Recently, I saw a story on my Google Reader that intrigued me, and that I think speaks to a larger narrative within our society. When I read the article, which in essence said that British researchers have developed a program that allows smartphones to analyze the user’s urine and check for STDs, I was skeptical. After reading that the user does not pee directly onto the phone, but rather onto a computer chip that is then plugged into the phone, this seemed like a slightly better idea.
Actually, it may seem silly, but this development has the potential to be a very good thing. People who are too lazy (or embarrassed) to see the doctor might be able to catch these diseases earlier than they could have without the app. That being said, this seems like one more demonstration that our society is too reliant on technology. When a phone starts to replace actual professionals with advanced medical degrees, it’s not a good sign. The phone app can’t be right 100% of the time, and sometimes a person might rely on it when it shows a negative test when there might actually be a problem. Unlike a doctor, a program on a phone can’t be held accountable when it makes a mistake.
Technology is good in most instances, but we need o have boundaries on what we expect to be done for us. In my opinion, the STD app is probably a little much. That being said, I’m interested to see how, and to what extent, it gets used in the future.
I haven't read too much about this app, but if it can reliably test for common STDs it can't be a bad thing. Even if its only recommendation is "go see a doctor" vs "you have herpes, here's some meds," it's doing some good to present disease spread. That's also an important reason an app can't replace an "actual professional with an advanced medical degree": The iPhone, for now at least, can't prescribe medicine.
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