But if there are some functions that can be provided through wearables that can’t be provided through implants for legal rather than technical reasons then you are going to push people to implants for some functionality and wearables for other functionality.
For example there is wrist based payment mechanisms available in the US. They have been converted to implants by Dangerous Things, but there are no available payment implants that are not conversions. If an “Apex ring” is approved for payments and the implants aren’t because the “Payment Masters” don’t want to approve of implants for whatever reason then Vivokey can provide some wearable functionality that they can’t provide through the almost identical implant. Should they require people who want to use their “Apex ring” to also have an implant so that they can duplicate most of the functionality but provide one extra function on each device?
I find this to be a difficult topic. I use my ring at work because I don’t currently have a t5577 implanted. I’ve been asked on use cases for the ring which also lets me discuss implants when Id not normally be able to. I find it a good icebreaker for people who are not comfortable. I feel we also have time to go before more are interested, I feel the Apex ring will be slowly outdated when people dont want to wear a ring anymore. Decided they would rather implant it.
Assuming equivalent functionality I would rather start with a wearable and then move to an implant once I had sufficiently justified that I use it.
I wear a fitness tracker, and a wedding ring, so either a wrist or finger option would not be significantly different for me.
Legally I have to carry my green card, and I need to carry my driver’s licence whenever I drive, so the actual advantages of an implant are not as clear in my case. A card, a ring or a wristband are already likely to be with me… Strangely, a fob is much less likely in my case.
So, form factor is not a big deal. That leaves functionality and convenience. Assuming identical functionality the question comes down to how easy is it to get implanted versus remembering to keep the device with me.
