Snapping up a Snap (and a disclaimer)

Asante is rolling out their new pump starting in the Northeast. They tell me they hope to be nationwide by the end of 2014. Anyone with diabetes who lives in an area where the pump is currently offered can get a 30-day free trial of the pump, just for asking.

What?!

Yes, you read that right, there’s nothing special about me as far as Asante is considered, other than the fact that I have diabetes. Look, even the box I scored says “Trial Kit” on it.

 So by the end of 2014, pretty much no matter where you live, you’ll be able to do what I’m doing. Are they crazy?? Maybe. But whether they are crazy like foxes or crazy like lunatics, only time will tell. One thing is for damn sure, they must be pretty confident that PWDs will love their product.

Now there’s much confusion about where New Mexico is, with many people—and sometimes UPS and FedEx as well—not even realizing that we’re even part of the United States at all. [Special Alert to victims of America’s public education system: we’ve been a state since 1912.] But most people are pretty clear about the fact that New Mexico is definitely not in New England. So how did I get a trial kit? I pulled strings as a high-profile diabetes writer, of course. Actually, I had hoped that Asante would just box one up and send it out to me, but they, or their lawyers, felt the need to train me in person on the device. As I wasn’t planning to be in the Bay Area anytime soon, Asante flew me out for training on their dime. So now I get to the disclaimer: I’m not on the Asante payroll. They are not paying me to write for them, they have no influence over what I write, and they don’t get to see the posts in advance. They see what I’ve said the same moment you do. Asante did cover my travel expenses to their HQ for training, but didn’t provide me with any prostitutes, further proof that un-certified diabetes educators have less clout than doctors.

Hopefully, all of you who read me realize by now that I’m not the kind of person who can be bought off, and certainly not by a quick trip on Southwest Airlines and one night in Sunnyvale, Californian (which you should put on the bottom of your list of places to see in the Golden State). In fact, rather than having any influence, they are probably scared shitless about what I many say about the Snap, given I have a reputation of being hard on diabetes gear.

And frankly, I have no idea what I’m going say. Time will tell, and that’s one of my principles when it comes to gear reviews—it takes time. A new piece of gear is like a new wife, it takes some time to get to know her. Sometimes the honeymoon is wonderful, but it goes downhill from there. Other times, the honeymoon is rough, but you come to love her. I’ve found you need to spend some time with a device to get to know her true personality. I also believe in sharing that journey of discovery in near-real time, sharing my experiences, thoughts, and feelings about the gear as they happen.

Beyond that, we humans are creatures of habit. I find that once we get used to something, either good or bad, we can’t help but compare the new to the old. So when you change insulin pumps, there’s a risk that you’ll be unhappy with the new one simply because it’s different from the old one, even if the old one was stupid. We get used to things and it takes time to shake that off and judge a new piece of gear on its own merits. I find a month is enough time to get to know a piece of gear and forget its predecessor.

Tomorrow: My first impressions