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  • Masimo, the company that sued Apple over patent infringement, has unveiled its own blood oxygen monitoring smartwatch called the Masimo Freedom.
  • The Masimo Freedom is a health-focused device that can track blood oxygen levels, hydration index, respiration rate, pulse rate variability, pulse rate, steps, and detect falls.
  • The smartwatch is currently in prototype stage and will be available for sale later this year at a price of $999.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/aOUXX

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[-] Asidonhopo@lemmy.world 107 points 1 year ago

Not a fan of Apple but the number of people who would benefit from being able to monitor blood oxygenation is more meaningful to me than Masimo's ability to sell thousand dollar smartwatches with its patent technology. Would be great if somehow this patent was bought out and made public domain so people outside the upper middle class could have an affordable way to track their vitals.

[-] DingoBilly@lemmy.world 91 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Apple can easily pay to license the technology and utilise it, and has had multiple chances to over the years at reasonable prices.

This result is only because Apple is run by some absolute morons who were happy to try and steal the tech but got caught with their pants down.

As for making it available to upper middle class, there's plenty of devices out there already for monitoring blood oxygenation for under $100.

[-] WHYAREWEALLCAPS@kbin.social 27 points 1 year ago

Apple is run by some absolute morons who were happy to try and steal the tech

Xerox PARC intensifies

If you look at almost everything "iconic" that Apple has ever done they have "borrowed" or outright stolen from others. This is entirely on brand for Apple. They just ran up against someone who was willing to push back.

[-] GigglyBobble@kbin.social 66 points 1 year ago

Would be great if somehow this patent was bought out and made public domain so people outside the upper middle class could have an affordable way to track their vitals.

Apple is a strange choice as a champion for that. Their devices always have been notoriously overpriced.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 27 points 1 year ago

Their devices always have been notoriously overpriced.

I disagree. They don’t offer a low-end option, but their devices are fairly priced for what you get. People keep claiming they are overpriced but when you ask them for a cheaper alternative they always respond with something not even remotely comparable.

[-] tabular@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

I can't relate to the value you place in them. You couldn't pay me to use Apple software.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 9 points 1 year ago

With Windows or Linux, I spend a lot of my time operating the computer. On macOS I just spend my time on the tasks I was working on. The nice thing about Apple’s software is that it gets out of the way so you can focus on what actually matters.

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

That's only true if the Apple way works for you. If not it keeps getting in the way in infuriating ways.

I once bought an apple laptop, it lasted a couple months before I ran back to the comfort and productivity of Linux and kde.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

It can take a bit of getting used to. The main thing I had to unlearn is expecting things to be complicated, when they aren’t.

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

That's debatable. And uncomplicated, assuming that it is, still didn't mean comfortable.

[-] loudwhisper@infosec.pub 15 points 1 year ago

This can be absolutely true the other way around too, depending on how proficient you are, and what you are used to or find intuitive. For me, macOS is extremely unintuitive, for example, while my fully personalized Linux setup allows me to do what I want. It is very subjective, ultimately.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

I’m very proficient in Linux. I used to run it as a desktop about 15 years ago, before I was able to afford a Mac. Still run it on the server, both personally and professionally. It’s come a long way, but it’s not nearly as polished as macOS.

[-] aniki@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A desktop linux user is not someone "very proficient"

You ran an install script.

I'm very proficient. It's my career.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's also part of my career, and has been for the last 15+ years. I mentioned desktop use because that was way more challenging back then than it is today. I first started using Linux personally in '98 with S.u.S.E. 5.3, then moved to using it as my main OS about a year later. Damn, that's 25 years.... in my mind it feels less. I must be getting old. Used it in a professional capacity on the server since graduation.

[-] loudwhisper@infosec.pub 5 points 1 year ago

Polished doesn't mean functional or ergonomic, which is something I value a lot. The ability to customize what I want easily is also something that Linux offers much more directly than macOS (which is the definition of getting in the way).

Again, I totally believe that for someone the Mac experience can be superior, but it depends on preference, use, habits and priorities.

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[-] tabular@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I can image that's how it would be for many people.

I enjoy learning how to operating the computer but I've also become convinced software freedom aught to be valued the most.

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[-] CucumberFetish@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

4 years on macbooks as a software dev. Haven't seen a more annoying OS for power users than OSX. The Apple software is constantly in the way, breaking things or crashing because you plugged in a non apple certified keyboard.

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[-] nyctre@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Which apple product doesn't have a chaper alternative?

