For those who have been living under a rock like myself, a Fibit is a physical performance tracker that you wear on your wrist that monitors all of the activity you do each day. The idea is for you to track progress toward a weight loss or fitness goal in increments, to show you that even with the littlest step you’re making progress. Now it seems that President Barack Obama is going to give the Apple Watch App Fitbit a try.
When recently interviewed President Obama announced that he would consider using the Apple Watch to track how he is progressing on his fitness goals, citing that it might be a good companion to his workouts. Although he wouldn’t endorse the product before he had tried it, he did acknowledge that it had gotten favorable reviews. The Apple Watch was shipped out in April 2015 and includes a built-in heart rate monitor and accelerometer operated through optical sensors.
President Obama has always had an interest in technology-driven communication. His notorious refusal to give up his Blackberry when he took office is proof of that. Now he has revealed that he stands behind mobile health programs like telemedicine or telehealth, and of course the FitBit. During his 2011 State of the Union Address Obama stated that he wished to have 98 percent of Americans covered by high speed wireless networks within 5 years in order to connect all parts of the country to the new digital age. While we are still a year from reaching his anticipated deadline, according to the Mobile Technology Fact Sheet, as of October 2014, 64% of Americans owned a SmartPhone.
It remains to be seen how President Obama reacts to the FitBit and its fitness benefits. As a wearable device that is both tech-savvy and sleek he should have plenty to talk about. And for the Fitbit, that means there will be plenty who will jump onto the Mobile Health bandwagon, including the use of telemedicine or telehealth to diagnose and treat illness.