When I didn’t receive my Google Checkout receipt from a recent purchase I was a bit puzzled.  I decided to check my gmail account spam folder.  Bingo - there it was.  Apparently the Google Checkout receipt email was tagged as spam by gmail - how ironic.

No, this isn’t about the health of your car, it is related to my last post - Continuous monitoring of your health. I guess it does relate to the health of cars a bit in that the idea is a bit like OnStar, save a little more complex of course.  After all, a car is quite simple compared to the human body.  “auto-health” will be the next “big thing” in the healthcare space.  It’s in the infancy stage, but will rapidly progress, especially if the feds keep driving HIT and if the X-Prize people keep coming up w/ fun contests.  The idea is a device companies using wireless-enabled devices to monitor your health, auto-upload it, and then have machines analyze it letting you know if the sense anything irregular compared to others your age, the massive databases (Ingenix-like) they’ll have at their disposal, etc.  Imagine: “Want to have the internet keep you healthy?  There’s an app for that.”  “Want to be notified of a new flu strain in your area?  There’s an app for that?”

As I was working this evening I began thinking of a device that would be wirelessly enabled (CDMA, GSM, etc.) and would basically continually monitor and upload info from a device such as a Polar watch, footpod, and heart rate monitor.  At the end of each week you could slice and dice the data however you’d like, but canned “health reports” would be available for review each week along with recommendations - e.g. “Try taking 10minutes in the morning for a run or walk to improve the strength of your heart and reduce…”.  Technology limitations right now: 1) batteries/power 2) the fact that Verizon et. al. still haven’t come up with what I’d call a “unlimited data device plan” whereby any customer can add any “cellular enabled device” to their plan up to x devices.  That is, the trends are for everything to go wireless, so why no offer a package like this?

Overview of new shuffle: Apple - iPod shuffle - The first mp3 player that talks to you

Perhaps it is just me, but a mandatory mating of a device to use a specific set of headphones?  It would seem that many people would want to periodically use another set of headphones for a variety of reasons.  Is “Voice Over” innovative?  Not so much - the technology has been around for a long time and I’d question the value of it telling the user the song name.  Do most people not know the songs on their iPod?  C’mon Steve, is this along the lines of the sub-par iPods (e.g. no bluetooth in iPods?!) that are produced?  …or perhaps the inability to upgrade memory in all Apple iPod-like devices.  Then again, Apple has done well in the recent-past, and perhaps behavioral economics will prove me wrong - i.e. being cool, fasionable, and simple rules the consumer market.  

We recently crashed a Haas reunion and the opening ceremonies (one of a few I hear) at PING in downtown Portland, OR.  A friend of mine invited my girlfriend and I to the fun and exciting event/progressive which started at Kurt’s new restaurant (P I N G …. m-sa 4-10:00 pm …. 503.229.7464 …. 102 nw 4th avenue, portland).   The drinks were new (vinegar-based) and fun, and the food also had a nice twist.  We had a mix of entrees which used pork, shrimp, and egg for ingredients.  All the dishes had a unique taste to them (reminds me of Andina) using spices, fruit, and other additions to keep the palate on its toes.  All in all - great place which I am sure will be a local favorite.  Congrats Kurt and thanks for the hospitality.