How do you connect the dots between CAT scan and your cell phone?

From the Georgetown Advocate
The Tech Savvy Patient
Webster Russell

First a little relevant trivia. Unless you are my age or a fan of history, the chance that you would recognize the name William Shockley is remote. Without Mr. Shockley, it would be unlikely that the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Dell, or Intel would exist. If they didn't exist one wonders if CAT scans, MRI'S, Cancer radiation therapies, or pocket diabetic monitoring devices would exist. For that matter, it seems unlikely there would be the internet, Direct TV, Dish, cable companies, cell phones, or your flat screen TV. You see he invented the transistor, the component that today's electronics are based on.

Enough trivia, now to the question I posed two weeks ago. On January 10, 2007 Steve Jobs walked out on San Francisco's Moscone Center stage and announced the creation and release of the iPhone. Starting on June 29, 2007 you could not only have a revolutionary phone but you could also carry a fully functional computer in your hand or pocket, whose software did its thing with a touch of your finger on the screen.

Think about it for a minute. Prior to that June date access to the Internet was limited to your home or the library. With the advent of the smartphone internet access and information gathering was now only limited to the signal strength of your carrier.

Then of course came the invention of the “app”. Prior to the “app”, software was in the $25 to $100 range. Now smart phone software cost between $0.99 to $10.00. Those “apps” made it possible to do word processing, spread sheet utilization, storing of webpages, and of course games on a device that fits in your pocket. Add to that it had a camera and the ability to work with your home wifi system. The world was now literally at your fingertips.

Then on January 28, 2010 Mr. Jobs turned the PC industry upside down with the introduction of the IPad tablet. It had more memory and a much bigger screen than the iPhone, it was faster, and it ran the same apps as the iPhone.

I go through all this history, not to bore you with dweeb like facts, but to outline the changes that were, in part, responsible for the birth of what I call the Tech Savvy Patient. This individual is better informed and prepared to partner with their physician in the management of their Healthcare and that fact changed the patient/physician relationship in profound ways.

Now having introduced you to the Tech Savvy Patient I thought I would ask you to ponder how a priest, the Internet, and Alzheimer's created a tech savvy patient? Stay tuned.



- Posted using from my iPad HD

Location:Klondike Dr,Georgetown,United States