Where did the intelligence reside in early medication reminder systems compared to modern platforms?

Early systems relied on intelligence being in the box; modern ones rely on the cloud or phone.

There is a distinct evolutionary shift in where the processing power, or 'intelligence,' of medication reminders is located. In earlier, hardware-focused solutions, the intelligence was embedded directly within the physical dispensing unit—the intelligence was conceptualized as being 'in the box,' often implemented as a mechanical or basic electronic timer mechanism. Conversely, modern adherence platforms leverage sophisticated infrastructure where the primary intelligence resides 'in the cloud' or on the patient's smartphone application. In these contemporary systems, the physical device, if present, is often reduced functionally to acting primarily as a sensor gathering interaction data.