What got me thinking about this was a conversation with a friend about Fitbit, and how I was considering one for tracking my exercise. My thought was that having the goals would motivate me more, in addition to requiring the exercise since I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
My friend, on the other hand, mentioned that it was somewhat silly to have a device that reminded you to exercise. Why not just set a timer for 30 minutes and go until it dings?
But the timer is a device helping you, too. They're both technology helping you accomplish a task - one simply helps you timebox, the other gives you detailed data.
However, that data is of no use if you're not acting on it, which I think is where trackers like Fitbit could certainly be seen as superfluous baubles.