I'm curious about fall detection. Can you post a link to a few reviews that characterize it as a gimmick?
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Apple Watch Series 4 Fall Detection Feature is Off by Default Unless You're 65+
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I'm curious about fall detection. Can you post a link to a few reviews that characterize it as a gimmick?
That is an absurd decision.
One of the reasons I upgraded was to add fall detection and I'm 37, since i live alone and work from home... I could quite literally go days or weeks before anyone questioned not hearing from me. Absolutely absurd that this is a big advertised feature... Not sure where it was documented, I just took it out of the box and transferred my service. I would have never turned it on had it not been for this article.
One of the reasons I upgraded was to add fall detection and I'm 37, since i live alone and work from home... I could quite literally go days or weeks before anyone questioned not hearing from me. Absolutely absurd that this is a big advertised feature... Not sure where it was documented, I just took it out of the box and transferred my service. I would have never turned it on had it not been for this article.
both these dudes test it and shows you better fall exactly how apple feels you should, or it wont work.
It was well-publicized. And certainly got my attention.
Just turn it on, and move on.
Neither does anyone else. I can count on one hand the number I have seen worn in the wild and I live in a major city
First video: That was a joke. Falling on thick couch cushions is not what most would consider to be threatening. Not enough g-force over a short duration.
Second video: Better, but not what I'd consider threatening as he was playing it very safe on the forward falls. He needs to muster up some courage and subject himself to a real fall in the forward direction.
I'm 50, and a cardiac patient.
The fall detection is one of several big motivators for buying this (ok, I wore my Series 0 to complete destruction a few weeks ago). Were my pacemaker or mechanical valve to catastrophically fail (unlikely but possible), I very well could go from feeling normal to unconscious in seconds - in a condition where minutes may matter, and a 911 smart-auto-dial could make the difference. Yeah, it might not work - but it might, and as the odds of the scenario increase, so will the quality of fall detection software.
The ECG may prove useful. Yes it's merely one channel - and that's way better than zero channels. I've had numerous moments of "something feels odd, would be nice to record ECG right now." Recording something on the fly can let me eyeball the graph, and email a "hey, look at this" to the cardiologist without having to schedule expensive visits resulting in "well, you look fine now." Would have been VERY helpful when atrial flutter kicked in (heart wanted to run 350 BPM, pacer slammed on the brakes at 150 for 12 hours before walking (!) into the ER saying "something's wrong"); a visual, seeing an atypical pattern, would have been far more persuasive than "dang, heart is running fast".
Yeah, I'm younger than those who normally would have an active interest in such features. With a large market, there's a non-trivial number of us.
Yeah, it's expensive. So is a nice analog watch. While many are pinching pennies, many have saved well and can afford a feature-full watch.
Nobody is "betting the farm" on this. That's a ridiculous strawman.
This is, however, a huge step into the future. Many of us will gladly pay a modest (!) price to move the state-of-the-art into new realms.
$530 for a base ECG-and-falls-and-cellphone capable model really isn't that much more than a nice watch + FitBit.
The fall detection is one of several big motivators for buying this (ok, I wore my Series 0 to complete destruction a few weeks ago). Were my pacemaker or mechanical valve to catastrophically fail (unlikely but possible), I very well could go from feeling normal to unconscious in seconds - in a condition where minutes may matter, and a 911 smart-auto-dial could make the difference. Yeah, it might not work - but it might, and as the odds of the scenario increase, so will the quality of fall detection software.
The ECG may prove useful. Yes it's merely one channel - and that's way better than zero channels. I've had numerous moments of "something feels odd, would be nice to record ECG right now." Recording something on the fly can let me eyeball the graph, and email a "hey, look at this" to the cardiologist without having to schedule expensive visits resulting in "well, you look fine now." Would have been VERY helpful when atrial flutter kicked in (heart wanted to run 350 BPM, pacer slammed on the brakes at 150 for 12 hours before walking (!) into the ER saying "something's wrong"); a visual, seeing an atypical pattern, would have been far more persuasive than "dang, heart is running fast".
Yeah, I'm younger than those who normally would have an active interest in such features. With a large market, there's a non-trivial number of us.
Yeah, it's expensive. So is a nice analog watch. While many are pinching pennies, many have saved well and can afford a feature-full watch.
Nobody is "betting the farm" on this. That's a ridiculous strawman.
This is, however, a huge step into the future. Many of us will gladly pay a modest (!) price to move the state-of-the-art into new realms.
