I know tandem has a touch screen insulin pump which for those who have issues with buttons can use it without issues but what about those meters? why arent they touch screen to make it easier for those that may have trouble with buttons? i tried to find anything on the web to see if there is ever going to be this type of technology. so where is it? will they figure out we need this type of meters out there? thoughts on this type of technology that we need and to advocate the need for it?
meters are practically given away. the money comes from strips, so I don’t expect meters to have the latest tech in them. Meters are handed out like candy at many endo’s offices. Meters in pharmacies often are less than $10…
BESIDES, how often do you interact with a meter? You put in the strip. look at the result. that is 99.9999% of what you do with a glucose meter.
that is true…i just figured for those who have dexterity issues, etc would benefit from the touch screen :)…i never get meters at my endo…i have a backup that is $10. but i never have to use it. It would be nice to see technology be up a bit to have all covered if you know what i mean 
My folks are very old (late 80’s, and 91). they can’t stand touchscreens. Ever watch someone deal with a touchscreen who isn’t used to them? It’s a disaster. imagine having hand tremors…
ive had seen someone that hates the touch screen. ive always thought it would be easier on them! I just like to think that all possibilities can be there for people
while I like my touchscreen phones, some devices with TS are a royal pain. I like that I can hit a physical button, by feel, to light up the screen on the G5 receiver, to see my glucose number. I like that there is a physical home button on my S7 phone. I don’t think I’m going to be enthralled with my next phone if they get rid of the (physical) home button. I like that my TV remote has physical buttons, some of which are easy to hit in the dark, by their position around a centralized “enter” button, or by their shape, like the PLUS and MINUS buttons used for volume UP/DOWN.
In a car, a physical set of buttons and knobs is a lot easier to deal with w/o taking your eyes off the road, for operating the climate control system, wipers, lights, etc. That’s one thing I think Tesla blew, is when they included touchscreen controls for the wipers, making it a multi-step, eyes-off-the-road, procedure. that’s going backwards, usefulness-wise.
perhaps 
you do have valid points as well.
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Definitely. Doing a touchscreen insulin pump while driving is worse than using one with buttons. Also, try using touchscreen when wearing gloves!
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tandem’s is touch screen but a touch screen meter is what would be interesting to come out with for the adaptability for some people
It’s not at all obvious to me that touch screens are easier to use than devices with physical buttons. I struggle with touch screens all the time. The smaller the touch screen the worse it is.
Now, they could make the buttons better. Too many devices lately are using rubber-bump buttons when they could be using real tactile switches. Rubber bump buttons are awful for usability.
If you’re thinking about meters and dexterity issues - I’m guessing you’re already looking at machines with strip cartridges (e.g. AccuChek Compact) rather than having to fuss with extracting and inserting strips by fingers?
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that could be a possibility too…better buttons. i just feel something that would make it easier to use, etc. there are so many frustrations as it is with some of the buttons that are there now
I thought the buttons on the more recent AccuChek Compacts were OK. The early ones were rubber bump buttons but the later ones have real tactile buttons - with the big button having a really well designed tactile ridge to help the vision impaired (or if it’s just nighttime!). It is not at all a small meter and for most common usage there’s only the one big button to hit.
Touch screens can be very difficult for those with something akin to Reynauld’s Syndrome. My hands are often so cold that I cannot operate touch screen, be it IPhone, printer, etc. So, a touch screen meter would cause problems for me.
As it is, with the demise of Animas pumps, and since Tandem has a touch screen, my only pump choice is Medtronic. I have been resisting Medtronic as I don’t like the elimination of choice. Heaven help me if Dexcom goes touchscreen.
@Suzan i didnt think of that…i like to think about all options to be available . it also just seems that a lot are going towards touch screen. i guess each to their own
@Tim12 the buttons are ok on my meter its just a bit of a pain for me. maybe once i get my new pump in the spring the newer meter will be better
The FreeStyle Insulinx is a touchscreen meter (though the screen is black and white).
I am a bit worried about this new receiver. I believe that in order to nullify the totally bogus efforts by Medicare to root out and deny CGM benefits to those using a phone, Dexcom has a new “strategy.”
If you read the Dexcom page on the G5 and look at the “display device” it says:
Your glucose levels are shown in vivid colors so you can easily see when your glucose is trending high, low or just right. The display device can be either a compatible smart device with the Dexcom G5 Mobile app OR the Dexcom G5 Mobile Receiver.
Note that it doesn’t say AND/OR. It say OR. It may be that in the future you can use one or the other but not both.
I’d be interested in whether anyone has better information on this.
I don’t understand what you are getting at, Brian. Could you clarify please?
If they had used the word AND that would imply that you need both the “smart device” AND the “mobile receiver”. When clearly you can use either. In fact I would say that the “or” is a continuation of the word “either” much earlier in the sentence.
There’s either-or, but there’s no either-and.
Now there are likely Bluetooth limitations that only let you pair up a sensor with a single device at a time. For example with bluetooth, I can pair up a keyboard with one tablet, but I cannot pair up the keyboard simultaneously with two different tablets. There are other bluetooth protocols (notably “Bluetooth beacon”) that do not require one-to-one pairing, and these are interesting possibilities for one-to-many, but I do not think Dexcom is going to be using Bluetooth Beacon. So if one-to-many bluetooth is not being implemented by Dexcom I think they are more correct to use OR.
Currently you can simultaneously connect the Dexcom G5 reciever and a compatible smartphone. The new wording suggests that they no longer support pairing two bluetooth devices at once, instead they may restrict you to a single bluetooth device. Either the G5 receiver or a smartphone. But not both at the same time.
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I’m just not so sure that their lack of “and/or” is significant. There may be no change in the BT function. One could always call them…