117: I’ve Had Enough With Eight Sleep…

[00:00:00] MK: If you've been following for a while, you probably know that we've been using eight [00:00:05] sleep here at the Kummer House to improve our sleep. At the end of the day, it's a [00:00:10] mattress cooling, bad cooling solution that helps us regulate our [00:00:15] temperature better at night so we can sleep better and wake up more refreshed.

[00:00:18] Welcome to the Primer [00:00:20] Shift podcast. This is not a, an endorsement for eight sleep or anything on this episode. It's, I wanna [00:00:25] say quite the opposite. Um. But you know, if [00:00:30] you're unfamiliar with eight sleep, it's, again, it's a bad cooling solution. You can set the temperature that you want to have [00:00:35] to fall asleep for the first half of the night, for the second half of the night, and then to wake up and like a vibration [00:00:40] alarm.

[00:00:40] It tracks your sleep and recovery and HRV and heart rate and, and respiratory rate and [00:00:45] all of those things. It can detect, its snoring. So it's really a technologically [00:00:50] advanced solution that has a lot of benefits and we've been. [00:00:55] Loving many aspects of eight sleep for years. We've been using it [00:01:00] again for several, several years, and my wife and I both love [00:01:05] most of it.

[00:01:06] Especially how we sleep. You know, if it's too hot outside or whatever. If the [00:01:10] ACS out doesn't matter because eight sleep is cooling us and keeping us at the exact temperature. There is no [00:01:15] overheating, no uncovering, recovering, et cetera, you know, you know, probably know the deal. If you don't have a bad cooling [00:01:20] system, you're probably used to being too hot or too cold or something in between.

[00:01:24] That [00:01:25] might change throughout the night. Now, one of the things that I absolutely despise of [00:01:30] eight sleep is it's. Inability to function [00:01:35] without an active wifi and internet connection. And I've been [00:01:40] asking eight sleep for years to [00:01:45] make sure the solution functions if I turn off my [00:01:50] wifi at night because, and I've said this in a past several times, the only reason why we have [00:01:55] wifi running at night or on at night is because of eight sleep.

[00:01:59] If you turn [00:02:00] off wifi, the solution stops cooling it. It basically breaks. It doesn't [00:02:05] work anymore. And I find this mind boggling [00:02:10] because Eight Sleep is a sleep fitness company, a health company at the end of the day, [00:02:15] and they completely disregard the potentially downsides of having [00:02:20] you exposed to wifi and electromagnetic fields and radiation [00:02:25] throughout the night unnecessarily.

[00:02:27] Right. [00:02:30] More importantly, you know, if you live in an area where you have your internet connection is su not super stable, and you have a lot of [00:02:35] outages, you know, anytime there is an outage of the internet connection, eight sleep stops working. You know, you cannot control it [00:02:40] anymore. If the alarm goes off.

[00:02:41] If the vibration alarm goes off, you cannot snooze, you cannot turn it off. You cannot [00:02:45] change the temperature. If you use one of the latest eight sleep solutions, it has like a, um, [00:02:50] flexible base that can lift up. So you're like in, in a reading position or lift your legs up if there is [00:02:55] an outage while the thing is up.

[00:02:58] BDLX or your head section, [00:03:00] you cannot even put it back down so you can fall asleep. It's absolutely mind boggling, and they've [00:03:05] been ignoring this for a very, very long time. And then just a couple of days ago, you know, from this recording, [00:03:10] by the time you listen to this might be already be a couple of weeks ago, but there was a huge outage of [00:03:15] Amazon Web Services or AWS, and that affected a lot of [00:03:20] different industries and software platforms and services, et cetera, including.

[00:03:24] [00:03:25] Eight sleep. So the entire eight sleep user base was unable [00:03:30] to control their bed during that outage, which lasted for several hours. I [00:03:35] mean, can you imagine the embarrassment for eight sleep that you couldn't change the [00:03:40] temperature, you couldn't turn it off, you couldn't put your base back down to, you know, [00:03:45] to flat.

