Since the TrackTag is an add-on device, and not an entirely different tool that you would need to buy, you should be able to use it with any of your current Bosch tools – as well as other brands’ tools.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Bosch TrackTag, a Bluetooth Tracking Device You Attach to Your Tools
Since the TrackTag is an add-on device, and not an entirely different tool that you would need to buy, you should be able to use it with any of your current Bosch tools – as well as other brands’ tools.
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One of the most common ailments of the technician is losing things. Ranging from your headlamp to your crescent wrench all the way to your favorite drill, tools have a habit of growing legs and using them when you leave a room. Bosch's TrackTag is a novel, albeit pricey (You must pay for each tag as well as a monthly subscription to the tracking app) that, for the moment, is only in European countries. As the article states, as long as you can make the tags fit somewhere on your tool, they don't necessarily need to be Bosch brand, with the batteries in each expected to last 3 years. A bluetooth phone app to track anything is a great idea, especially if you work in a shop with 50 of your closest friends and they all have their own favorite tool. Things move around, get swept up in the heat of the moment. The amount of money you need to shell out to have your whole collection tracked is mildly prohibitive, but when the technology becomes more widespread and other brands start to come up with their own solutions, price should go down, and hopefully the app will go free. Having to subscribe to a phone app is easily the biggest barrier of entry here. The ETA isn't until October 2015, and that's strictly for Europe, so we don't really need to concern ourselves with the semantics just yet.
While I think this is a really cool idea, I feel like it is a lot more practical for things like house keys or wallets because those are the things that you will loose and will most likely be within 100 ft of you when you are looking for them. I guess it would tell you when it goes out of range so you will know when something went missing, but if you are using it to find a tool in your shop when you need it, I feel like your problem is just not being organized. Imagine the hassle of brining up the app on your phone to find a tool that is probably just under something else. If you need it to find the tool when its that close to you, you have bigger issues. And if someone successfully makes off with your tool, you're going to have to go into a crazy game of Marco Polo to find that thing with the tracker- walking around until your phone picks up the signal again.
What's going on in the mind of the tool industry? Yes, every carpenter ever has probably had a moment when they look around thinking they've completely lost their tool, only to look more closely and realize it's right in front of them, but unless they're being careless I don't think I've ever met a handyman that has actually lost one of his tools, or at least one that wasn't cheap enough to just replace. I understand how a bluetooth tracker might be useful to carpenters, or repairmen who visit multiple new sites a day, but a bluetooth tracker just seems irrelevant when you could just be a responsible person instead and look after your tools when you finish using them. Also these trackers can't even help with theft. They are semi-permeant which means if someone really wants your tool bad enough all they have to do is rip off the tracker and it's as good as theirs. Although I jest a lot, tracking devices in tools aren't a terrible idea, but if I was Bosh I'd try integrating the bluetooth tracker directly inside the tool as a specialty option instead.
Who knew that Bluetooth tracking would make its way to the power tool industry. I don’t have alot of experience with needing a product that tells the condition of a tool, but then again I don’t work in an environment that needs to be heavily monitored. While I wouldn’t necessarily call this product “new”, it is defiantly something that is being increasingly adopted by the tool industry. But I shouldn’t be one to speak about adopting products. As a student at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, professors are constantly reminding us that few things we use are specifically meant for theatre; everything has been adopted from other industries. To be honest, if you really wanted to track your tools you can buy a product called stick which will do virtually the same thing but without the expensive price tag. One might argue that product tracking is only one piece to this product but in real world applications I can‘t seeing you using it for much more.
As someone with horrible short-term memory, I forget where I have left things all of the time. And when I’m working on a project, I probably spend more time walking around looking for the tool/pencil/measuring tape that I have left on another table on the way to grab something else. Losing the little things has just become a part of my life. Yet the article points out that the size of these little trackers make it hard to put them on the little things- the exact stuff that I would lose the most. Sure, they might have a convenient, out-of-the-way place on larger tools, but how often do you really lose something larger than a flashlight? A drill or saw is conspicuous enough that I don't think I could lose it within 100 feet and need a phone app to find it. I’d be more likely to lose my phone first.
As much as this is a great system for tools for a larger construction company. The unfortunate thing is that you would actually need to be within a certain distance of the tool in order for the owner of the tool to know where it is. Which hopefully it is on the job site. Of everything that might be needed for a job site, it is probably not needed for home use. I would at least find it a waste of money to have something like this when you are the only one using the tools. SO while Europe gets to experiment with the hassle of keeping track of tools, I like to make sure that whoever I work with is honest enough to have borrowed my tool and returned it back to me, so that I can use it in the future. Is it a perfect world I’m thinking of? Maybe, but it’s the one I would prefer to live in.
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