Originally Posted by
Loren Pechtel
The problem with the Trakdots is not the company but the technology. It used 2G data technology and when that went away there was no way for the gadgets to talk to anything. The only possible "support" would be a 100% replacement of units, something they certainly couldn't afford.
I didn't pay much attention to Trakdots, but it didn't seem to have as much traction as the bluetooth-using Tile stuff; and the Trakdots batteries most commonly would die within 3 weeks or less IIRC, something that put it closer to on par with GPS-based trackers (with their own issues too) when it came to battery life than with the bluetooth technology used by Tile.
The way Tile plays out -- and the likely way Apple's AirTags will play out too -- should really make people think about privacy issues and also how they may even be unwittingly playing into a surveillance state and crowd-source stalking when using this kind of luggage+ tracking technology. The battery life of Tile trackers is closer to 1-3 years rather than closer to 1-3 weeks.