$530 for a base ECG-and-falls-and-cellphone capable model really isn't that much more than a nice watch + FitBit.
a "real" fall huh? sooo basically how apple wants you to fall? lol
the falls in the 1st video would injury an elder person easily. why does it matter what you land on? the watch doesn't measure the material on the ground.... what about g-force? the guy jumped up into the air and landed on his back/sides. if that doesn't activate it then what will?
btw do you have a video showing how accurate it is and that it isn't a gimmick? i mean apple didn't even have the balls to demonstrate it on stage so....
I disagree. Those were not good tests, and certainly not controlled. If it were likely elderly people would fall and hurt themselves on thick couch cushions laid out on the floor, maybe. But thats just so ridiculous. This is something I have personal experience with taking care of a parent who suffered many falls.
"the guy jumped up into the air and landed on his back/sides. if that doesn't activate it then what will?"
Did you watch the video? I t triggered the alert.
"a "real" fall huh? sooo basically how apple wants you to fall? lol"
You may find that amusing. I certainly don't.
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those falls are over exaggerated and worse than most people would ever fall and yet it wasn't detected. end of story. so until there is actual proof that it works well, yeah its definitely a gimmick.
Falling on his back it was detected. Watch the vid.
"those falls are over exaggerated"
Nope. Not the forward falls. Those were lame. The vids were designed to get views, not provide a real-life assessment of the feature. If you want to take them as gospel, feel free.
I seriously doubt most/any of the "fall detection reviews" were serious. People aren't going to willingly invoke the kind of fall this is meant to detect: unexpected, uncontrolled, unprotected impact. There's a very real difference between "ok, I'm going to fall now" vs "hip broke, impacted to unconsciousness".
ok so why didn't it detect all the falls on his back in the first video? again, it isn't anywhere near reliable and is a gimmick. prove me otherwise. i've shown you videos of how unreliable it is. can you do the opposite?
On thick couch cushions? Seriously?
Those vids are a joke.
If you want to believe them, that's certainly ok by me.
yeah i'd rather believe REAL videos over a cartoon picture in the apple keynote. again, can you show me actual video of how reliable it is? i'm thinking i might be waiting awhile...
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are these better falls for you?
No, I can't - I haven't seen any videos. Which is why I was genuinely curious and wanted to see yours. As an engineer, I was hoping there would be some scientific/intellectual rigor in conducting the experiments.
In the meantime...I'll reserve judgement and wait until something more substantial comes out.
You are certainly free to form your own opinion based on those "tests."
Not very observant, huh? Best-selling watch, period! People are wearing them.
No, a real fall has fracking loads of G's and what you land on makes a huge load of difference. You can get 180G from falling on concrete from less than 1m, often the height of hip injuries (if you're not stopping yourself at all), you're head could thus hit at around 360G (1m80 fall) if you fall stiffly straight back or forward. Falling on grass/dirt, probably 5-20G; that's one hell of a difference!
The G's on the way up are irrelevant to the fall, so why even mention it (or take them into account). Even seniors don't fall apart if the G's are low enough.
If you make it too sensitive, then the whole thing is useless cause it will be triggered all day long.
BTW, They actually tested this things in assisted living unlike and know how a fall looks
like unlike YOU and the twerps doing the so called "tests". Got that.
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You think Youtube videos, are "real"... Give me a break. They're there for clicks. They're mostly clown shows.
Probably think the 6 easy bends were "real" too huh. Cause it's on Youtube.
I believe a company who stakes its rep on its product than sacks of craps on youtube fishing for views.
I mean you realized these videos were the ones cited in this article on macrumors right? And by every indication, it's a gimmick and barely works. Heck in the last test, both the guy and kid slap the ground hard just to try to get it to activate and only one worked! Lol
These sorts of videos piss me off.
There are people having to wait for an iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad because these YouTube retards insist on buying up loads of stock so they can destroy them for views.
EverythingApplePro for example buys 10 of everything and does water tests, drop tests, scratch tests, liquid nitrogen tests, bend tests and zaps them with high voltage. None of it is scientific or normal wear and tear and he doesn’t stop testing until it breaks.
There are people having to wait for an iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad because these YouTube retards insist on buying up loads of stock so they can destroy them for views.
EverythingApplePro for example buys 10 of everything and does water tests, drop tests, scratch tests, liquid nitrogen tests, bend tests and zaps them with high voltage. None of it is scientific or normal wear and tear and he doesn’t stop testing until it breaks.