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A friend of mine buys everything Apple releases, and the Apple Watch is probably the most useless piece of electronics I've ever seen. He used it for a couple

A friend of mine buys everything Apple releases, and the Apple Watch is probably the most useless piece of electronics I've ever seen. He used it for a couple of weeks, but I don't think I wouldn't have lasted more than 2-3 days having yet another thing I have to charge every day. Do a lot of people actually use them and download and use apps? Why would I want to carry a smartwatch besides for exercising (where I'd personally want something much lighter and a lot cheaper) when I have my cell phone with me at all times? I'm not making fun, just curious.

fossuser 9y ago
As someone else who buys pretty much everything Apple releases the homepod is definitely more useless than the Apple Watch. It's nice for calendar reminder and text alerts. It's also decent for outdoor runs (if you're not a super athlete, otherwise you probably have a Garmin).
- nkkollaw 9y ago
  Yes, that one they kind of _had_ to do it I guess, uh..?
hug 9y ago
I use mine in all the ways that other people might use a fitbit. It tracks my level of activity (which is somewhere between "horrific" and "terrible"), it tracks my sleep ("excellent") and it gives my my heart rate. It snarkily reminds me when I'm being even lazier than usual, which I probably need. I also use it to control my music on my commute, or when I'm playing music while doing something around the house, and if I have to head into my bedroom, where the blinds are always down, I can tell it to turn on the corner lamp for me. It's massively handy to have Siri on my wrist while cooking: What's half a pound in grams? Also, start a timer for fifteen minutes. I don't have to carry anything else around with me everywhere. I can head over to the store to buy milk and bread, and I don't need to carry my phone or my wallet, even if I want to listen to music on the trip. Where did I leave my phone? I'll ping it from my watch. Where did I leave my keys? I'll ping my tile from my watch. And, y'know, you can do most of this from a phone, that's true. But I do it from my watch, and I quite like it that way.
- nkkollaw 9y ago
  Got it. I guess it's a different way to do certain things that you might like better, and you'll stick to it instead of your phone. Doesn't it bother you to have to recharge it, though?
  - rickycook 9y ago
    about as much as it bothers me to recharge my phone and computer (a little, but it’s fine; i’m asleep)
  - mh8h 9y ago
    It charges pretty quickly. Leave it on the charger while you're taking a shower in the morning, and you're set for the day.
    - DonHopkins 9y ago
      Makes you wonder how Scoble ever found time to charge his Google Glass.
  - ghaff 9y ago
    I think that's the thing a lot of people don't appreciate about various device form factors. Pretty much no one needs them but they're more convenient for certain things. I think this was also true of tablets when they first came out. (And as phones have grown in average size the relative advantages have shrunk.) I don't personally use an Apple Watch. I have a Garmin Fenix that I don't use much. (I usually just wear a $30 Timex.) But I can see why people might like them.
greglindahl 9y ago
Might help you to talk to people you meet who are wearing them. I've worn one since early on and I find it to be incredibly useful to make sure I don't miss any notifications. I used to miss them while walking around because my phone buzzing in my pocket isn't always noticeable.
- nkkollaw 9y ago
  Yes, I don't know anyone who owns one and actually wears it, that's why I'm asking here :-)
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    Fair enough! And I'll fully admit my personal reason probably doesn't apply to too many other people, it's just a function of my jeans not being tight enough. Or something.
    - nkkollaw 9y ago
      It's really true that everyone is different, I spend most of my efforts in trying to _mute_ notifications...
      - rickycook 9y ago
        well, see i’m kind of the same.... i use it as a triage device for what to ignore, rather than having to deal with everything by pulling out the phone
      - greglindahl 9y ago
        Indeed, I've had to be fanatic in using all of the various tools to limit notifications.
litso 9y ago
Personally I find having navigation directions on my wrist very useful, especially when bicycling/walking
- exodust 9y ago
  Wouldn't you want to see a map with place names and streets when walking in an unfamiliar area? I would never wear earbuds while walking around a new place, listening for instructions where to walk. That seems like a step backwards in navigation common sense. Much better to get a visual idea of the area, so you know where you are, distances to expect, and layout of the land... kind of like a normal map! I get that looking at a map is not practical when cycling, but I think most cyclists know exactly where they and following familiar routes.
  - ubermonkey 9y ago
    I suspect you don't know this, but: the Watch provides tactile "nudges" about turns one way or the other. For more complete directions -- and, obviously, a map -- you still have your phone, which is orchestrating the navigational prompts on your wrist. It's useful, when navigating, to be free of the need to stare at one's phone or a map the whole time. That's the boon here. But, again, I note you're the guy who seems really invested in hating the watch -- even to the point of dismissing as invalid reasons another poster enjoys it! -- so it's not clear why I'm replying.
