

Wearing a Computer Is Good for You - easy
http://www.technologyreview.com/business/40323/?p1=BI

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tomjen3
It seems to me he is solving the wrong problem.

The problem isn't that we don't know our fitness data, the problem is that we
are lazy and don't want to exercise. We might want to want to exercise (a big
difference), but we don't want to exercise.

Solve that problem and you will have a ton of money on your hands.

(I know there are some of you out there who loves to exercise or who do it
even when they hate it. Please accept that you are very far from the norm and
enjoy your good life.)

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naner
I actually think this is a very useful idea.

I'm hoping it goes even further. I'd like my toilet to tell me what is wrong
with my diet and if I need to go to a doctor when I'm exhibiting warning signs
for some illness (I realize this sort of thing is a little too weird to be a
commercial success... but it would be useful.)

Also, as the saying goes, what gets measured gets managed. I imagine if you
measured your waist size and body fat percentage every morning after waking
up, fewer people would pile on the pounds as their lives get busier and more
stressful. Being aware of changes in your body will cause you to think twice
before going for that extra helping during dinner.

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dmitriy_ko
> I'd like my toiler to tell me what is wrong with my diet...

Stool analysis has been available on advanced Japanese toilets for quite some
time:

[http://techcrunch.com/2009/04/01/japanese-toilet-analyzes-
st...](http://techcrunch.com/2009/04/01/japanese-toilet-analyzes-stool-beams-
results-to-cell-phones-via-personalized-urls/)

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pm90
I see how it is helpful, but not how it is `Good '

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amcintyre
If you take the general idea a bit further than glucose-monitoring phone
attachments (which already seems fairly good to me if it means people are more
likely to have a meter with them and monitor their condition), there's
probably a significant number of things you could do with wearable computers
that could make a big difference to a lot of people.

How many conditions are there where a few minutes of advance notice, or
recorded data about some event, actually makes a huge difference in treatment
outcomes? I'd pay a lot for 2 minutes notice of a heart attack and/or an
automated 911 call if one happens.

How many people would actually be more likely to "do the right thing" for
their health if they can buy a $5 app and/or $50 device to nag them to take
their pills, take a break from a stressful situation because their blood
pressure is too high, etc.?

A lot of that seems like it would be good to me. (Of course how it gets
implemented, how private/secure the system is, and so on are a different
story.)

 _Edit_ : Maybe you had something different in mind when it comes to
classifying something as "good;" if so I'd like to know what you meant.

