- from October 6th -

The iPhone: can it solve America's healthcare problems?

This weekend, I held the iPhone for the first time. I was finally able to use the touch screen and explore the Apps store.

Because I only had a little time to play with it, I was only able to look at the applications for one category: Health and Fitness. I know we've been talking about how the iPhone is changing the way we interact with technology, but after seeing the types of things it can do for health, it reached a whole new level for me.
First off, the "jump rope" app is pretty neat - who knew you could exercise with your phone? Another thing I found interesting was the fact that there were several ways you could use the phone as a type of health log. You could track what you ate, how much you exercised, and how your body was changing and the phone would give you feedback on what you are doing right, what you're doing wrong, and tips to make it easier. There were dozens of different programs you could get on, most between $3 and $10, that promised to help you become more proactive in your health. They were like personal dieticians and trainers that designed diets and workouts just for you and your lifestyle, and they fit in your pocket! There was an application on there that linked you to a database that housed caloric information about food served in popular chains. So if say, you were at Arbys and you were trying to decide between a roast beef sandwhich or one of their turkey melts, you would know just how many more calories the turkey melt had. You could even find out what percentage of the sandwhich is protein, what percentage is carbohydrate, and what percentage is fat. Find another application, and it could tell you the possible ways you could exercise to work off just that amount of calories.
With all this information, is it possible that the iPhone can help cure the overweight epidemia in America?
And what other health benefits could this device hold for us? How can apps help people not only stay healthy, but how can it help some who are suffering from some type of disease? Tons of information is now at our fingertips at all times. I think it will be incredibly interesting to see how devices like the iPhone affect us down the road.