????不久前的一個(gè)周五晚上爆出了一個(gè)重大新聞：耐克公司（Nike）炒掉了FuelBand團(tuán)隊(duì)的大部分成員，將停止生產(chǎn)可穿戴設(shè)備。對(duì)買(mǎi)過(guò)、用過(guò)、報(bào)道過(guò)或投資過(guò)所謂“可穿戴設(shè)備”這款炙手可熱產(chǎn)品的人來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)消息都不啻于晴天霹靂。

????這樣一來(lái)，一度被捧為下一代計(jì)算大平臺(tái)的可穿戴“智能”設(shè)備，如健康追蹤腕帶、卡扣式心臟監(jiān)護(hù)儀、谷歌眼鏡、智能手表，甚至還有智能假發(fā)（沒(méi)錯(cuò)，就是智能假發(fā)）突然之間就魅力大減。

????2013年，耐克公司售出了約3300萬(wàn)美元的FuelBand腕帶，為此它招了200名員工，甚至圍繞這個(gè)設(shè)備開(kāi)展了一個(gè)加速計(jì)劃。如果它都對(duì)可穿戴設(shè)備沒(méi)興趣了，這是不是意味著這種設(shè)備氣數(shù)將盡了？耐克又是怎么知道我們沒(méi)興趣了呢？

????這個(gè)消息曝出后，一些可穿戴設(shè)備頂級(jí)制造商就開(kāi)始公開(kāi)造勢(shì)，大肆渲染自己業(yè)務(wù)的美好未來(lái)。本周在紐約舉行的TechCrunch Disrupt大會(huì)上，Jawbone公司首席執(zhí)行官侯賽因?拉赫曼稱(chēng)，公司將擴(kuò)展它追蹤的數(shù)據(jù)量，增加服務(wù)種類(lèi)。Jawbone的UP腕帶現(xiàn)在已占健康追蹤市場(chǎng)19%的份額。同時(shí)，以68%的市場(chǎng)份額雄踞市場(chǎng)老大的Fitbit公司則對(duì)科技資訊網(wǎng)（CNET）做了一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)短聲明，稱(chēng)自己這么做早已有七年之久了。憑借Flex、One和Zip這些產(chǎn)品，“盡管最近冒出了幾條聳人聽(tīng)聞的頭條新聞，”Fitbit照樣自信滿(mǎn)滿(mǎn)。

????耐克也站出來(lái)澄清最初的報(bào)道，稱(chēng)不是要放棄所有的健康追蹤業(yè)務(wù)，只是放棄硬件罷了。耐克將不再生產(chǎn)FuelBand，但還會(huì)繼續(xù)為智能手機(jī)、智能手表以及各種智能設(shè)備打造軟件和健康追蹤應(yīng)用。

????不過(guò)，現(xiàn)有的健康追蹤和可穿戴設(shè)備顯然需要改進(jìn)。現(xiàn)在很多健康追蹤器都是又大又難看、戴起來(lái)也不舒服的腕帶。而更大的問(wèn)題在于它們的實(shí)際功能。正如我的同事JP?曼格林丹本周初所寫(xiě)的那樣，他想變成數(shù)字達(dá)人的愿望落了空，因?yàn)檫@些設(shè)備上的可用選項(xiàng)要求他使用完全不同、彼此無(wú)法兼容的系統(tǒng)：

????有一天，我開(kāi)始停止使用任何設(shè)備。本來(lái)我花了好幾百美元買(mǎi)硬件買(mǎi)軟件，再把它們生拉硬湊到一起，以為這樣就能全面了解我每天的健康信息了。但實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)的過(guò)程感覺(jué)真是太費(fèi)事了——睡覺(jué)需要一種腕帶，白天需要另外一種，吃飯需要一種應(yīng)用，跑步又得用別的。為什么就不能有種軟硬件一體的設(shè)備來(lái)執(zhí)行所有這些任務(wù)呢？

????除了這一點(diǎn)，對(duì)絕大多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)，光知道自己每天走了多少步其實(shí)沒(méi)什么吸引力。咨詢(xún)公司Endeavor Partners的一份報(bào)告稱(chēng)，這也是為什么有三分之一的消費(fèi)者沒(méi)再用這類(lèi)設(shè)備。而業(yè)內(nèi)人士稱(chēng)，實(shí)際停用的健康追蹤設(shè)備數(shù)量很可能比這多得多。

????可穿戴設(shè)備和健康追蹤器要想成為我們生活中不可或缺的一部分，它們就必須成為“必不可少的”、而不是“有了也不錯(cuò)”的時(shí)髦玩意。要實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)，唯一的辦法是具備更好的功能。我曾和Misfit公司的首席執(zhí)行官桑尼?烏探討過(guò)這種產(chǎn)品今后的發(fā)展。他的公司直到最近還叫Misfit Wearables，然后才去掉wearables這個(gè)詞。

????The news broke on a recent Friday night: Nike Fires Majority of FuelBand Team, Will Stop Making Wearable Hardware. It was a shock to just about anyone who had bought, worked on, wrote about, or invested in the white-hot category called "wearables."

????Hailed as the next big platform in computing, wearable "smart" devices like fitness tracking bracelets, clip-on heart monitors, Google Glass, smartwatches, and even smart wigs (yes, smart wigs) suddenly looked a lot less interesting.

????If Nike (NKE), which had sold an estimated $33 million worth of FuelBand bracelets in 2013, employing 200 people and even running an accelerator program around the device, was no longer interested, did this spell disaster for the category? What does Nike know that the rest of us didn't?

????Since the news, the top wearable makers have openly touted the future of their business. This week at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York, Hosain Rahman, CEO of Jawbone, said his company will expand the amount of data it tracks and services around it. Jawbone's UP band accounts for 19% of the fitness tracking device market. Meanwhile Fitbit, which dominates the category with 68% market share, made a short statement to CNET that it's been doing this for seven years, guys. Fitbit, with products like the Flex, One, and Zip, remains confident, "despite some of the recent sensationalized headlines."

????Even Nike has clarified the initial report, saying it is not giving up on all of fitness tracking, only the hardware part. Nike will stop producing FuelBands itself, but it will continue to build software and fitness tracking apps for phones, smartwatches, and whatever other form factor smart devices take.

????Nonetheless, it's clear the fitness tracking and wearables need to evolve beyond their initial offerings. Many of the fitness trackers in their current form are large, unattractive, uncomfortable bracelets. But an even bigger issue is what these devices do. As my colleague JP Mangalindan wrote earlier this week, his quest to become a quant junkie failed when the available options required him to use disparate systems that didn't talk to each other:

????One day, I just stopped using everything. I had invested hundreds of dollars into hardware and software and cobbled them together so I could to get a holistic picture of my day. But the process felt too complicated for its own good -- a wristband for sleeping, another for the daytime. An app for eating, and then another running. Why couldn't there be one piece of hardware and software to rule them all?

????Beyond that, merely knowing how many steps you've taken each day isn't all that compelling to a large, mainstream audience. It's why one-third of consumers have abandoned their devices, according to a report by Endeavor Partners. Industry insiders say the number of inactive fitness tracking devices is likely much higher than that.

????For wearables and fitness trackers to become a permanent part of our lives, the devices must become "need to have," not "nice to have." The only way to do that is to offer better functionality. I spoke with Sonny Vu, CEO of Misfit, about the future of the category. His company was called Misfit Wearables until recently, when it dropped the word "wearables" from its name.