    - exodust 9y ago
      I'd rather be the guy who engages in constructive discussion and criticism than the guy who is "unclear why they reply". Good luck finding clarity.
rrdharan 9y ago
The other day I went out for a 10 mile run (from Brooklyn to Queens) with my Apple Watch and wireless earbuds. I was running to my mechanic to pick up my car which had been serviced. I listened to a couple of podcasts I had downloaded offline with Watch Player. Then I switched to streaming Apple Music. About 5 miles into the run I got a phone call from the mechanic which I answered, to confirm that I was still coming to pick up the vehicle. I also stopped in to a pharmacy and bought an energy bar using Apple Pay. When I got to the mechanic, I picked up the car, and used Apple Maps driving directions to navigate home, while listening to Apple Music, connected to the bluetooth stereo in my car. I was also able to make a phone call to my girlfriend to tell her that I was on my way back and make dinner plans. So yes, people actually use them, and download and use apps.
- alexashka 9y ago
  The thing I find interesting about these stories is: the 500$ watch, is in essence a flip phone, plus an iPod Shuffle, in one. A flip phone and an iPod Shuffle cost me 100$, and a 25$/mo plan, unlimited talk/text, almost 15 years ago. Now we have a flip phone + shuffle on your wrist, for 500$, plus you almost certainly have an iPhone - 50-100$/mo plan, plus what, 200-500$ flat fee for the phone? Oh, how much are those airPods? Add 150$ to that bill. The same functionality from 10-20 years ago, should cost less, not more, if we are to use a little common sense. It feels like Apple's fantastic feel for aesthetics and horrid android offerings, have led people to believe it's reasonable to spend roughly a thousand dollars a year if not more, to do the same things you did 15 years ago for 1/5th if not 1/10 the cost. We're getting the same functionality, in a SLIGHTLY more convenient (arguable) wrapper, and it costs way more! This is the opposite of progress. Before anyone jumps out and tells me how useful their 'smart'-phone is, let me remind you the most used apps on there are pure empty entertainment (social media, games), with very questionable long-term costs (I predict an epidemic of neck and shoulder problems hitting the developed countries in the next 20-30 years)
  - brisance 9y ago
    Are you being serious? Can your flip phone from 20 years ago fit on your wrist? Can it track your heart rate?
microtherion 9y ago
[Apple engineer, not directly working on the watch] * Clock functionality (duh!) * Calendar - what's my next appointment. * Check the weather before I step outside. * Walking directions on maps - keep phone in pocket, get guided by discrete tap on my wrist. * Fitness tracking (though, as you mention, there are other options) * Notifications (the power of the watch is that you DON'T have to take your phone out of your pocket). * Apple Pay (that's a big one for me. Much more convenient on watch than on phone). * Automatically unlocks my macs when I sit down to use them. A handful of these are third party apps. I use Trails to track my walks. The lyft widget seems kind of useful. Wunderground is better than Apple's built in weather app.
- exodust 9y ago
  Not convincing reasons. We can assume from their question they are happy to use their phone for most if not all of what you list.
  - acdha 9y ago
    There’s a difference between capable and convenient. The watch is a great way to have less disruption for many of those tasks. One example: I never use siri on my phone - it’s too slow and flaky and typing is so much faster. I use Siri on my watch all the time because they apparently have a better QA team and I don’t need two hands to use it which is really good on my bike or as a new parent, especially now that our son is jealous of attention going to a phone.
    - exodust 9y ago
      Your son's jealously is a good point. It extends to adults too... it's rude when friends and family stare at their phones too much. Some people use their phones more efficiently than others by combining tasks in the one session. More info can be read, more browsed on the large screen. On the other hand, some people use their phones in part to avoid social awkwardness, or fill in otherwise restful moments. This is significant because it's behaviour many wouldn't want to give up, even if we should. It raises the question of how connected to things we ought to be, a watch means you are more "jacked in" permanently. I'm not sure I want that. When I put my phone away in my bag, I'm putting the internet away, I've "disconnected". A watch feels like it's always there ready to pounce.
brisance 9y ago
First, fix your attitude. You don't use it and you think it's the "most useless piece of electronics you've ever seen." So you've committed to your position before even giving the product a chance. I'm still using my Series 0 on a daily basis. I use it for: 1. telling the time (duh) 2. as an activity tracker 3. unlocking my Mac 4. Apple Pay 5. Discreet notifications As for battery recharging, it's a minor inconvenience but not a deal breaker. I thought it would be an issue but it isn't. A non-tech wise old man said "I'll just follow my routine and charge it by my bedside every night". Even if you don't follow the routine and forget about charging it, it recharges relatively quickly.
- lloeki 9y ago
