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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 wh

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?
  - alexashka 9y ago
    Let me simplify my points: - iPod Shuffle weighed LESS than Apple Watch, and cost 1/5th the price. I think it had comparable battery life or better? - Flip phone cost almost nothing 15 years ago, there has been no progress in the way we make phonecalls or send text messages over the past 15 years. Now, iPhone does MORE than a flip phone, apple watch does MORE than an ipod shuffle. How much more? 5 times more? Because the pricetag is 5 times more. Now, progress, is when you pay LESS for the same thing you had 15 years ago, because it is now CHEAPER to produce, test, and deliver that same product. So to re-iterate: - Same functionality should cost the same or LESS. It should be BETTER for the same price. - More convenient form factor and extra !!!OPTIONAL!!! features are great and welcome, I'd be willing to pay 10-15% more for them. - Apple products have gone UP in price, while providing absolutely no extra UTILITY. You're paying incredible prices for nice-to-haves that most people do not need (heart rate monitor, better camera, more pixels, better pixels)
    - brisance 9y ago
      I didn't realize there were Amish on the internet with a HN account but here we are. How's the horse and buggy doing? If we held true to your beliefs, we would still be running around with fig leaves or loin cloths. The market is the final arbiter of what makes a successful product. Not your perception of what constitutes value or utility.
    - scarface74 9y ago
      I couldn't use my shuffle to track my pace in real time, stream millions of songs over the internet, track my heart rate or take phone calls.
    - somebadguy 9y ago
      You’re a moron. A dumb socially inept moron
- brownbat 9y ago
  I've run a few miles with a phone and a shuffle before. I don't think it's the same experience as running with just a smartwatch. There's less dread that you're going to drop and destroy an expensive heavy device if you focus on your run. I also didn't and don't pay anything near your prices, and don't find Apple's aesthetics that great, or Android's offerings that horrible.
  - michaelt 9y ago
    There's less dread that you're going to drop and destroy an expensive heavy device if you focus on your run. I run with a phone all the time - I just make sure my shorts have decent pockets. I can get a lot of pairs of shorts for the $400 list price of a GPS + Cellular Apple watch :)
    - brownbat 9y ago
      I found it annoying to strap a weight to one of my legs, or have it pound against me when sprinting. So cuffs and straps come into play, and the fun of choking off circulation, all while making it difficult to access any controls. And again, 400 is a silly price to pay for small tech, but that's not a criticism of watches, it's a criticism of Apple. Did you see the teardown of Beats headphones and their cheap components? There are lots of lousy ways to conspicuously give Apple too much money without watches. You could get a cheap smartphone and an entry level watch for a third of the price of some people's iPhones, and if you share my somewhat odd preferences, have a better experience for it.
- scarface74 9y ago
  I bought a Garmin GPS watch years ago that was larger, less battery life, and you had to have a chest strap to measure heart rate. I loved it for tracking my time and my pace. The thought of having a watch that is better in all dimensions and is smaller is amazing. On top of that it has cellular. I also tried running with just my phone using Nike+ GPS back in the day and quickly went back to my Garmin watch.
  - drewg123 9y ago
    The Garmin watches have come a long way. I bought a 645 Music. The key feature for me over Apple or Android watches is battery life. The Garmin does many of the same things that the AW does (always-on screen, GPS, music via BT headphones, 24 hr heart rate monitoring, notifications, weather, etc). The last time I charged it was Monday, and I've done a 1 hour GPS sport activity, and other indoor activities this week. It is currently sitting at > 50% battery remaining. And this is with a lot of "fiddling" that you do with a new toy, which I'm sure runs down battery life more. I'm coming from an Android Wear based Polar M600. It was nice, but Android Wear 2.0 was a bit of a dumpster fire and kind of ruined it (random battery rundown, Music removed on every f/w update, hard to sync Music, could not shuffle Music after Android Wear 2.0 update). In the end, I could not count on more than 8hr of battery life unless I put it in airplane mode with the screen off. Before I settled on the Garmin, my Nexus died. I was seriously considering switching to an iPhone just to be able to use an Apple Watch. But then I learned that the AW3 has a battery life of only 18 hours. So I just updated to a Pixel and got the Garmin. It seems like using Android / iOS for a watch OS may just be the problem. I was also considering the Fitbit Ionic, which has a comparable battery life to the Garmin. There just don't seem to be any Android Wear watches with a 5+ day battery life.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- draw_down 9y ago
  Apple Pay and GPS are missing from that equation, so, no.
- rrdharan 9y ago
  Real-time traffic and payment would not have been possible with the flip phone and shuffle. I’ve had both (though I ran shorter distances when I had a flip phone). The traffic directions are pretty important when you’re driving in NYC during rush hour.
test1235 9y ago
It seems like you use your watch quite extensively. What, in your opinion, are the negatives points of the watch?
- rrdharan 9y ago
  Apps are severely limited by the WatchKit SDK/API limitations that Marco Arment and others have covered. I've gone through several different podcast apps, and I'm now on Outcast which seems to work ok but still has annoyances: https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/30/outcast-apple-watch-podcast-app/ https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/30/outcast-apple-watch-podcast-a... Battery life can drain quite rapidly if you leave your cell antenna on during a run. It seems like they should figure out a way to more intelligently toggle the antenna or define a different use case where I don't have to go remember to go turn it back on if I actively want to use data but in the meantime it remains disabled (and if I don't receive incoming calls that's maybe ok? Despite the example in my original post...). I wish Yelp and some other apps would operate in standalone mode without the phone. This is likely related to the SDK limitations, but it's also a matter of app developer priorities of course.
nkkollaw 9y ago
So, you used Apple Maps and you were actually able to get home..?

