Why did I read that as
Heathkit?
Apple's iOS 8, introduced on Monday and due to reach the masses this fall, has a raft of upgrades, but perhaps two of the most interesting items announced at the company's developers shindig are APIs that involve monitoring your vital signs and controlling your home. The HealthKit API and the Health app – united to keep an …
So when me and Mrs AC are in the mood for lurve our phones will know, dim the lights and play the sweet and soulful sounds of The Bachman Turner Overdrive. Truly, you ain't seen nothin' yet Smooth.
Or Apple could just do some basic textual analysis of browser history and save a lot of R&D dollars.
Philips brought out an app that used the camera to measure your breathing frequency and heart rate. Apparently cameras are granular enough to spot the skin colour change brought about by your heart beat which I found quite impressive.
I'm OK with an API here - some consistency in health kit management is a good thing IMHO.
In a previous existence I worked for EDS under Dick Brown who sent regular uplifting missives to all hands. He made the best and clearest statement about silos that I ever read, so good that I memorised it and live by it to this this day:
"Taking a holistic view removes silo blinders and allows us to surround opportunities throughout the organization".
Poetry.
Sainsbury's are after a slice of this data too, using a somewhat different angle. At the pharmacies in their large stores they are offering free advice about prescriptions. As part of this service customers are asked to sign a consent form which allows Sainsbury's to contact their GP; and obviously they store the data.
There will be more ploys to persuade people to use facilities which allow harvesting of their personal health data in coming months and years.
Is it just me thinking about this... but with this Healthkit... the gurvenmint could potentially monitor your health (along with your employers) and if you happen to get some bolivian marching powder or some dope into you, they could track where you have been and pin down the locations of your dealers?