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

All of them. Every cheaper alternative is just a crappier product that cheaper because it’s simply not as good.

[-] aniki@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago

I'll take my Garmin over you apple toys any day

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[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Like the thousand dollar basic monitor stand?

Or comparing similarly specced macs vs PCs (I bet that's why they moved away from x86 again, because it was too obvious how overpriced they were when the specs could be compared 1:1).

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago

The thousand dollar monitor stand is not a consumer product and simply sold separately because not a lot of people are going to need it. The monitor it’s meant for is actually a lot cheaper than comparable monitors.

Or comparing similarly specced macs vs PCs

In the x86 era similarly specced PCs had similar prices or were even more expensive. The thing about Mac’s is that while you can get a PC that has some better specs for less, you couldn’t get anything that matched all the specs. It may have had a faster CPU, but would come in a crappy plastic case, weigh a ton and run out of battery in 30 seconds. Or it ran forever on a single charge but had a CPU that was slow as molasses.

(I bet that's why they moved away from x86 again, because it was too obvious how overpriced they were when the specs could be compared 1:1).

No, it’s because x86 is an overcomplicated mess with terrible performance/watt. x86 CPUs run hot, drain your battery and still don’t perform great. Apple’s M series SoC’s are amazing. A clean, modern ISA, high IPC, low power usage, low heat. It doesn’t matter if my MacBook Pro (M1 Max )runs on battery or wall power, it’s always blazing fast. It has insane battery life, does not get hot and is completely silent.

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I was referring to the desktop space. Apple is a lot more competitive in the laptop space (unless you're a gamer), but their desktop specs always made me laugh at the price they ask for it. Granted, I haven't looked recently, but any time I've looked in the past, their price seems about 1k too high for what they are offering.

But yeah, x86 laptops are generally a shitshow. I had a decent personal one, though that was used more like a very portable desktop than a true laptop. That one just stopped charging one day (though its timing was impeccable because I was already in the process of moving my files to a new desktop I had just built, just had to pull the drives out to get the rest of it). And a cheap one I threw Linux on for school that did the job. But my first work laptop at my current job was garbage and the current one is relatively better, but also has a bunch of issues, enough that I don't think very highly of HP even ignoring their printer bs.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

I was referring to the desktop space.

Is that still even a thing? Between hybrid working and flex desking, who still uses desktop PC’s?

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Gamers and custom builders. We also got some desktops at work to give our team some dedicated compute resources when our central system wasn't able to keep up with the company's needs.

The very top of personal computing is still desktops. And even in the high end where laptops can compete, there's a premium you pay for the smaller package. Custom laptops are becoming more common but the size still limits choices you can make.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

Gamers and custom builders.

Tiny niche market.

We also got some desktops at work to give our team some dedicated compute resources when our central system wasn't able to keep up with the company's needs.

We just run all that stuff in the cloud, much easier to scale up and down.

And even in the high end where laptops can compete, there's a premium you pay for the smaller package.

Yeah, but does it matter? You can get a decked out MacBook Pro for less than €5k, that’s peanuts in the grand scheme of things. You can’t bring a desktop computer into a meeting, or to a customer, or home for a work from home day.

[-] CucumberFetish@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

For the same price as a decked out MacBook m3, you can get a laptop with a i9-13980hx. That beats the m3 max in single core cinebench by 12% and in multi core cinebench by 29%.

Also, the laptops at that price point have a dedicated gpu.

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[-] nyctre@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Ah, okay then. Have a nice day :)

[-] LucidLethargy@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

They notoriously sell older components and technologies in their brand new computers.

I have one I got for free that was made in 2020. It's a MacBook Air. It has 8gb of RAM... I don't even know how they found RAM chips that small in 2020. It freezes every day when all I'm doing is running a web browser. This computer was $1,000 at the time it launched.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

The base amount of RAM is a bit low, I agree. But why would you order one with less RAM than you need? I have an M1 Max with 64GB and it just flies. No matter what I throw at it, it stays fast and responsive.

[-] gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago

Them: theyve always been over priced, here's an example where their 1k device had a pathetically small ram for the cost

You: well why didn't you spend MORE to get a FUNCTIONING device, hmmm?

My cell phone in 2020 had more than 8g of ram and cost the same as that laptop, no excuses

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[-] LucidLethargy@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Apple also holds over 95,500 patents. I will never get why some people defend this crazy company. They make underperforming computers and sell them for wayyy over their value.

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this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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