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Post by zazzles on Aug 11, 2018 21:57:18 GMT
I also think LT members are an after thought but I realize we're not bringing any money in (except for buying products they sell at a meeting.) LT members over goal attending meetings bring in scads of money. Since the dirty double-cross WW pulled years ago of not honoring the promise that LT members over goal never pay more than the weekly fee in force at the time they achieved LT, LT members who need to lose significant weight don't have much choice than to take Monthly Pass as an option (or Online Only). Either way, WW makes money. BTW, the double-cross spawned a class action which WW settled out of court with a 30-year sunset date, and I have friends who hit the sunset date and had to start paying full fish price. I feel like WW prefers Apple as everything comes out first for Apple. I believe Apple is an easier platform to program than Android. Not sure why, but that is what I was told. BINGO, Rad. It isn't that Android is necessarily harder than iOS, it's that Apple controls both the hardware and OS and can more easily make sure they work together across all Apple devices. Android, the OS, is owned by Google, but devices are made by many different companies. So to properly deply an app on Android requies both a substantial investment in hardware from many manufacturers and time to test and fix for each platform. Google also allows manufacturers like Amazon to have custom versions of Android that they can cripple for certain functionality. For example, the ONLY web browser you can use on a Kindle device is the one Amazon builds in. God forbid that you could do something on the Internet that Amazon couldn't monitor and gather data on in order to track your habits and push produts at you! It reminds me of Oprah doing her "you get a ...., and you get a ...., ..." Seems to me that the era of Oprah is obsolete. She hasn't been "offed" like other celeb spokespeople have because she put her money where her mouth is and sits on the WW board. But the new target demographic is people 35 and younger who are mobile-device addicted, want fast results, want no restrictions or rules, and don't want to be told they have to take responsibility for their lives (anyway that's my cynical view for up here in the high 60s). It seems to me that O's followers are mostly well beyond that age demographic. Also, is is VERY clear to me from watching countless interviews of Mindy on TV that the primary goal of the company is to tether people permanently to monthly charges. That was pretty clearly stated early on: shift focus so that the financial peaks and valleys of waxing and waning membership fees get smoothed out and have much less impact on income.
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Post by itsrad on Aug 11, 2018 22:51:12 GMT
zazzles , Thanks for the explanation Mike. Makes perfect sense. I know we mock WW (deservedly so, sometimes) but i suspect it is hard to find and retain really talented software engineers. It is a very competitive field, and the best engineers command the big bucks from the big guys. And for the good ones, it isn't just salary. It is work environment. I'm not sure what the WW corporate environment is like, but I'm guessing they don't have M&M's and Coke in the refrigerator. You know, brain food.
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Post by zazzles on Aug 11, 2018 23:11:06 GMT
zazzles , Thanks for the explanation Mike. Makes perfect sense. I know we mock WW (deservedly so, sometimes) but i suspect it is hard to find and retain really talented software engineers. It is a very competitive field, and the best engineers command the big bucks from the big guys. And for the good ones, it isn't just salary. It is work environment. I'm not sure what the WW corporate environment is like, but I'm guessing they don't have M&M's and Coke in the refrigerator. You know, brain food. LOL at the brain food comment! As for hiring and retaining talent, many if not most apps developed for corporations are done by contracts with companies or individuals with proven track records. Perhaps WW has some in-house app developers, but I think it is unlikely. After all, they only have ONE app; once coded and released, what's a talented app developer going to do? I think it was in the earnings call that increasing the size and presence of a WW office in San Francisco was mentioned. I assume that didn't mean the office that manages meetings and staff, but rather an office in which development is done. Many companies from around the country are creating small offices in and near San Francisco so that they can compete for the developer talent pool in the area where developers desire to live. Walmart has had a HUGE online development operation just south of San Francisco (Brisbane, CA) for at least a decade.
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Post by itsrad on Aug 12, 2018 0:23:27 GMT
zazzles , There are lot of openings for WW software folks on Glassdoor, that is what I am looking at. The problem with a Silicon Valley presence is that it is incredibly expensive to live out there, and the environment is SO competitive. There are two things that compel the talented engineers - money or challenge. If you can't pay the $$, then you better have an interesting thing for them to work on. I'm not sure WW can compete with the big guys and the intriguing start-ups.
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Post by zazzles on Aug 12, 2018 1:57:07 GMT
zazzles , There are lot of openings for WW software folks on Glassdoor, that is what I am looking at. The problem with a Silicon Valley presence is that it is incredibly expensive to live out there, and the environment is SO competitive. There are two things that compel the talented engineers - money or challenge. If you can't pay the $$, then you better have an interesting thing for them to work on. I'm not sure WW can compete with the big guys and the intriguing start-ups. Ha! I know...I'm retired from the industry here in Silicon Valley.
