Technology is collapsing around us like a blanket. It’s inevitable that one day we will all become connected to a form of technology to which we will not know the difference between the virtual and reality world. Until then technology is going to continue to enter every market with the fitness market as its next target.
Fitness Heart monitors have been around for years and were a major breakthrough when they first entered the market. Now a day’s only having a heart monitor is like driving a sedan with no power windows, not cool.
The fitness tracking market has been growing for the past few years but really blew up last year with 85 million in sales. That’s an astounding number from the heart monitor days. The company that’s leading the pack is Fitbit but many are on its tail. The Fitbit seems fairly simple; it tracks your steps, sleeping patterns, and activity durations.
The companies that are on the Fitbit’s tail (such as apple) are coming out with products to track your resting heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood oxygen. Very cool, but what the hell are those numbers going to give the average consumer except confusion and anxiety! Most individuals barely know the numbers for a healthy blood pressure reading let alone a healthy blood oxygen level.
I don’t even know what a healthy blood oxygen level would be and I am damn sure doctors don’t need to be inundated with a number of questions because some patient is freaking out. If these devices are only meant for doctor use (which I know is not the case) than I would understand.
These devices may actually do more harm than good causing a consumer to worry in non-emergency situations. One example would be having a high blood pressure in a high stress event. If an individual sees this number they may think, “oh no! This is not healthy. I got to find out why!” to only find out the doctor is not available resulting in prolonged worrying.
Look, these devices can be breaking edge for better data during research. Yet, in the average hand I feel it’s unnecessary and could actually become more of a detriment. I believe it should be kept simple; all physiological numbers should be left to the experts while physical activity numbers are great for the general public to use for goal setting and achievements.
-Phil