Fitness Trackers: Lifeline or Flatline? In this week's personal technology column, I reviewed the Fitbit Force, a sleek new personal fitness tracker that is worn on the wrist. My feelings were mixed. I thoroughly enjoyed tracking my daily and weekly activity levels, and looking at the pretty visualizations that the Fitbit software creates from that data, but it was hard to parse deep insights from that information. The software, which is fairly sophisticated, still seems like it is not quite smart enough to help me figure out how to change my personal habits to be more healthy. I couldn't recommend spending $130 on a rubber bracelet that tells me what I already know works - eat less, move more - to live well and stay in shape. The column hit a chord with some readers, who sent in their reactions via email and Twitter. Some agreed that it was an expensive purchase, but had come up with their own workarounds. One reader wrote: "Fitbit Zip for $60 has the same software and app. Hook it to the center of your bra and you can wear it anywhere. Runs on a battery, so you don't need to recharge and the app tells me the battery is still full after three weeks. No false reads when reading a paper edition of The Times. Only issue was how to get it to count my stationary cycling. Solution: hook it on the side of my sneaker. Liz Eswein, a popular Instagram user and a digital strategist, agreed with me on Twitter, saying "it's probably not worth the $ but interesting to have a visual on my activity." On Twitter, Thomas Goetz, author of "The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health in the New Era of Personalized Medicine," noted that he had experienced challenges similar to mine. "I've tried every self-tracker out there," he wrote. The one I stick with - Nike Fuelband - tells the time. That's use case #1. One reader named Paul emailed to remind me that the price point wasn't the only problem that some users were having. "I used a Force for about six weeks and developed an ugly rash on my wrist near the area where the charging port contacted my skin," he said. Fitbit acknowledges the problem and promptly refunded the purchase price, but it was an unpleasant experience. Despite that, however, Paul said he felt that the fitness trackers were worth the cost. He swapped out his Fitbit Force for a model that doesn't need to come in contact with the skin and he said he found that "they do provide me with the motivation to walk (and climb stairs) more than I otherwise might. I also find the sleep tracking info helpful. For me, at least, it has been money well spent.