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Post by itsrad on Aug 12, 2018 2:11:16 GMT
zazzles , For some reason I thought you were in Arizona. My DS lives in the Bay Area and works for one of the "big guys" so we've been there a few times. COL is outrageous. It sure is fun to visit though. WW needs to figure out how it can harness things like GraphQL.
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Post by pamthomas46 on Aug 12, 2018 2:16:58 GMT
Interesting thread. I found it and caught up tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing additional changes that will be rolled out.
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Post by DebDoesWW on Aug 12, 2018 12:58:57 GMT
Noom looks interesting. But the price they quoted me is $18.99 a month. And I got quoted $24.83 per month after a free 14-day trial. I must be a tough case. Sounds like the old thing at the Woolworth's lunch counter where you ordered a sundae, popped a balloon, and paid the price inside the balloon for the sundae. Not impressed with the pricing game. Yikes, $32.25 for me 🤣 that is just crazy how varied the prices are.
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squid
Transcendent Member
Posts: 976
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Post by squid on Aug 12, 2018 19:34:38 GMT
I'm kind of late to the party here, and skimmed the posts to get caught up. If I repeat something that's already been said, please accept my apologies. I agree 105% with those of you who said an in-person weigh-in is important to you and one of the keys to your success on the program. There's another component to the in-person meetings - it literally gets people out of their homes and apartments. When Jean Nidetch first started WW, before it was a business, she would get calls from people who didn't leave their homes because of their weight. She would go there with her scales and Program sheets and usually find a woman still in her bathrobe at noon (with or without a mai tai ), not showered and hair not combed. Breakfast consisted of a cup of coffee and a cigarette. She would weigh them, explain the Program, and then look in their kitchen and cupboards for something on Program to eat - eggs, tuna, bread, fruit, etc. Roz
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Post by Jennifer on Aug 13, 2018 0:56:21 GMT
In the end, this may turn out to be a classic case of... ya got too big for your britches.
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Kitty
Transcendent Member
Posts: 1,448
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Post by Kitty on Aug 13, 2018 1:11:36 GMT
I was curious about the noom thing. This is really interesting. I think the cost is based upon how long they thing it will take to get to your goal. The longer it is, the cheaper it is.
I did noom twice. I gave identical answers (all true) to both of them. I listed my weight as 157 pounds. My WW goal is actually 146 -- top of my range -- but I said my goal weight was 125 pounds. That was the goal I had back in the day when I first got to lifetime in my 30s. When I put that goal in I was given $32.25 a month. This said I would be at 125 by December (this is delusional -- they have me getting to 152 in September, 139 in October, 129 in November and 125 in December). This has me losing 13 pounds from September to October which is absurd given my current weight and age. That is like over 3 pounds a week!.
Then I went back and did it again. The only change I put in was that I wanted to get to 145. This time I was given a monthly fee of $49.50! This is based upon my being at my goal by October.
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Post by DebDoesWW on Aug 13, 2018 14:24:09 GMT
That is interesting Kitty, their timelines are insane. I wonder what they offer as far as maintenance, I didn’t read that much about it.
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Post by zazzles on Aug 13, 2018 17:48:43 GMT
DebDoesWW, Kitty, I kind of figured out the same thing—that their pricing must be duration-based. They probably never figured that a group of WW alum would all descend on their site and start comparing notes about pricing. Fooled 'em!
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Post by louisstone on Aug 14, 2018 1:51:01 GMT
I jailbroke my Kindle Fire in about 10 minutes. I run Chrome and get apps from Google on it. 😉
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Post by fullmahina on Aug 14, 2018 14:17:11 GMT
Re: NOOM.
I got this email from "Artem" with a 50% discount offer. The email showed up in my inbox as being from "Artem at Noom" which had me thinking of Mork from Ork. The subject line was "A gift for you."
I think I will pass.
It's Artem, President and Co-Founder at Noom. I see that you've started the process of creating your custom weight loss course with us and wanted to help give you the opportunity to take advantage of the full benefits of your course: • A dedicated coaching team • Support from a group of peers with similar weight loss goals • Easy-to-use food logging and calorie tracking • Daily articles to help build healthy habits • Over a thousand healthy recipes that you can log with one swipe • Lose an average of 18 pounds over 16 weeks Redeem up to 50% off by signing up for your 14-day free trial using the promo code below during checkout: Your Promo Code: EMAIL99 Join the millions of people we've helped achieve happier, healthier lifestyles today!
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