased perspective or simply inaccurate or dated. When I first started to work on this blog with "G" our thinking was to give our view of how to make sense out of all the information out there. Like everyone else, we have our own experience. One of the most elusive fact is how to live healthy with type 2 diabetes. The idea is not strange, but the reality of it is pretty much hidden. Not hidden by design, just hidden with all the facts and figures that are thrown in from every imaginable direction.
Let's get back to "G"s watch search. Since "G" has been investing a great deal of time and effort to get into shape, he wanted to treat himself to a nice little gift. So the search for a sports watch, befitting his techno-geek status started. How does one decide on such a purchase? What kind of features are going to be useful? What kind of features are "marketing fluff"? If "G" gets all hist running information recorded on the watch to a usable format, will it help his condition? Are doctors, diaticians and sports exercise coaches interested in this information? Will they use it at all, or just smile at "G" thinking "what a techno-geek! I can't wait to tell everyone in the office about this". These questions are on the personal sphere. But what about the practical shopping sphere. What are these $400 marvels really capable of doing? Are they reliable? Does all the nifty technology: touch screen, GPS, altimeter, heart rate monitor... going to be of any use? Truth to be told, "G" is not a big cyclists and where he lives altitude is not that much of a factor. So knowing that he traveled up and down 100 meters in a week is not going to give him any usable information.
As "G" was doing his research he stumbled upon a cyclist blog that described in detail the Garmin Forerunner 610. The "DC Rainmaker" article is amazing. Every techno-geek's desire from what the watch "system" comprised of, all the way to his experience with using the watch on a ride, the software integration with maps, accessories... you name it, this guy has done his homework. This goes to show you, how two kindred spirits around the world can find each other and have a great time chatting about heart rate monitoring on the road and in the gym (it's there, read all the way to the middle). But this is not the good part yet. Take a look at the comments. As of today: 327! This is for an April 12th, 2011 article. All kind of comments from technical to practical. Lots of comparisons to other models. The comments also have lots of other miscellaneous information, yet probably interesting to people in that specific "community".
A word about "community" and useful information. One of the most amazing development the last few years has been the use of blogs as community hubs. The "DC Rainmaker" is a good example. One good article is useful for some people, yet it does not cover a wide range of topics related to one core idea. We are going to attempt to do this for healthy diabetic living with fitness, diet and medicine. THANKS FOR READING!
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