Hot New App Makes Single People Check in Constantly in Case They Die Alone

[LydiaJoy]

You know the third episode of “30 Rock,” where Tina Fey becomes disturbed by her singledom after almost choking to death on her frozen dinner, alone in her apartment?

Hot New App Makes Single People Check in Constantly in Case They Die Alone

The hottest paid app in China is an interactive timer meant to inform loved ones of a single user's lonesome death.

futurism.com

That same fear is motivating a hot new app trending in China. Available for a one-time payment of the equivalent of $1.15 in US dollars, the app — with the evocative name of “Are You Dead?” — is basically a large countdown timer that you have to reset regularly, and which alerts an emergency contact if you let the time run out.

 

[Tall Timbers]

is basically a large countdown timer that you have to reset regularly, and which alerts an emergency contact if you let the time run out.

Sounds like additional stress that people don't need.

Some singles might not have anyone close to them to alert...

 

[Margery]

I have something called Lifeline, which is old school. It's a button that people wear on their wrist or around the neck.

When you press it, a call goes thru a machine in a central part of the home, to an operator who then checks if you are conscious. VERY LOUDLY

If you don't answer or if you say you need help then the operator calls 911, AND your 2 contact people- which have a key to the home and can get in and let the EMT's inside.

If you press it by accident you just wait till the operator yells at you thru the machine, and you holler back that it was by accident.

Once a month the machine goes off with a loud sound (enough to wake the dead) and tells you it's time to do the monthly test where you press the button, wait and then tell the operator it was your monthly test and she or he resets the machine for another month.

It costs me $49 a month and buys me my freedom because after George died, the family were worried because I have balance issues, and muscle troubles and I fall easily. My sister in law kept harassing me till I got it installed.

I tend to see it as a very noisy waste of money since I really don't care if I die and go to be with the Lord, but it buys them all peace of mind, and they don't bug me about living alone anymore.

That app sounds like a lot more effort. And daily hits of anxiety trying to check in before it alerts the people you love who don't need a daily dose of fear.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

I got AT&T LifeAlert ("I've fallen and I can't get up") with all the bells and whistles for my Dad. Home station, and bluetooth pendant with GPS, the button to push for help, and auto detection of falls, and two-way talk with the monitoring people from base station and pendant. Monitored and they call emergency contact(s), 911, etc. if a fall is detected or the button is pushed. Also BIG red emergency/panic buttons in Dad's BR and bathroom.

IIRC, $49 a month for monitoring. Monthly test of the pendant, base station, and BIG red emergency/panic buttons. If one had a service dog or other trainable dog or cat, the animal could be taught to push this type of button on command or if the owner is on the floor, etc.
Dad could go for a walk with his and pendant in his neighborhood or the nearby indoor strip mall where "all the old people walk" in that area. Someone could use it to get help for all sorts of stuff: break-in, vehicle accident, flooded bathroom, etc., etc., etc.
What some senior facilities do (both independent living and care providing facilities) is have the resident put a tag outside of his or her door by a certain time. If the tag isn't hung out by the specified time, staff go check on him or her. Some people just have it set up to call a certain person by a certain time, and if the call isn't received, call back, and if no answer, call 911 or go over with the key.

 

[Batman]

Another tech and app move of the lost and for the lost, even though I suspect weak minded babes in Christ will get caught in this too.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Hope TPTB don't get the bright idea to make this mandatory for singles, elderly, disabled (or anyone else), either blanket or as a condition of living alone in a house or anywhere, as opposed to congregate/supervised living.

 

[Margery]

Hope TPTB don't get the bright idea to make this mandatory for singles, elderly, disabled (or anyone else), either blanket or as a condition of living alone in a house or anywhere, as opposed to congregate/supervised living.

I hear you! I loved living with George, but even my children and grandchildren would get on my nerves, let alone a bunch of strangers I'd have to be polite to and chat with all the time. Like being on a cruise ship which I endured for George's sake but was always so glad to be home from.

I love the definitions of introvert vs extrovert. Introverts are energized by alone time and need a lot of it in order to endure people time. Extroverts are the opposite. Without lots of people time, they struggle.

God made both.

Institutions, Govt and society in general prefer people to be all the same. One size fits all so to speak. Easier to manage, easier to force fit into solutions without regard for the individual.

But God created us as unique individuals - not a single one the same. John the Baptist was not the same personality as Timothy nor did those "sons of thunder" behave in the quiet way that Mary did.

 

[Tall Timbers]

But God created us as unique individuals

Just yesterday I played with a test that divided people into one of 16 personalities depending on your answers to the questions. I think there's more like 8 billion different personalities... I'm an introvert myself. When I was younger I felt really uncomfortable interacting with others much of the time. I've become much more comfortable with people with age, but am still an introvert.

 

[Kem]

My dil, the one who lives just 5 minutes a day texts me at least once a day to see how I'm doing but beyond that they don't drive me up the wall with checking on me or wanting me to have one of those lifeline things. As for introvert vs extrovert, I'm kind of both. I can walk into a room where I don't know anyone and be comfortable chatting with anyone or a lot of new folks and I can start up a conversation while standing in line with strangers but I also like plenty of alone time.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Definitely an Introvert. With a capital I.

Some things I had to do as LE and in the Army were very uncomfortable for me and I had to force myself to do them, especially when just learning to do them/first having responsibility and authority to do them

 

[Margery]

My dil, the one who lives just 5 minutes a day texts me at least once a day to see how I'm doing but beyond that they don't drive me up the wall with checking on me or wanting me to have one of those lifeline things. As for introvert vs extrovert, I'm kind of both. I can walk into a room where I don't know anyone and be comfortable chatting with anyone or a lot of new folks and I can start up a conversation while standing in line with strangers but I also like plenty of alone time.

