News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Elizabeth Holmes is on trial for fraud, but don't forget ... by JCM9 on Friday October 22, 2021 @09:10AM (#28956773)
I remember at the time so many experts I knew in the field would say the Theranos claims were total BS and what she speaks of was tried and doesn’t work for X, Y, and Z reason. A science company board full of people without a science background was also a giant red flag. There were very much some she wasn’t fooling, but the broader media-sphere, PR engine, and high profile folks without a technical background bought the whole thing hook, like and sinker.

In that way it was a textbook con. Avoid those that would sniff you out and focus on those that will be gullible to your play.

Re:Elizabeth Holmes is on trial for fraud, but don't forget ... by colechristensen on Friday October 22, 2021 @09:46AM (#28957122)
This kind of back seat driving peer review isn’t helpful. “What she claims she can do is bs!” isn’t the story, because you’re really just disagreeing with marketing.

The problem is it took far too long for anyone to actually check the real mechanics of what was being done to see if it was faked, someone with almost no access saying it’s fake is not an authority.

Re:Elizabeth Holmes is on trial for fraud, but don't forget ... by JCM9 on Friday October 22, 2021 @10:15AM (#28957443)
The point of this whole Theranos thing is that medical product conversations need to be based on science, not marketing. It was the lack of transparency / access that is precisely what caused many scientists to question the claims. That’s generally not how science is done so it sets off the BS detectors. If you’ve made this breakthrough, show us.

People got hurt here because of how that played out, and that’s messed up.

Re:Elizabeth Holmes is on trial for fraud, but don't forget ... by fallingknife on Friday October 22, 2021 @09:49AM (#28957159)
Experts do tend to say that about things that end up working, though.
Re:Elizabeth Holmes is on trial for fraud, but don't forget ... by __m on Friday October 22, 2021 @10:42AM (#28957850)
yeah but not in an established field by a college dropout. The whole pitch was ridiculous. We do all the tests with only one machine and we make the machine a lot smaller, oh and we do it with just a fraction of the blood.
[dead]
Re:Elizabeth Holmes is on trial for fraud, but don't forget ... by easytiger on Friday October 22, 2021 @09:44AM (#28957103)
As it happens Holmes did some work on early SARS swab testing at a lab in Singapore when she was at university.