People often have the idea that a digital readout implies a more precise measurement. I see this often in scales, thermometers, etc.
It is often more precise, not necessarily more accurate. People often don't distinguish between the two.
Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
31–40 of 161 posts
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#32Reminds me of that juicer which basically just squeezed a packet and costs hundreds of dollars.
Thank god for hackers exposing these shenanigans!
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#33Pregnancy/Motherhood groups are swarmed with the same "can you read this, I think I see a faint line" + photo question every single day because of the cheap tests. The strip results are NOT easy to interpret, because you may still see a faint line on the paper when not pregnant, and it's kind of an important emotional question as some couples have been trying to get pregnant for years. Your OB does you a mercy if the…
Is the digital sensor more accurate than a human?
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#34I'm not too sure why this is supposed to be surprising. When chemical reactions are involved, you often need chemicals. A significant portion of digital meters used for servicing swimming pools require servicing/replacement of strips/chemicals (reagents) within the device. Yes, there are also digital meters that work without chemicals per se, and have special electrodes that measure electric current. However, this ap…
It's not surprising to me, but it is something very interesting to learn about. And it makes so much sense once you think about it. Why go through the trouble of finding a legitimate technical solution when something super simple like this works and is easier + cheaper to implement. It actually seems like a perfect fit for "hacker spirit."
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#35Pregnancy/Motherhood groups are swarmed with the same "can you read this, I think I see a faint line" + photo question every single day because of the cheap tests. The strip results are NOT easy to interpret, because you may still see a faint line on the paper when not pregnant, and it's kind of an important emotional question as some couples have been trying to get pregnant for years. Your OB does you a mercy if the…
Is the digital sensor more accurate than a human?
It's less sensitive, but more objective.
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#36Pregnancy/Motherhood groups are swarmed with the same "can you read this, I think I see a faint line" + photo question every single day because of the cheap tests. The strip results are NOT easy to interpret, because you may still see a faint line on the paper when not pregnant, and it's kind of an important emotional question as some couples have been trying to get pregnant for years. Your OB does you a mercy if the…
kind of an important emotional question as some couples have been trying to get pregnant for years
And for some just the opposite... like 19 year old me decades ago -- ambiguous test result, and no 24 hour drugstores at the time so led to a sleepless night for both of us until we could get a second test the next day. It was negative. Would have much rather had an unambiguous POS/NEG result.
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#37Reminds me of that juicer which basically just squeezed a packet and costs hundreds of dollars. Thank god for hackers exposing these shenanigans!
What's the shenanigans? Lots of lab tests run on paper, the skill is in interpreting the result.
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#38While the waste is lamentable, perhaps it's also worth considering this as a UI/UX problem. How many people mis-read the paper test vs how much extra error % does the circuitry introduce?
Would it be possible to make a paper one have words (such as pregnant/not pregnant) instead of one/two lines?
I don't think that would solve the problem.
"The word "not" is faintly showing, what does that mean?"
It it was trivial to show a single clear indicator word, they could just show a clear indicator line, then there'd be no ambiguity. It's not the second line that confuses people, it's figuring out if that line is really visible enough.
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is first time I hear about pregnancy test being "intimidating". The only pregnancy test intimidating reference I knew about so far was "omg, shit I am pregnant shit".
Well...if you’re 20, not at all ready to become a parent, you made a mistake and now you see a faint line-ish line is it really a line is it not just the lighting huh? Yeah then I can imagine being intimidated.
This sounds more like imaginary pregnancy test then real one. The real ones dont do faint line-ish.
Also, for christ people, 16 years old were administrating these tests for years now, without there being massive social problem of confused woman. They just somehow managed to do them, even if their school results were very bad. So trying to claim they are somehow difficult to interpret is absurd.
Re: Digital pregnancy tests have an internal paper test
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well...if you’re 20, not at all ready to become a parent, you made a mistake and now you see a faint line-ish line is it really a line is it not just the lighting huh? Yeah then I can imagine being intimidated.
This sounds more like imaginary pregnancy test then real one. The real ones dont do faint line-ish. Also, for christ people, 16 years old were administrating these tests for years now, without there being massive social problem of confused woman. They just somehow managed to do them, even if their school results were very bad. So trying to claim they are somehow difficult to interpret is absurd.
Forums are filled with people not sure what the test result is. Just Google for "is this pregnancy test positive" to get a sample.