  > "I'll just follow my routine and charge it by my bedside every night". Even if you don't follow the routine and forget about charging it, it recharges relatively quickly. That's if you can charge it. I (and a couple of friends) routinely sleep out of our own home for a couple or three days on a whim. We can easily come by Lightning or micro-USB chargers if need be but we'd be hard pressed to find a smartwatch charger†, which means a dead watch soon enough. † Qi largely isn't popular enough, and even then if it were an Apple Watch it's been walled into only working with Apple's chargers.
  - jackvalentine 9y ago
    Do you take spare underwear with you when you sleep at someone else’s house?
scarface74 9y ago
This is like the old "I don't even own a TV, do people still watch TV?" Sales are showing someone likes it.
tonyedgecombe 9y ago
I also struggle to understand why people buy it, when the rumours about it started I actually thought it was a deliberate misdirection aimed at Samsung et al. Looking at the responses to your post there are clearly some fans here, I do wonder though how many are sat with a flat battery in a drawer somewhere.
freetime2 9y ago
Responding specifically to the question of whether people actually "download and use apps"... while I love my apple watch series 1 and wear it every day, I pretty much never use 3rd party apps. To me the apple watch is all about getting notifications, checking important info at a glance (e.g. date and time or my next meeting), and activity tracking. I hate actually interacting with the thing for the most part, and find anything more complex than dismissing a notification to be cumbersome. And since the series 1 only works when tethered to my phone, it's usually easier to go pick up my phone (which isn't too far away) than to mess around with my watch. I think that changes a bit with the series 3 and LTE support. I would be willing to deal with cumbersome interfaces more frequently if it meant I could leave my phone at home and still have access to essential functions (phone calls, text messages, etc). And I could see myself downloading a lot more 3rd party apps to have with me just in case (slack, 1password, authy, etc). The only thing stopping me from getting the series 3 is the fact that I get cell service through a cheap MVNO that doesn't support the apple watch yet. Hopefully it's just a matter of time now before it is possible to use apple watch LTE service with MVNOs.
- drewg123 9y ago
  I had the same experience on Android Wear -- interacting with apps is painful. Further, apps on the watch tend to run the battery down faster. So I wound up removing all the 3rd party apps that I'd downloaded anyway. I discovered that if all you want is activity tracking, notifications and calendar, other brands of watch do this for far less money without the hassle of charging every day. Check out some of the newer Garmin or Fitbit watches.
draw_down 9y ago
It’s the most popular watch in the world.
saturdaysaint 9y ago
I was a skeptic for a while, but bought an S3 when it came out and have really enjoyed it. Reasons I see myself wearing it every day for the foreseeable future: -Mainly, it's a very handy, very low-distraction way of getting notifications. The vibration is a lot more noticeable/unmistakable than a phone through a pair of pants, so I find myself doing far less habitual checking of my phone (or watch, for that matter). You can really tune out of your phone/social media, but respond to an urgent text/call. -IMHO, at work, checking my wrist is a much better "look" than scrolling through my phone notifications (and, tbh, often getting distracted and checking in on news). -Having weather info available at a glance is surprisingly nice. I live in Michigan, so it's often consequential information - having it at the flip of a wrist instead of even opening an app or asking Siri is, believe it or not, a really nice benefit. -Having a watchface with a rotating collection of Live Photos is a great way of showing off my kids to people without handing them my full photo collection.
ubermonkey 9y ago
I've found the overall utility to be pretty huge, at least for me. 1. My default face includes my next appointment from my calendar. This is really useful. 2. Notifications are GREAT. Meeting coming up? Call coming in? Text? Important email? Something else (yeah, okay, I even let a game send me watch notifications)? It's useful to me to have this on my wrist. 3. Even better: Being able to easily acknowledge or even reply to texts from the watch is super, super useful to me. A good chunk of the appeal here is that I'm a cyclist, so I can do this at a stop light without needing to pull my phone out of my jersey pocket, but it's also great generally. 4. Quick access to things like timers, weather forecasts, my calendar, etc -- again, without reaching for my phone -- is a real boon. The way Apple has implemented this is natural and easy. 5. My initial use case was running + bike notifications, because my OG Pebble had died (which I always used when riding) and I was training for a half. I tried a lower-end Garmin, but it was pants. The S0 Apple Watch + the Strava app was GREAT for this, though. 6. It's hard to overstate how useful the watch is for remote control of music on the phone. I use this the most when I'm on my cycling trainer, but it's also great just generally, because it's always RIGHT THERE. 7. Finally, I will admit that I use the "make your phone emit a pinging sound" feature VERY often, because I tend to misplace it in my house. My wife, bless her heart, is very nice about not pointing out how often the resulting chime turns out to come from one of my pockets. 8. Ah, forgot about ApplePay! It's SO convenient from the watch. Using it from the phone is good, and still faster than a chip card (US), but paying from the watch is nearly frictionless. I love it.

