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Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

seattletimes.com

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Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#551

Post by [deleted] »

auslander wrote: post #348
cbsks wrote: post #182

Well, crap. I have been avoiding smart watches like the plague but this plus the ECG may put me over the edge. My family has a history of heart disease, I commute by bike every day, and I have a young child who I want to see grow up. One of my friends was recently killed in a motorcycle crash. A passerby found them in the morning in some bushes near the side of the road. We don't know what time the crash occurred, or…

> but this plus the ECG may put me over the edge. We are still waiting for ECG here in Australia. Sigh.

[deleted]

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#552

Post by coldtea »

Navarr wrote: post #549
jeegsy wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed! These native ads are getting more blatant by the day. I know times are hard for print media but this doesnt help with the perceived credibility or lack thereof.

This likely isn't a native ad (since it being one would break the law - the website posted (nor the original source[1]) state they are paid for the article - which is a legal requisite in the states. 1: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/sep/24/apple-watch-al...

>This likely isn't a native ad (since it being one would break the law

That hardly ever stopped news outlets from doing so. In fact, in some places everybody (every outlet) does it, even though it's against the law. Of course depends on the country and how exhaustive enforcement is (and if they can just get out of it with a slap on the wrist/small fine, in the eventually they're discovered).

That said, I don't think this is the case here. A device saving someone's life simply makes for a good story (technology, human interest, feel good result, and Apple to boot, clicks all the "people will be interested" boxes), and there are stories written for a lot less ("see this curious grumpy cat" or whatever passes for new). And such a story, if written, couldn't have but a positive spin (a person's life was saved after all).

From the moment the story actually happened, it was inevitable that outlets would report it, and with a positive message for said technology.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#553

Post by bluGill »

microtherion wrote: post #534
shanev wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has had strong accessibility features since before they were a household name, when they were a fraction of the size of the company they are today. Here's a post from 2006 for example, talking about accessibility in Mac OS 9: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/724948 . Here's about accessibility in Mac OS X Tiger (2005): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Tiger#Accessibility .

Ironically, I think the accessibility focus started because they were a fraction of today’s size: in the early 2000s, section 508 requirements were becoming more stringent; there was an increasing risk that Apple would get shut out of government contracts, and due to the small market share of OS X, it was not considered a viable market for commercial screen reader vendors, so Apple decided to roll their own. Thanks t…

Apple was known for easy to use in the 1980s. While that isn't entirely accessibility, the two are related. The early macs had some accessibility features.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#555

Post by squarefoot »

This is a simple obvious addon that every connected portable device could implement. When I bought my fist and last smartphone (Android 2 at that time) after noticing it had an accelerometer on board I immediately thought of an app that could detect a fall when going at some speed, then start beeping for like say 10 seconds and in case the user didn't stop it (as in signaling "I'm ok") it would call emergency numbers sending them coordinates through SMS. I had other things to do at that time, and it seemed so obvious that I thought it already existed or someone soon would create something similar.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#556

Post by cujo »

Hendrikto wrote: post #530
WA wrote: post #485

I bet this is a great feature (and I do have an Apple Watch), but can we please hold for a sec here? This piece reads like an Ad. Furthermore, many comments here are about "I want to see my kids grow up". Now please, calculate the odds of: - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move I think the odd…

> unless you ride around alone in remote areas In which case you will probably not have a cellphone connection anyway.

So negative. I ride and run in the woods near me quite a bit. It's peaceful and quiet, but the opposite side of that coin is that no one would find me for quite some time if something went sideways.

I have great cell coverage there.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#557

Post by opan »

ihattendorf wrote: post #390
ferongr wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know that? Have you examined the source code?

How far do you go with that? Have you examined your CPU with an electron microscope? What about the motherboard? Every peripheral? Where does it end? At some point you have to trust someone.

Hopefully farther than nowhere. It seems like you're ignoring the dangers of proprietary software here entirely.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#558

Post by claviola »

WA wrote: post #485

I bet this is a great feature (and I do have an Apple Watch), but can we please hold for a sec here? This piece reads like an Ad. Furthermore, many comments here are about "I want to see my kids grow up". Now please, calculate the odds of: - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move I think the odd…

Could also be a hit and run. Having something like this could end up saving your life.

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#559

Post by DictumMortuum »

coldtea wrote: post #550
WA wrote: post #485

I bet this is a great feature (and I do have an Apple Watch), but can we please hold for a sec here? This piece reads like an Ad. Furthermore, many comments here are about "I want to see my kids grow up". Now please, calculate the odds of: - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move I think the odd…

> - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move Increasingly large odds after a certain age, and not small if you do certain sports (e.g. trekking, climbing, etc) regardless of age. In fact, older people falling accidents is so common, a proverb in a European country says: "The elderly die either fro…

You are referring to a greek proverb, right? :D

Re: Bike crash left Spokane man unconscious, so his Apple Watch called 911

#560

Post by punnerud »

Hendrikto wrote: post #530
WA wrote: post #485

I bet this is a great feature (and I do have an Apple Watch), but can we please hold for a sec here? This piece reads like an Ad. Furthermore, many comments here are about "I want to see my kids grow up". Now please, calculate the odds of: - you are in a terrible accident - there is no one around you to call an ambulance - you can’t call an ambulance yourself, because you are knocked out or can’t move I think the odd…

> unless you ride around alone in remote areas In which case you will probably not have a cellphone connection anyway.

Maybe not in the US, but hard to get to a place without coverage in Norway and often in a place without people.
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