[00:03:46] Nothing worked anymore and it's absolutely mind [00:03:50] boggling. And so the other day now. I opened the app store and look at [00:03:55] software updates, and I see that eight sleep released an update. It says, you know, eight sleep continues to [00:04:00] revolutionize how the world sleeps, and now you stay in control. Wow. Now [00:04:05] you stay in control.

[00:04:06] You know, with our latest release, we're introducing our first release of [00:04:10] backup mode and outage proof experience that keeps your pod working even when cloud [00:04:15] systems are down, the app automatically connects to your pod over Bluetooth, letting U adjust [00:04:20] temperature. Turn your pot off. Be a pot on or off.

[00:04:23] Flatten the base and [00:04:25] dismiss alarms without interruption. And once service is restored, your data syncs seamlessly to ensure [00:04:30] autopilot and reports remain accurate. And I'm like, you gotta be [00:04:35] kidding me. You know? So no word about, you know. Well, the only reason why they did this [00:04:40] now is because it was a huge embarrassment that users were unable to use [00:04:45] the software.

[00:04:45] Now here is the thing, though, I haven't tested it yet. [00:04:50] I can only imagine that this backup mode is only [00:04:55] gonna save you if the cloud backend is down. I'm almost [00:05:00] certain that you still need to have wifi, uh, to do anything with it. [00:05:05] Maybe not. Maybe I'm wrong and we'll test it. And later today, you know, you can even have no wifi and no [00:05:10] internet connection.

[00:05:10] Everything works fine. Who knows? But even if that's [00:05:15] the case, which I seriously doubt knowing eight sleep. For me, it's even more [00:05:20] frustrating and angry inducing because they're not doing this because it's the right thing to do from a [00:05:25] health perspective, they're doing that to avoid another embarrassment.

[00:05:28] If one of their [00:05:30] infrastructure components fails again, that they rely on meaning Amazon Web Services. [00:05:35] We have to interrupt this episode for an important message from your feet. They've had [00:05:40] enough of being cramped into traditional shoes. Regular shoes can wreck your back [00:05:45] joints and overall foot health by squeezing your toes and disconnecting you from the ground.

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[00:06:09] Plus [00:06:10] my toes are finally pointing in the direction they're supposed to. Check them out@pva.com and [00:06:15] use code Kummer for 15% off. That's PEL uva.com. [00:06:20] And now back to the episode. And so that has [00:06:25] even confirmed my decision or. [00:06:30] Strengthened my desire, not my desire, because we'll end up doing it to get rid of eight sleep.

[00:06:34] We're [00:06:35] in the process of moving right now. Um, so we are not gonna make any major changes to [00:06:40] our systems right now because we have a lot on our plate. But we'll be [00:06:45] moving in exactly a month as of this recording and eight sleep, even though we have now the eight sleep [00:06:50] Pot four Ultra, which is the, not the latest, latest one because they introduced.

[00:06:54] A [00:06:55] newer version that now has even speakers and the covers to expose you to more [00:07:00] EMFs. And they probably communicate with wifi. So you have wifi around your head, you have wifi under [00:07:05] the mattress because the base needs to communicate with the hub. We'll rip all of [00:07:10] that shit out and will not use it again.

[00:07:14] And [00:07:15] it's really a bummer that a company that makes otherwise [00:07:20] such an incredibly useful. Solution [00:07:25] that can really, really help improve your sleep and the quality of your sleep [00:07:30] and give you insights into how you've been sleeping and how maybe a late [00:07:35] meal or alcohol consumption negatively impact your biometrics and the [00:07:40] quality of your sleep.

[00:07:40] You know, all of that is incredibly useful and we've been. [00:07:45] We've been sleeping better, you know, by having the temperature under your sheets [00:07:50] controlled. It's such, it's just so much easier to sleep. [00:07:55] Better at the end of the day without being too hot or too cold. Now one could argue, well, you [00:08:00] know, if you live out in a, in a, in a, in a, in a hut that is, you know, exposed to the elements all the [00:08:05] time, you wouldn't need all of that.

[00:08:06] And I agree, you know, people have been sleeping without bad [00:08:10] cooling solutions for a very, very long time. And, you know, successively [00:08:15] so. But in our modern world where we live in somewhat tight, you know, [00:08:20] houses where there is no natural airflow, where, you know, we have to rely on AC and you know, all of [00:08:25] those things, to mitigate some of that, a bad cooling solution, like the one from [00:08:30] eight sleep is a really, really viable option.

