I don’t think this would affect personal, live fitness instructors. Although it looks the same on the surface, the value proposition is very different (as is the cost).
You don’t make the same kind of human connection when the communication is one-way.
Put it this way: if internet streaming was going to kill off fitness instructors, it would have happened already. Apple isn’t doing something new here, they’re just putting their own spin on it and vertically integrating it.
Companies doing similar services might have more to worry about, though I think there is a lot of room to grow in this market, and i think it’s “niche-y” by nature, so I think there’s probably plenty of room for competitors.
I'm paying my local fitness instructor $25/mo for access to a private facebook group where she streams live classes via Facebook Live every day. The communication is one-way (you can post comments in chat, but the instructor can't see you). Nothing is in person.
This directly competes with my local fitness instructor who has transitioned 100% to live stream. Fitness+ is $5 more expensive than the local instructor, but of course cheaper if they bundle that cost into Apple Music, TV, etc.
Edit: But TBH, I'll always prefer my local fitness instructor's low-quality live streams. Something about professionally made workout videos with movie quality cinematography is not motivating for me personally.
What's the point of having a local fitness instructor if it's all streaming online? Doesn't that open the worldwide fitness instructor market (except language), so you can just pick the best worldwide?
> What's the point of having a local fitness instructor if it's all streaming online?
Human connection.
The first 5 minutes of the class are personally my favorite - the instructor is a hilariously funny person and a great community builder.
I’ve taken a lot of fitness classes with many different instructors. From my experience, people rarely stick with an instructor (or workout program) because of the quality of the actual workout... they stick with it only if they enjoy spending an hour of their day with the instructor on a personal / social level. Most people would choose a mediocre workout with an engaging instructor over an amazing workout with a monotone boring instructor.
Yes but the pandemic has changed things. For at least the next two years personal, live fitness instructors are going away.
In Vancouver, BC, where pandemic response has been relatively good, even there a successful in person fitness business Tight Club has opted to stop renting their space entirely and they've pivoted completely to online.
agree with this - I think the tech part of fitness+ here is cool (i.e better data and overlays on screen) However i'm not rushing to switch from my zoom classes where the instructor can see and correct form as well as personalize movements and intensity, because we've built the history and knowledge over time.
You don’t make the same kind of human connection when the communication is one-way.
Put it this way: if internet streaming was going to kill off fitness instructors, it would have happened already. Apple isn’t doing something new here, they’re just putting their own spin on it and vertically integrating it.
Companies doing similar services might have more to worry about, though I think there is a lot of room to grow in this market, and i think it’s “niche-y” by nature, so I think there’s probably plenty of room for competitors.