It feels like complex technology is involved in everything we do these days.

Every moment of every day can apparently be optimised by such technology. We’re promised that Alexa will be the assistant we never knew we needed and that the use of the latest listing app will help us prioritise our lives like never before. Wireless phone chargers are the way forwards and let’s not even mention the so-called hoverboards.

Surely if this technology really was all it’s cracked up to be, we would all be lazing back in our hammocks right now with so much spare time on our hands that we’d actually be bored! As that isn’t the case, perhaps technology is not always the answer to all of our problems?

The problem seems to lie in the fact that every technological invention comes with its own set of issues and knock-on effects. Mobile phones can connect us all, but in so many different ways that we spend hours scrolling and liking. Alexa can tell us everything we need to know, but often requires multiple different commands and questions in order to give us the full picture and sometimes she can’t actually understand our language, even if she speaks it. Even if technology is helping us rather than controlling us, we seem to be filling up the time we get back with more STUFF and most of it isn’t productive.

No tech makes a return

Despite hundreds of software tools for organizing information, people still commonly like working with paper for tasks such as brainstorming ideas. It’s fast, cheap, easy to work with and avoids distracting ‘features’.

We’re seeing face-to-face meeting replacing skype calls, analog clocks being put back up in place of their digital counterparts and book-based travel guides back in fashion with travellers.

Almost all low or no tech solutions feature one or more of the following characteristics:

• simplicity
• reliability
• energy efficiency
• emotional appeal
• social connection
• instant availability

High tech simply isn’t ‘warm’ - you can’t hug it or laugh with it, you can’t be sure it won’t break down on you and, more often than not, it takes so long to crack that no time has been saved at all!

Keep it simple

We’re often asked why MedicAlert’s ID solution still revolves around a piece of medical ID jewellery, in a world currently dominated by technological solutions. Our answer is clear: it’s simple, reliable and relevant.

Whilst we may feel attached at the hip to our phones, there are many occasions when we may actually get separated; playing sports, during an accident, if it’s been stolen or just forgotten at home. Then of course there’s the times it may not be charged or even in for repair due to an inevitable broken screen. If any of this were to happen, medical information will simply not be available.

Even more importantly, whilst paramedics and other emergency professionals are trained to check pulse points for medical ID jewellery, none will prioritise trying to decipher the multiple ‘emergency ID’ systems on the different smartphone platforms available. The information may be viewed once in hospital as a secondary check, but will not support initial treatment.

Medical ID jewellery is a no-tech and recognisable pointer towards the more ‘high tech’ MedicAlert record we store for our members. It’s visible and provides the most vital information on the reverse of the disc, ensuring that first on scene will know the most important medical information without any delay or fumbling. Additional information is just a phone call away - no specialised equipment or readers are required to access everything from conditions and allergies to doctors contact details and scanned documents.

We believe that keeping it simple, accessible and without the need for a charging cable is the right solution, no matter where technology takes us next.

Find out more about what MedicAlert membership provides and how it could keep you safe

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