How I felt when my Jawbone broke

I had bought a Jawbone UP, back in November. Since then, the tracker was on my wrist 24×7 for most of the days. This Wednesday, after roughly six months of careful usage, the straps broke. The device came with a one year warranty, but apparently the warranty did not cover broken straps. I looked it up on Amazon, and there, I found that I was one of the lucky ones. Many had reported broken straps after a month of usage.

Despite the beginnings of this post, this is not a rant.

I mean sure I feel duped. I invested seven thousand rupees in this thing! But as I said, I am not too sad about it. Mistakes are fine. They teach lessons. This one told me to not buy, or recommend a Jawbone product to anybody in the future.

As I mentioned this is not a rant, and so with the background done, I feel I should move on.

The day the straps broke, and I was left with no tracker on my wrists, I did not feel anything. I mean sure there was a hint of loss. But back then, I was expecting the UP to be replaced. Then, that night as I slept, my wrists felt lighter.

By the next day, the customer care had replied to my mail with a standard, “tear/breakage is not covered under warranty” response. Then, I was angry. That night, after an entire day of no step tracking, I felt lighter.

My head felt lighter.

I had a worriless day, where I did not fret whenever I opened the app. There were no numbers. It felt better. With this great advent of social everywhere, there is this increased tendency for competition underlying everything. We want more. Everything has turned relative. And that is not a good feeling to have.

Hence, something supposed to improve my health, was actually pulling me down. The realization was confusing. I mean data is good. Right?

I’m not so sure anymore, which is why, even though I’ve tied a rubber band around the broken strap of the UP, I’m not so sure if I’m going to put it on my wrist again. Maybe, I don’t want it in my face, all the time.

Maybe.