fossuser 9y ago

As someone else who buys pretty much everything Apple releases the homepod is definitely more useless than the Apple Watch. It's nice for calendar reminder and text alerts. It's also decent for outdoor runs (if you're not a super athlete, otherwise you probably have a Garmin).

nkkollaw 9y ago
Yes, that one they kind of _had_ to do it I guess, uh..?

hug 9y ago

I use mine in all the ways that other people might use a fitbit. It tracks my level of activity (which is somewhere between "horrific" and "terrible"), it tracks my sleep ("excellent") and it gives my my heart rate. It snarkily reminds me when I'm being even lazier than usual, which I probably need. I also use it to control my music on my commute, or when I'm playing music while doing something around the house, and if I have to head into my bedroom, where the blinds are always down, I can tell it to turn on the corner lamp for me. It's massively handy to have Siri on my wrist while cooking: What's half a pound in grams? Also, start a timer for fifteen minutes. I don't have to carry anything else around with me everywhere. I can head over to the store to buy milk and bread, and I don't need to carry my phone or my wallet, even if I want to listen to music on the trip. Where did I leave my phone? I'll ping it from my watch. Where did I leave my keys? I'll ping my tile from my watch. And, y'know, you can do most of this from a phone, that's true. But I do it from my watch, and I quite like it that way.