[00:08:32] And I highly recommend bad cooling generally to [00:08:35] anyone I talk to because it does help, it does improve your sleep, but not, [00:08:40] not if that bad cooling solution at the same time though, exposes you to more [00:08:45] EMFs. Than necessary, especially while you're sleeping and especially in [00:08:50] your bed. That is absolutely ridiculous.

[00:08:52] And so. We'll get rid of eight [00:08:55] sleep, we'll donate it, give it to someone who wants to have it. It's, you know, again, it, it's a [00:09:00] good solution. It's a great solution in many aspects, but I'm looking forward and I'm, you know, I'm not [00:09:05] gonna share too much yet, but we are, we just got, uh, we just found a solution that [00:09:10] can do a lot, that eight sleep can do without the EMF exposure.

[00:09:13] I'll talk about this in the [00:09:15] future because I haven't tested it yet. I can't vouch for it yet. [00:09:20] We'll be switching and if we have to take a step back [00:09:25] technologically from a convenience perspective by not having everything automated and maybe [00:09:30] not having, you know, having the things turn on and off manually at night before going to bed and off in the morning [00:09:35] and, and, and losing sleep tracking, that's perfectly fine.

[00:09:39] [00:09:40] I'd rather sleep on a simpler solution that does not expose me to extra EMFs [00:09:45] than to something that is inherently unreliable. That [00:09:50] requires reliable wifi and reliable internet, even though now there appear to be [00:09:55] mitigating features, the backup mode, uh, that I think a sleep could [00:10:00] have had from the get go.

[00:10:00] There is no need to sync everything up to the cloud immediately. And do you know, [00:10:05] life analysis, um, everything can be done on the device without requiring any [00:10:10] sort of connectivity. Maybe have a schedule, you know, where it automatically turns [00:10:15] wifi on at a certain time and turns it off at a certain time.

[00:10:18] And in between your [00:10:20] sleep is as serene as it can possibly be without any contamination. That's my take. [00:10:25] I obviously love to hear from you if you have found a bad cooling [00:10:30] solution, be it either by, I don't know, opening up the windows at night, in winter or something [00:10:35] else, or a tech technology at the end of the day that's been working for you.

[00:10:39] Or maybe a [00:10:40] special mattress that is, uh, allows for more airflow, uh, fabrics of your sheets. I [00:10:45] mean, we already use, uh, organic cotton. Now we are switching to linen. That that should make a difference [00:10:50] as well. But let me hear it, you know, shoot me an email or leave me a comment. If you're watching this or [00:10:55] listening to this on a platform supporting comment, I'd love to hear from you.

[00:10:58] Um, or on social media. I'm sure there're gonna be [00:11:00] posts, uh, linking to this episode, so let me know there as well. But we'll get rid of eight sleep. [00:11:05] Unfortunately, it's, uh, it's been, it's been a great ride, but it's. It's enough and the [00:11:10] latest, you know, backup mode feature, that they're not only introduced because [00:11:15] of that embarrassment, that was the a WAS outage, um, that just [00:11:20] pushed me over the edge and I can't really recommend that anymore, and I don't [00:11:25] want to.

[00:11:25] So. We don't wrap it up. Um, different episode for, for a [00:11:30] change. You know, usually I have only good things to say about the topics that I talk about today. Not so much, [00:11:35] but it has to be said. You know, I, I, I wanna, I feel like I wanna share, you know, what I, what I think I wanna share [00:11:40] my opinion mostly. Good. I usually talk only about things that I really like and, uh, [00:11:45] avoid comments of stuff that I don't like because there's a lot that I don't like.

[00:11:48] But in this particular case where we've been [00:11:50] using this for so long, where we've been recommending it for a while, I feel like, you know, I. [00:11:55] I changed my opinion on night's sleep and it is what it is unfortunately. And [00:12:00] with that, we gonna wrap it up and I hope I'll see and hear you in the next [00:12:05] [00:12:10] episode.