New home self-diagnostic tool analyses a droplet of saliva, blood, or a nasal swab in real time

[Waverunner]

I doubt that replacing the bluetooth stuff with a digital readout would increase the cost of the device. As long as it increased it less that the cost of a smartphone, it would still be a better value. Spoken like someone who has never been on a tight budget. Spoken like someone who has never been on a tight budget.

Maybe you assume that progress should adapt to you and not vice versa. A display will create development costs, it will make Cue bigger, heavier and more energy reliant. I bet the company did their research. Other points include:

1) People in this day and age don't like monochrome displays. We are becoming a world of technological advancement. This includes vivid color displays, which are ultra-thin and ultra-sharp. Would a 10-20 year old monochrome display fit to a brand new device for medical diagnosis? Probably not. Adding newer displays, like Valentijn mentioned, will create cost. In addition to this, the graphical output and possibilities on a smartphone are sheer endless. Your smartphone saves the values for each day, can create graphs, give you new information etc.. You may not want or need this but the majority prefers it.

2) But the main point is simple and irrefutable. Why should we be forced to pay for a Cue with display, when around 60% of all Americans already have smartphones and around 45% have tablets and these numbers increase in the future? Nearly all new fitness trackers connect to your smartphone and doctors can use their smartphones for ECGs etc..

If they added a display for Cue, then Valentijn, adreno, me and the majority would have to pay for it, despite the fact, that we don't need it. Did anyone buy his smartphone for Cue? Nobody did. We bought it because we like the advancements it brings to us. So actually, we can use the graphical interface of our smartphones for free, when we buy Cue. Last year alone, around one billion smartphones were sold worldwide. 85% of Americans in the age group from 18 to 29 have a smartphone and from 50 to 64 around 50% own one.

Actually I can't afford the $199 plus wands right now. If I could, I would feel that I was getting value for my money. Even if I could afford the $199, I wouldn't necessarily have another $50 (a 25% increase in price) for a smartphone. Paying $50 for a smartphone or tablet, which I have no other use for, to be used as an interface to the Cue does not strike me as good value for the money.

Could the main reason be, that you don't want to adapt to a smartphone?

I do not have $130 to blow on a smartphone!

Above you pick $50 for a Cue compatible smartphone, now you pick $130 for a Moto E. Why? To make the numbers sound bigger? Btw. you get used and working android smartphones starting at $15 on ebay. The cost of a smartphone clearly isn't the problem when using Cue ($199 + three wands for influenza and five for Vitamin D = $50).

 

[Valentijn]

If they added a display for Cue, then Valentijn, adreno, me and the majority would have to pay for it, despite the fact, that we don't need it.

I wasn't even sure my phone has bluetooth until I checked just now But even my basic phone which is about 4 years old has it. But if I didn't have it, I'd just get the bluetooth adapter for my laptop. $25 for the adapter versus $50+ for a phone.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Maybe you assume that progress should adapt to you and not vice versa. A display will create development costs, it will make Cue bigger, heavier and more energy reliant.

No I think that ‘progress’ should adapt to practical needs. The connection to the smartphone also created development cost. A display could not make the Cue much bigger, heavier, or more energy reliant. My pulse oximeter has a display. The whole devise is about 2.25 X 1. 25 X 1 inches, weighs about 1 oz., and runs for hours (probably days) on two AAA batteries.

I bet the company did their research.

I have my doubts about that.

People in this day and age don't like monochrome displays. We are becoming a world of technological advancement. This includes vivid color displays, which are ultra-thin and ultra-sharp. Would a 10-20 year old monochrome display fit to a brand new device for medical diagnosis? Probably not. Adding newer displays, like Valentijn mentioned, will create cost. In addition to this, the graphical output and possibilities on a smartphone are sheer endless. Your smartphone saves the values for each day, can create graphs, give you new information etc.. You may not want or need this but the majority prefers it.

And how do you know that the majority prefers it? I doubt that they do. Besides my pulse oximeter, my blood pressure meter, window air conditioners, digital thermometer, and my clock radio have monochrome displays. They seem to be pretty common on electronics. I don’t see why one wouldn’t work fine on the Cue. I can see the point of vivid, ultra-sharp colors on a television, but not on a medical device.

If they added a display for Cue, then Valentijn, adreno, me and the majority would have to pay for it, despite the fact, that we don't need it. Did anyone buy his smartphone for Cue? Nobody did. We bought it because we like the advancements it brings to us.

Do any of you even have a Cue? I am not saying people should not buy smartphones or that the only reason to buy one is if you are buying a Cue.

85% of Americans in the age group from 18 to 29 have a smartphone and from 50 to 64 around 50% own one.

That means that around 50% of the 50 to 64 age group do not own a smartphone and they are more likely to need medical tests that those from 18 to 29. I’ll bet smartphone ownership is even less in the 65+ age group, who also have a high use of health care. So if we buy a Cue we have to buy a smartphone, despite the fact that we do not need it for anything else, to save you the cost of putting a simple display on the devise.

Could the main reason be, that you don't want to adapt to a smartphone?

The main reason is that I do not want to pay for a smartphone. Furthermore, I do not think I should have to just to use a medical device. Since I have cognitive problems, I have no desire to learn to use one either. My whole point is that this device is unnecessarily expensive and complex. If they wanted to make a deluxe version that communicated with a smartphone that would be fine.

Above you pick $50 for a Cue compatible smartphone, now you pick $130 for a Moto E. Why?

I used $50 above because you had referred to $50 smartphones. I ’picked’ $130 for the Moto E because that is what you said that it cost.

In another life I was a computer programmer. Software development is a form of product development. We had to learn to determine what the customer needed and build that, not what we thought would be impressive or clever. What I see here is people using the latest bells and whistles just because they can, without thought to ease of use or cost effectiveness.