And early thermometers weren't as practical as they are today, someone going to the doctor for a cold probably doesn't want to be sent to the hospital across town to wait in line for a 25 minute temperature rating when the doctor's hand is usually "good enough":
The original thermometers were a foot long, available only in academic hospitals, and took twenty minutes to get a reading.
And it's probably the same with CT scans -- I have a stomach ache, I don't want to come back tomorrow to be scheduled for a $2000 CT scan just in case it's appendicitis. Now if I take the medicine and it's not better in a day or two, maybe then I will want that CT scan.
The original thermometers were a foot long, available only in academic hospitals, and took twenty minutes to get a reading.
And it's probably the same with CT scans -- I have a stomach ache, I don't want to come back tomorrow to be scheduled for a $2000 CT scan just in case it's appendicitis. Now if I take the medicine and it's not better in a day or two, maybe then I will want that CT scan.