In the autumn of 2026, two of the most prominent names in personal health technology quietly abandoned the race to measure the human body most precisely, and entered a different contest entirely — one over who gets to stand between you and your doctor. When Google released a $99 tracker capable of the basics, Whoop and Oura Ring 5 each arrived, independently and within weeks of one another, at the same conclusion: that data alone could no longer justify a subscription, and that the future lay in becoming a healthcare intermediary. The sensor, it turns out, was never the product — the relations