Self-tracking device? Got it. Tried it. Ditched it.

It took a while to improve upon the humble pedometer. This tiny wearable device, typically attached on or near one’s waist, has been tracking how many steps and how much distance we travel each day ever since its invention by Abraham-Louis Perrelet back in 1780.

But with the relatively recent explosion of wearable digital activity trackers on the market, I’m now waiting for the randomized control trial that compares Fitbit or any other similar device head to head with that simple old-fashioned pedometer. In other words:

Q:  Just because you make it digital, does it make it better? 
Continue reading

First, the Quantified Self. Now, the Over-Quantified Self

I had some questions, and Fard Johnmar had some answers. Our recent Q&A involved the new book he has co-authored with Rohit Bhargava called ePatient 2015: 15 Surprising Trends Changing Healthcare.  Their book focuses on how a range of technology-influenced trends may or may not impact patients, including intriguing chapters like Multicultural Misalignment (when developers don’t account for diverse populations when making health tech innovations), Healthy Real Estate (the importance of healthy communities), or – my particular favourite – The Over-Quantified Self (the impact of too much health data).    Continue reading