nkkollaw 9y ago
Got it. I guess it's a different way to do certain things that you might like better, and you'll stick to it instead of your phone. Doesn't it bother you to have to recharge it, though?
- rickycook 9y ago
  about as much as it bothers me to recharge my phone and computer (a little, but it’s fine; i’m asleep)
- mh8h 9y ago
  It charges pretty quickly. Leave it on the charger while you're taking a shower in the morning, and you're set for the day.
  - DonHopkins 9y ago
    Makes you wonder how Scoble ever found time to charge his Google Glass.
- ghaff 9y ago
  I think that's the thing a lot of people don't appreciate about various device form factors. Pretty much no one needs them but they're more convenient for certain things. I think this was also true of tablets when they first came out. (And as phones have grown in average size the relative advantages have shrunk.) I don't personally use an Apple Watch. I have a Garmin Fenix that I don't use much. (I usually just wear a $30 Timex.) But I can see why people might like them.

greglindahl 9y ago

Might help you to talk to people you meet who are wearing them. I've worn one since early on and I find it to be incredibly useful to make sure I don't miss any notifications. I used to miss them while walking around because my phone buzzing in my pocket isn't always noticeable.

nkkollaw 9y ago
Yes, I don't know anyone who owns one and actually wears it, that's why I'm asking here :-)
- greglindahl 9y ago
  Fair enough! And I'll fully admit my personal reason probably doesn't apply to too many other people, it's just a function of my jeans not being tight enough. Or something.
  - nkkollaw 9y ago
    It's really true that everyone is different, I spend most of my efforts in trying to _mute_ notifications...
    - rickycook 9y ago
      well, see i’m kind of the same.... i use it as a triage device for what to ignore, rather than having to deal with everything by pulling out the phone
    - greglindahl 9y ago
      Indeed, I've had to be fanatic in using all of the various tools to limit notifications.

litso 9y ago

Personally I find having navigation directions on my wrist very useful, especially when bicycling/walking

exodust 9y ago
Wouldn't you want to see a map with place names and streets when walking in an unfamiliar area? I would never wear earbuds while walking around a new place, listening for instructions where to walk. That seems like a step backwards in navigation common sense. Much better to get a visual idea of the area, so you know where you are, distances to expect, and layout of the land... kind of like a normal map! I get that looking at a map is not practical when cycling, but I think most cyclists know exactly where they and following familiar routes.
- ubermonkey 9y ago
  I suspect you don't know this, but: the Watch provides tactile "nudges" about turns one way or the other. For more complete directions -- and, obviously, a map -- you still have your phone, which is orchestrating the navigational prompts on your wrist. It's useful, when navigating, to be free of the need to stare at one's phone or a map the whole time. That's the boon here. But, again, I note you're the guy who seems really invested in hating the watch -- even to the point of dismissing as invalid reasons another poster enjoys it! -- so it's not clear why I'm replying.
  - exodust 9y ago
    I'd rather be the guy who engages in constructive discussion and criticism than the guy who is "unclear why they reply". Good luck finding clarity.

rrdharan 9y ago

The other day I went out for a 10 mile run (from Brooklyn to Queens) with my Apple Watch and wireless earbuds. I was running to my mechanic to pick up my car which had been serviced. I listened to a couple of podcasts I had downloaded offline with Watch Player. Then I switched to streaming Apple Music. About 5 miles into the run I got a phone call from the mechanic which I answered, to confirm that I was still coming to pick up the vehicle. I also stopped in to a pharmacy and bought an energy bar using Apple Pay. When I got to the mechanic, I picked up the car, and used Apple Maps driving directions to navigate home, while listening to Apple Music, connected to the bluetooth stereo in my car. I was also able to make a phone call to my girlfriend to tell her that I was on my way back and make dinner plans. So yes, people actually use them, and download and use apps.

