Garmin design failure no excuse for a new watch

Mis-connection

Today's run (street): 3.25 miles

Having a day off on Wednesday certainly made my work week go by quickly. Before I knew it, Friday had arrived. Yesterday was an interesting day. Some organizational changes meant that I had a new team to manage. I was fine with that, although I only found out about it that morning. I was thrilled not to have to drive to my office today, and that allowed me to do my usual Friday morning, pre-weekend run.

I work from home most Fridays, and the lack of a commute gives me plenty of time for a run. I had an early meeting happening via Google Hangout that put pressure on me to run and get back in time to look presentable on camera. That meant getting my procrastinating butt out the door early. On the positive side, the recycling trucks had not yet made the scene. On the negative side, our quiet neighborhood was already being overrun by cars and buses speeding their way to the middle school.

It was 64° with a little more humidity than on Wednesday, but it felt cooler. This was likely due to wearing short sleeves this time. The middle school traffic eventually disappeared and I thought I'd caught a break. But right on cue, I saw a stream of cars and buses heading to the elementary school. I avoided those roads and finished up my run.

Later in the day, I took a break to download my Garmin data and discovered the charging-data connector had broken since its last use. The design of the FR210 is a step backward from my old (non-GPS) FR60 that connected to my PC wirelessly and downloaded data automatically. The FR210's connector has a set of copper pins that match up with contacts on the watch. The connector is held in place by a spring driven clasp. It's a terrible design and, now that it's damaged, I'll need to figure out a way to keep it connected for charging.

Although this would be a great excuse to upgrade to a more contemporary model, I really have no need for a newer GPS watch. A quick search on the web showed that I can replace the connector for $15 through Amazon - so that's on order. I have my issues with the FR210, but after almost five years, it continues to be a very reliable unit.

Don't try this at home

Yesterday morning I attended the Amazon press event where they unveiled their newest Kindle reader. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, demonstrated the device and he talked about how people use the Kindle. He said that people can use it while on the treadmill and I tried unsuccessfully to think of a scenrio where that would not end badly. I don't know about anyone else but when I'm on the treadmill there is very little opportunity to focus on reading. Besides that, I'm guessing that the percussive force from running would likely vibrate a device right off the holder. Every time I run indoors the clock across the room turns, moves or falls off the bedside table.

The writer, Stephen King, followed Bezos on stage and he also talked about reading with the Kindle on the treadmill. Maybe it works for walkers. I'm going to try an experiment this weekend to try to read the NY Times or Fortune magazine on my Kindle while I run. If it works I'll gladly retract my skepticism.