Charlottesville, Virginia
June 24, 2020
First, let's clarify that the pedometer on your iPhone uses the accelerometer in the phone to determine your number of steps. Studies have shown that the built-in iPhone pedometer tends to underestimate your step count by up to 10%. This error seems to be introduced by variation in your speed of walking. There is no definitive "correction factor" - seems as though we just have to go with our pedometer is being conservative. More on that in a minute.
Second, distance. How does your iPhone translate your steps taken into distance? I couldn't find what I would consider a definitive answer to this question. Its seems that it is not based on GPS. There are pedometer apps that use your phone's GPS but they tend to be inaccurate indoors. There are also pedometer apps that allow you to input your stride length; those apps use that stride length to convert steps into distance. My conclusion is that you shouldn't rely on your built-in iPhone pedometer for distance; if distance is important to you, use a pedometer app that allows you to input your stride length. And remember, you could be off by up to 10% anyway.
So what about the conservative nature of the iPhone app? Does this mean that we should question the science behind the app itself? And what about the iPhone causing cancer? Perhaps we should be more receptive to that idea? And is the NSA really listening to all our calls? Or is that a liberal thing? I'm confused!
Or perhaps, Apple is being liberal in including the pedometer app at all? Maybe we should require a disclaimer on the phone regarding the accuracy of the pedometer? Or should the FDA be required to regulate all pedometers since the 10,000 step threshold is important to so many folks? And where did that number come from anyhow? Could it be a Canadian conspiracy to convert us all to think in increments of 10,000? After all Malcolm Gladwell wrote about 10,000 hours. And who is he anyhow? Perhaps the Senate should investigate?
It's all too much for me. I'm going for a walk to listen to Pat Green's "Carry On." Reminds me of uptempo Kenny Chesney songs. I'll walk 9,100 steps and call it 10,000. 🤪🤔
Yes, just how important is it that we all have a digital device that tells us how many steps we took, and how far we traveled? I think the quest for electronic precision on everything is counterproductive to the goal of health and well-being. Plus, does information on my walking habits really need to reside with Apple or anyone else? I don't think so. If they do anything with it, it will either be (i) trying to separate me from some of my money, or (ii) taking someone else's money for my information so that someone else can take a run at my money.
When I go for a walk, I know about how fast I go and I can…