12 May 2024
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered what to do with all of the coolness that people write, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter/X and Facebook, this is a better forum for sending it on to y’all. Most times these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout at all these places for good stuff!
So with that, let’s get into the action!
DCR Posts In The Past Week:
Here’s all the latest on the site:
Monday: Polar (Sorta) Launches Whoop-like Competitor: The Polar 360
Wednesday: Zwift Increases Prices (App & Hardware): What you need to know!
YouTube Videos This Past Week:
Here’s what hit the tubes over on the You of Tube, definitely don’t forget to subscribe there to get notified of videos the second they hit!
Stuff I Found Interesting Around The Interwebs:
Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet:
1) The Insta360 fiasco is in full swing: The short version is that Insta360 asked some top-tier camera YouTubers to do sponsored videos, but asked to not mention it’s sponsored (which, is a violation of US FTC laws, among other country laws). This won’t really surprise too many people in those circles, Insta360 has built their name through heavy sponsorships of YouTube videos. The company says they currently work with some 1,500 creators (which btw, is mind-boggling). The kicker is, Insta360 does make good products. I think their Go 3 is one of the coolest blends of a product out there. And the Garmin/Insta360 integration is absolutely what others (especially GoPro) should be doing. It’s not perfect, but has gotten really really good & useful. Still, asking creators to hide sponsorships, or for that matter, sponsoring some 1,500 creators to blanket coverage, is a problem. Another video here as well, with more insights. (Oh, and no, I’ve never seen any other reputable brand explicitly ask for sponsorships not be declared, though, another action cam/drone brand gets incredibly close to that line).
2) GoPro sues Insta360: This apparently happened a few months ago, but nobody caught it till now. I’m actually somewhat surprised GoPro went this direction, as they’ve tended to avoid filing lawsuits against competitors (in the same way we don’t tend to see Garmin file lawsuits, even for obvious infringements). I’ll add this to my legal tracker thingy, and see what happens.
3) How to remove a rounded out bike bolt: I appreciate the very detailed, and cumulative step-by-step here. There’s lots of garbage articles on the internet, but this definitely isn’t one of them.
4) Apple gains further FDA approval for usage in medical studies: This happened the previous week, but actually gives medical/clinical studies the ability to use the Afib detection features, as part of the MDDT program. This is beyond the existing ability for consumers to use it as a certified medical device for ECG usage.
5) Peloton partners with Hyatt for 700 gyms to get Peloton Bikes: Remember they previously also partnered with Hilton, so this is adding yet another brand.
6) Super cool hydrofoil windsurfing from drone video: Seriously, this is a crazy cool shot.
[This post contains video, click to play]
7) Behind the scenes – World’s Longest Ski Jump: A great look at both the design of this jump (which took more effort than I expected), and the iterative process (I’m sure they did quite a few more jumps).
8) New Holobike Indoor Cycling Thing on Kickstarter: The company reached out, but it sounds like a demo is a bit further out. Still, Wired (linked) did get a demo at some point recently, and it sounds pretty rough. That’s even more notable since the author noted that they couldn’t remember how many years it was since they rode a bike. To their credit, they identified many very obvious concerns about the platform, both software and hardware. The biggest one in my mind is actually the date though. Saying ‘Winter 2025’ realistically means ‘Winter 2026’ in Kickstarter lingo. Given how many great indoor bikes there are today, and given we’re likely coming up on announcement season again this summer (with usually immediate availability), I simply see no reason to risk money for something that’s 1-2 years away (if ever). Still, I’d love to see the technology myself, and whether it’s game-changing (either for a company to license, or consumers to buy).
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With that – thanks for reading, and stay tuned for a rather busy week!