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The newest Apple Watch can now flag potential problems with your heartbeat - a feature that's been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and that Apple is marking as a major achievement. But some doctors said that including heart-monitoring tools in such a popular consumer product could prompt unnecessary anxiety and medical visits.
The company touted its heart-tracking feature as proof that the watch can help people proactively manage their health "The Apple Watch has become the intelligent guardian for your health," Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, who oversees the development of the Apple Watch, said in the company's presentation of new Apple products this week.
[...] The FDA has cleared Apple's device as a Class II medical device, meaning that it is intended to diagnose or treat a medical condition and poses a minimal risk to use. (Other Class II devices include some powered wheelchairs and pregnancy kits, according to the FDA website.) In its letter to Apple clearing the feature, the FDA listed as a risk factor the potential for mistakenly flagging a problem, prompting unneeded treatment.
Source: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/What-cardiologists-think-about-the-Apple-Watch-s-13230271.php
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday September 17 2018, @02:43AM (1 child)
"The Apple product has become the intelligent guardian for your existence."
I can see many benefits to a wearable device that can do EKGs. What doesn't excite me is that it comes from the world's wealthiest corporation.
As a Mac developer, I spend my entire day with Apple products. I'd have a whole lot more enthusiasm about this device if it came from some small startup.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by kanweg on Monday September 17 2018, @09:49PM
Not me. I trust Apple more with my data (because they collect so few and mostly anonymous) than any other big or small corporation. It is not Apple's business model. You pay (heavily) for the product, but you're not the product. Apple has put its heels in the sand quite a few times when it came to defend privacy matters.
As to small start-ups, if (IF) they start a business model with anonymity, it often doesn't take long when they get bigger that they change the rules.
Bert