Apple Appeals to the “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Crowd

With it’s new Watch Series 4, Apple Computer of Cupertino, CA has signaled its intent to capitalize upon integrating electronics, health informatics, and aging.

With one fell swoop, Apple has exemplified and cemented the “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” era.

Long thought of as a popular cultural icon, the phrase “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” entered American vernacular in 1989 and quickly became a comedic touchstone which endures to this day.

The LifeCall company advertised their medical alarm product on television, which was shown being worn as a pendant or brooch (primarily marketed toward women), and which could be activated by pushing a single button on the device which in turn, called the firm’s 24-7/365 operators in the event of the wearer’s immobility… presuming, of course, that they were fully alert, and capable of pressing a button.

By October 1990, LifeCall had patented the phrase “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” and with various minor modifications, as time progressed, by 2007, the phrase had become their legally official trademark.

Falls, of course, result many causes, not the least of which may be stumbling, or tripping. However, falls resulting from a loss of consciousness, or after having fallen, render the victim unconscious and thereby incapable of calling or notifying anyone. Either way, falls can be just as debilitating and dangerous, and because they may render the victim unconscious, they may place the patient at serious risk if injured and help is delayed.

Apple introduces us to their solution as follows:

“Fall detection.

“With the new accelerometer and gyroscope, Apple Watch can detect that you’ve fallen. When an incident like this occurs, a hard fall alert is delivered, and you can easily initiate a call to emergency services or dismiss the alert. If you’re unresponsive after 60 seconds, the emergency call will be placed automatically and a message will be sent to your emergency contacts.

“Emergency SOS.

“Emergency SOS allows you to quickly get help. It calls 911, notifies your emergency contacts, sends your current location, and displays your Medical ID badge on the screen for emergency personnel. And Apple Watch Series 4 with cellular does it all even when you’re away from your phone.”

That Apple has taken the idea seriously, is not merely remarkable, it is ingenious by design, insofar as they have also now given us the once-fictional “Dick Tracy Watch” capable of 2-way video telecommunication, and so much more.

Presumably, of course, that means also that the integrated phone feature in the Apple Series 4 Watch could conceivably be remotely activated to view the surroundings. That could genuinely be a game-changer for security purposes – both for the wearer, and for the computer gurus whose creative computer genius and code-writing skill continues to amaze us.

And by further acknowledging an enormously-growing and rapidly-aging population, Apple also validates the concern for caring for the millions of soon-to-be-geriatric-agers – typically meaning the age-50-and-up crowd.

The irony of it all, is that the World’s First Trillion-Dollar Company (Apple Computer) has now fully implemented that idea into the everyday vernacular, has surpassed the initial idea, and is now capitalizing upon it.

This also, of course, speaks volumes about the coming era.

We know – or, perhaps suspect we have great confidence to know in part – what we’ll need when that time comes. But the fact remains, we don’t, and can’t fully know until that time comes. Again, however, it doesn’t and shouldn’t prevent us from preparing for the future as best we can. And the future, as some highly respected prognosticators and researchers have said, has fewer human employees, and greater number of machines performing repetitive and often menial tasks.

Because they don’t call in sick, need time off for visitation, paid holidays and vacation, or union representation, computer machines – aka “robots” – will be increasingly common in most areas of human activity. There’s even a robot in San Francisco, California now making custom hamburgers from freshly custom-ground beef… for under $6.00 in 5 minutes.

“The machine isn’t a parody of a human with robotic arms and fingers, flipping burgers and assembling buns on a conveyor belt. It’s an all-inclusive burger-making device that accomplishes every part of the burger’s preparation, from slicing and toasting the brioche buns to grinding meat and searing the burger to order in five minutes.”

Which in turn also means that humans will need to be economically supported in some way because, after all, robots can make robots, which subsequently also brings us to the idea of a “welfare state,” meaning guaranteed Healthcare for All, Education for Everyone, Guaranteed Minimum Income, and the corollary notion of Permanent Residual Income. Those things – whether they’re provided by the state or by private enterprise – must be purchased, either in private enterprise transactions, or taxation. When operated by business, the degree to which distribution is equitable is questionable – not every company has the same level of profit. When operated by government, costs can be better contained, and what would have formerly been stockholder dividends (company payouts), the savings are passed along to the taxpayer as lowered prices. When Government can FULLY compete in every Marketplace, only then will it be a truly FREE Market.

Guaranteed Minimum Income is a fixed amount of money which is regularly given to people as a source of income. There is no special requirement to obtain it, simply being alive is sufficient. In theory and in practice, it is distributed by the state (the government) to ALL residents regardless of their income or wealth. In some models, only those residents whose income/net worth is below a certain value are beneficiaries. In some other scenarios, that is not so. The idea being that there is a minimum, below which it is impossible to purchase the goods necessary for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

In another nation where it’s recently been tried, it wasn’t such a rousing success, but research on it’s implementation is lacking. Which, when discovered, the rough edges can be improved, and honed away for perfection.

However, the State of Alaska has been operating a very successful type of Guaranteed Minimum Income in the form of Permanent Residual Income, and the source of that money is exclusively derived from taxes and fees assessed upon Big Oil Conglomerates which operate in the state. The money is distributed by the state.

But that’s for another discussion.

Until then…