I want to bring data from a scale (I can get a new scale if needed, but have a MyWeigh 8000) into my computer or my phone. I’m trying to track exactly what I add to recipes, so I need the ability to get the weight from the scale into the computer automatically.

Do any scales have computer or Bluetooth interfaces?

Thanks for the help.

Richard

rboehme - 27 March 2012 08:45 AM

Do any scales have computer or Bluetooth interfaces?

Certainly….the scales you find in the supermarket checkout lanes have to communicate with the computer.  Googling on it, I do find some with a USB interface, which should work for your purposes.  I see nothing with a Bluetooth interface.

Unless you have special software, though, I’m not sure you’ll find this convenient to use.  How is the computer supposed to know what to do with the information?  I’m not sure how the computer will view the scale when attached; barcode scanners are treated like keyboard inputs, and when you click the button, the data read is inserted wherever the cursor is in the active window.  It’s possible the scale works the same way, but I don’t know that.  Still, I have trouble imagining that it would ever be more efficient than just typing in your numbers (and I’m a computer software developer.)

I’m a software developer as well; my thought is to create a small application that I pick the ingredient, then when I’ve weighed it, hit a button that gets the weight from the scale and adds the weight to the total for that ingredient. This combines with knowing the WeightWatcher’s point value to let me just weigh the ingredients and easily calculate the point value of something that I cook at the time that I cook it. The hurdle here is talking to the scale and importing point values for common foods.

rboehme - 27 March 2012 10:40 AM

I’m a software developer as well; my thought is to create a small application

Ok, just wanted to make sure.  As you know, non-computer people sometimes have wildly optimistic ideas of what computers can do.  I still shake my head over the internet enabled refrigerator that will reorder your milk when it runs low….

True. I sent an email to the people at MyWeigh asking their opinion.

Myweigh does make them just don’t use a Mac.