Here’s a true confession, I’m still enjoying my AI swim goggles. At first, I only used the goggles for my own personal workouts. Initially, the goggles were really good at showing me exactly how boring my routine workout is! I’ve been doing the same sets for at least 10 years. However, when I signed up for the head-coach subscription service, things started to ramp up.
Signing up for the subscription unlocked basically all the cool features in the goggles. Now I get feedback on many aspects of my swims including:
- the angle of my head underwater
- how much I tilt my head when taking a breath
- how long it takes me to return to a neutral head position after breating
- how well I pace my self during a set and from one set to the next
In addition to the tracking, the goggles dynamically adjusts workout recommendations based on which skills I need to work on. Everything is customized in real time. The workouts are another huge perk. The goggles provide instructions for my workouts in the display and track everything. I’ve noticed my stats improving in all areas since I paid for the subscription. And that… is the seduction of it.
The subscription is not super expensive at around $120/year, but that’s not the point. The point is that now I’m hooked on it. Without the extra subscription cost, the goggles only function at a basic, minimal level. I’m pretty sure I can’t even upload my own workouts into the goggles without the subscription, thereby reducing the benefits of these expensive, AI-powered goggles.
This is part of a growing trend to provide consumers with devices that need subscriptions to function, or function fully. Naturally, there are pros/cons to this approach. In my entrepreneurial days, everybody was trying to build a subscription service. It’s a way to guarantee steady, sometimes called “passive,” income every month. This can be more reliable than a one-time purchase because it maintains the customer base.
For the consumer, it can make something expensive more affordable. Subscriptions can be monthly, offering smaller amounts. On the other side, this also means the consumer will always be paying monthly, or lose the service. After experiencing the full effects of the subscription service in my goggles, I have to confess it would be hard to let it go. Though benefitting, I’m also committed to the extra payments.
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