That actually fits with introverts. Because social ease and shyness are different than introversion/extroversion. The popular idea is that an introvert is shy and quiet, and finds meeting new people difficult but in fact it just comes down to the question do your batteries recharge with alone time, or with getting out with people?

Because there are shy extroverts, and bubbly outgoing introverts. And introverts still need people, friends and family. Extroverts do have to have some down time too.

BUT

The extroverts find plenty of alone time draining, just as the introverts find too much people time draining.

The question that works is How do your batteries recharge? Alone or with people?

I'd add another one: How does an unexpected phone call or text make you feel when it lands in a nice quiet moment all to yourself? I think if it cheers you up, you might be more on the extroverted side, and if it makes you freeze wishing you could go back in time and turn the phone to airplane mode, then you pull it together, sigh and put on your pleasant mask, then you might be on the introversion side. Or autistic, or both.

Definitely an Introvert. With a capital I.

Some things I had to do as LE and in the Army were very uncomfortable for me and I had to force myself to do them, especially when just learning to do them/first having responsibility and authority to do them

Me too.

I have people peg me as an extrovert when they see me in social situations. But they never saw how much alone time I require in between to recharge. That's invisible.

I'm not shy, I tend to take charge of situations, if nobody is a leader I will do that for the sake of efficiency. Lead, follow or get outta my way is my style.

But I get downright surly and crabby if I don't have enough time to just be alone and think in peace.

 

[Andy C]

I tend to see it as a very noisy waste of money since I really don't care if I die and go to be with the Lord, but it buys them all peace of mind, and they don't bug me about living alone anymore.

True, but what if you have some medical issue not leading to death, but you cant get off the floor. My older brother at 58 at the time lived alone and had a stroke. He laid on the kitchen floor for 36 hours before he was found. 14 years later, living alone again, he had another stroke and was found dead 2 days later.

 

[Margery]

True, but what if you have some medical issue not leading to death, but you cant get off the floor. My older brother at 58 at the time lived alone and had a stroke. He laid on the kitchen floor for 36 hours before he was found. 14 years later, living alone again, he had another stroke and was found dead 2 days later.

Yup I've thought of that. I don't worry about it, but it was one of the things that worried my sister in law and the kids. So that is why I have that machine. And I do admit that when the dizzyness or the vertigo (not the same thing as you both know) is at it's worst, I wear the thing because a fall is a possibility. I try to be sensible. But I don't like it.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

That actually fits with introverts. Because social ease and shyness are different than introversion/extroversion. The popular idea is that an introvert is shy and quiet, and finds meeting new people difficult but in fact it just comes down to the question do your batteries recharge with alone time, or with getting out with people?

Because there are shy extroverts, and bubbly outgoing introverts. And introverts still need people, friends and family. Extroverts do have to have some down time too.

BUT

The extroverts find plenty of alone time draining, just as the introverts find too much people time draining.

The question that works is How do your batteries recharge? Alone or with people?

I'd add another one: How does an unexpected phone call or text make you feel when it lands in a nice quiet moment all to yourself? I think if it cheers you up, you might be more on the extroverted side, and if it makes you freeze wishing you could go back in time and turn the phone to airplane mode, then you pull it together, sigh and put on your pleasant mask, then you might be on the introversion side. Or autistic, or both.


Me too.

I have people peg me as an extrovert when they see me in social situations. But they never saw how much alone time I require in between to recharge. That's invisible.

I'm not shy, I tend to take charge of situations, if nobody is a leader I will do that for the sake of efficiency. Lead, follow or get outta my way is my style.

But I get downright surly and crabby if I don't have enough time to just be alone and think in peace.

When I rode two officers to a car (only when I was training someone or was a brand new rookie), I was miserable, crabby, stressed, exhausted, and ready to bite someone (everyone). One-officer car on midnights suited me just fine Being on the wrong shift (anything other than 8-hour midnights) made it absolutely horrible. 10-hour, 12-hour, and rotating shifts literally almost killed me. And the total exhaustion due to lack of sleep, poor quality sleep, and interrupted sleep, from all the OT having to go to court, deal with evidence, investigate, etc.

 

[Margery]

When I rode two officers to a car (only when I was training someone or was a brand new rookie), I was miserable, crabby, stressed, exhausted, and ready to bite someone (everyone). One-officer car on midnights suited me just fine Being on the wrong shift (anything other than 8-hour midnights) made it absolutely horrible. 10-hour, 12-hour, and rotating shifts literally almost killed me. And the total exhaustion due to lack of sleep, poor quality sleep, and interrupted sleep, from all the OT having to go to court, deal with evidence, investigate, etc.

There's a whole subset of nurses that prefer the night shifts. I didn't like it because my body didn't do night shift well, but they had their own ways and after a while you could spot the traits they had in common. They were adapted to nights, and they preferred their set ways of doing things. Without having the head nurse breathing down their necks for total compliance with the policy and procedures manual or all their patients awake at once. Nights allowed more flexibility.

I hated it when we switched from 8 hours to 12 though, because I could handle an 8 hour night shift better than the grueling demands of the 12s. And we were always on a 2 days, then a crossover day to sleep ahead, and into the 2 nights. Technically we had 4 "days" off but one was a dead loss due to sleep and then you had to switch back to day mode.

Some bean counter thought that one up, never having to live thru it. Another reason I worked casual/on call instead of full time. I couldn't pick my shifts, but I could refuse them although refusing too many means never getting any shifts or getting paid.

I learned later that it destroyed the sleep cycle for a lot of us, we age faster, get more diseases than other workers do who have 9 to 5s.