alexashka 9y ago
The thing I find interesting about these stories is: the 500$ watch, is in essence a flip phone, plus an iPod Shuffle, in one. A flip phone and an iPod Shuffle cost me 100$, and a 25$/mo plan, unlimited talk/text, almost 15 years ago. Now we have a flip phone + shuffle on your wrist, for 500$, plus you almost certainly have an iPhone - 50-100$/mo plan, plus what, 200-500$ flat fee for the phone? Oh, how much are those airPods? Add 150$ to that bill. The same functionality from 10-20 years ago, should cost less, not more, if we are to use a little common sense. It feels like Apple's fantastic feel for aesthetics and horrid android offerings, have led people to believe it's reasonable to spend roughly a thousand dollars a year if not more, to do the same things you did 15 years ago for 1/5th if not 1/10 the cost. We're getting the same functionality, in a SLIGHTLY more convenient (arguable) wrapper, and it costs way more! This is the opposite of progress. Before anyone jumps out and tells me how useful their 'smart'-phone is, let me remind you the most used apps on there are pure empty entertainment (social media, games), with very questionable long-term costs (I predict an epidemic of neck and shoulder problems hitting the developed countries in the next 20-30 years)
- brisance 9y ago
  Are you being serious? Can your flip phone from 20 years ago fit on your wrist? Can it track your heart rate?

microtherion 9y ago

[Apple engineer, not directly working on the watch] * Clock functionality (duh!) * Calendar - what's my next appointment. * Check the weather before I step outside. * Walking directions on maps - keep phone in pocket, get guided by discrete tap on my wrist. * Fitness tracking (though, as you mention, there are other options) * Notifications (the power of the watch is that you DON'T have to take your phone out of your pocket). * Apple Pay (that's a big one for me. Much more convenient on watch than on phone). * Automatically unlocks my macs when I sit down to use them. A handful of these are third party apps. I use Trails to track my walks. The lyft widget seems kind of useful. Wunderground is better than Apple's built in weather app.

exodust 9y ago
Not convincing reasons. We can assume from their question they are happy to use their phone for most if not all of what you list.
- acdha 9y ago
  There’s a difference between capable and convenient. The watch is a great way to have less disruption for many of those tasks. One example: I never use siri on my phone - it’s too slow and flaky and typing is so much faster. I use Siri on my watch all the time because they apparently have a better QA team and I don’t need two hands to use it which is really good on my bike or as a new parent, especially now that our son is jealous of attention going to a phone.
  - exodust 9y ago
    Your son's jealously is a good point. It extends to adults too... it's rude when friends and family stare at their phones too much. Some people use their phones more efficiently than others by combining tasks in the one session. More info can be read, more browsed on the large screen. On the other hand, some people use their phones in part to avoid social awkwardness, or fill in otherwise restful moments. This is significant because it's behaviour many wouldn't want to give up, even if we should. It raises the question of how connected to things we ought to be, a watch means you are more "jacked in" permanently. I'm not sure I want that. When I put my phone away in my bag, I'm putting the internet away, I've "disconnected". A watch feels like it's always there ready to pounce.

brisance 9y ago

First, fix your attitude. You don't use it and you think it's the "most useless piece of electronics you've ever seen." So you've committed to your position before even giving the product a chance. I'm still using my Series 0 on a daily basis. I use it for: 1. telling the time (duh) 2. as an activity tracker 3. unlocking my Mac 4. Apple Pay 5. Discreet notifications As for battery recharging, it's a minor inconvenience but not a deal breaker. I thought it would be an issue but it isn't. A non-tech wise old man said "I'll just follow my routine and charge it by my bedside every night". Even if you don't follow the routine and forget about charging it, it recharges relatively quickly.

lloeki 9y ago
> "I'll just follow my routine and charge it by my bedside every night". Even if you don't follow the routine and forget about charging it, it recharges relatively quickly. That's if you can charge it. I (and a couple of friends) routinely sleep out of our own home for a couple or three days on a whim. We can easily come by Lightning or micro-USB chargers if need be but we'd be hard pressed to find a smartwatch charger†, which means a dead watch soon enough. † Qi largely isn't popular enough, and even then if it were an Apple Watch it's been walled into only working with Apple's chargers.
- jackvalentine 9y ago
  Do you take spare underwear with you when you sleep at someone else’s house?

scarface74 9y ago

This is like the old "I don't even own a TV, do people still watch TV?" Sales are showing someone likes it.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago

I also struggle to understand why people buy it, when the rumours about it started I actually thought it was a deliberate misdirection aimed at Samsung et al. Looking at the responses to your post there are clearly some fans here, I do wonder though how many are sat with a flat battery in a drawer somewhere.

freetime2 9y ago

Responding specifically to the question of whether people actually "download and use apps"... while I love my apple watch series 1 and wear it every day, I pretty much never use 3rd party apps. To me the apple watch is all about getting notifications, checking important info at a glance (e.g. date and time or my next meeting), and activity tracking. I hate actually interacting with the thing for the most part, and find anything more complex than dismissing a notification to be cumbersome. And since the series 1 only works when tethered to my phone, it's usually easier to go pick up my phone (which isn't too far away) than to mess around with my watch. I think that changes a bit with the series 3 and LTE support. I would be willing to deal with cumbersome interfaces more frequently if it meant I could leave my phone at home and still have access to essential functions (phone calls, text messages, etc). And I could see myself downloading a lot more 3rd party apps to have with me just in case (slack, 1password, authy, etc). The only thing stopping me from getting the series 3 is the fact that I get cell service through a cheap MVNO that doesn't support the apple watch yet. Hopefully it's just a matter of time now before it is possible to use apple watch LTE service with MVNOs.

drewg123 9y ago
I had the same experience on Android Wear -- interacting with apps is painful. Further, apps on the watch tend to run the battery down faster. So I wound up removing all the 3rd party apps that I'd downloaded anyway. I discovered that if all you want is activity tracking, notifications and calendar, other brands of watch do this for far less money without the hassle of charging every day. Check out some of the newer Garmin or Fitbit watches.

draw_down 9y ago

It’s the most popular watch in the world.

saturdaysaint 9y ago

I was a skeptic for a while, but bought an S3 when it came out and have really enjoyed it. Reasons I see myself wearing it every day for the foreseeable future: -Mainly, it's a very handy, very low-distraction way of getting notifications. The vibration is a lot more noticeable/unmistakable than a phone through a pair of pants, so I find myself doing far less habitual checking of my phone (or watch, for that matter). You can really tune out of your phone/social media, but respond to an urgent text/call. -IMHO, at work, checking my wrist is a much better "look" than scrolling through my phone notifications (and, tbh, often getting distracted and checking in on news). -Having weather info available at a glance is surprisingly nice. I live in Michigan, so it's often consequential information - having it at the flip of a wrist instead of even opening an app or asking Siri is, believe it or not, a really nice benefit. -Having a watchface with a rotating collection of Live Photos is a great way of showing off my kids to people without handing them my full photo collection.

ubermonkey 9y ago

I've found the overall utility to be pretty huge, at least for me. 1. My default face includes my next appointment from my calendar. This is really useful. 2. Notifications are GREAT. Meeting coming up? Call coming in? Text? Important email? Something else (yeah, okay, I even let a game send me watch notifications)? It's useful to me to have this on my wrist. 3. Even better: Being able to easily acknowledge or even reply to texts from the watch is super, super useful to me. A good chunk of the appeal here is that I'm a cyclist, so I can do this at a stop light without needing to pull my phone out of my jersey pocket, but it's also great generally. 4. Quick access to things like timers, weather forecasts, my calendar, etc -- again, without reaching for my phone -- is a real boon. The way Apple has implemented this is natural and easy. 5. My initial use case was running + bike notifications, because my OG Pebble had died (which I always used when riding) and I was training for a half. I tried a lower-end Garmin, but it was pants. The S0 Apple Watch + the Strava app was GREAT for this, though. 6. It's hard to overstate how useful the watch is for remote control of music on the phone. I use this the most when I'm on my cycling trainer, but it's also great just generally, because it's always RIGHT THERE. 7. Finally, I will admit that I use the "make your phone emit a pinging sound" feature VERY often, because I tend to misplace it in my house. My wife, bless her heart, is very nice about not pointing out how often the resulting chime turns out to come from one of my pockets. 8. Ah, forgot about ApplePay! It's SO convenient from the watch. Using it from the phone is good, and still faster than a chip card (US), but paying from the watch is nearly frictionless. I love it.