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?
- alexashka 9y ago
  Let me simplify my points: - iPod Shuffle weighed LESS than Apple Watch, and cost 1/5th the price. I think it had comparable battery life or better? - Flip phone cost almost nothing 15 years ago, there has been no progress in the way we make phonecalls or send text messages over the past 15 years. Now, iPhone does MORE than a flip phone, apple watch does MORE than an ipod shuffle. How much more? 5 times more? Because the pricetag is 5 times more. Now, progress, is when you pay LESS for the same thing you had 15 years ago, because it is now CHEAPER to produce, test, and deliver that same product. So to re-iterate: - Same functionality should cost the same or LESS. It should be BETTER for the same price. - More convenient form factor and extra !!!OPTIONAL!!! features are great and welcome, I'd be willing to pay 10-15% more for them. - Apple products have gone UP in price, while providing absolutely no extra UTILITY. You're paying incredible prices for nice-to-haves that most people do not need (heart rate monitor, better camera, more pixels, better pixels)
  - brisance 9y ago
    I didn't realize there were Amish on the internet with a HN account but here we are. How's the horse and buggy doing? If we held true to your beliefs, we would still be running around with fig leaves or loin cloths. The market is the final arbiter of what makes a successful product. Not your perception of what constitutes value or utility.
  - scarface74 9y ago
    I couldn't use my shuffle to track my pace in real time, stream millions of songs over the internet, track my heart rate or take phone calls.
  - somebadguy 9y ago
    You’re a moron. A dumb socially inept moron
brownbat 9y ago
I've run a few miles with a phone and a shuffle before. I don't think it's the same experience as running with just a smartwatch. There's less dread that you're going to drop and destroy an expensive heavy device if you focus on your run. I also didn't and don't pay anything near your prices, and don't find Apple's aesthetics that great, or Android's offerings that horrible.
- michaelt 9y ago
  There's less dread that you're going to drop and destroy an expensive heavy device if you focus on your run. I run with a phone all the time - I just make sure my shorts have decent pockets. I can get a lot of pairs of shorts for the $400 list price of a GPS + Cellular Apple watch :)
  - brownbat 9y ago
    I found it annoying to strap a weight to one of my legs, or have it pound against me when sprinting. So cuffs and straps come into play, and the fun of choking off circulation, all while making it difficult to access any controls. And again, 400 is a silly price to pay for small tech, but that's not a criticism of watches, it's a criticism of Apple. Did you see the teardown of Beats headphones and their cheap components? There are lots of lousy ways to conspicuously give Apple too much money without watches. You could get a cheap smartphone and an entry level watch for a third of the price of some people's iPhones, and if you share my somewhat odd preferences, have a better experience for it.
scarface74 9y ago
I bought a Garmin GPS watch years ago that was larger, less battery life, and you had to have a chest strap to measure heart rate. I loved it for tracking my time and my pace. The thought of having a watch that is better in all dimensions and is smaller is amazing. On top of that it has cellular. I also tried running with just my phone using Nike+ GPS back in the day and quickly went back to my Garmin watch.
- drewg123 9y ago
  The Garmin watches have come a long way. I bought a 645 Music. The key feature for me over Apple or Android watches is battery life. The Garmin does many of the same things that the AW does (always-on screen, GPS, music via BT headphones, 24 hr heart rate monitoring, notifications, weather, etc). The last time I charged it was Monday, and I've done a 1 hour GPS sport activity, and other indoor activities this week. It is currently sitting at > 50% battery remaining. And this is with a lot of "fiddling" that you do with a new toy, which I'm sure runs down battery life more. I'm coming from an Android Wear based Polar M600. It was nice, but Android Wear 2.0 was a bit of a dumpster fire and kind of ruined it (random battery rundown, Music removed on every f/w update, hard to sync Music, could not shuffle Music after Android Wear 2.0 update). In the end, I could not count on more than 8hr of battery life unless I put it in airplane mode with the screen off. Before I settled on the Garmin, my Nexus died. I was seriously considering switching to an iPhone just to be able to use an Apple Watch. But then I learned that the AW3 has a battery life of only 18 hours. So I just updated to a Pixel and got the Garmin. It seems like using Android / iOS for a watch OS may just be the problem. I was also considering the Fitbit Ionic, which has a comparable battery life to the Garmin. There just don't seem to be any Android Wear watches with a 5+ day battery life.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
draw_down 9y ago
Apple Pay and GPS are missing from that equation, so, no.
rrdharan 9y ago
Real-time traffic and payment would not have been possible with the flip phone and shuffle. I’ve had both (though I ran shorter distances when I had a flip phone). The traffic directions are pretty important when you’re driving in NYC during rush hour.

test1235 9y ago

It seems like you use your watch quite extensively. What, in your opinion, are the negatives points of the watch?

rrdharan 9y ago
Apps are severely limited by the WatchKit SDK/API limitations that Marco Arment and others have covered. I've gone through several different podcast apps, and I'm now on Outcast which seems to work ok but still has annoyances: https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/30/outcast-apple-watch-podcast-app/ https://9to5mac.com/2018/01/30/outcast-apple-watch-podcast-a... Battery life can drain quite rapidly if you leave your cell antenna on during a run. It seems like they should figure out a way to more intelligently toggle the antenna or define a different use case where I don't have to go remember to go turn it back on if I actively want to use data but in the meantime it remains disabled (and if I don't receive incoming calls that's maybe ok? Despite the example in my original post...). I wish Yelp and some other apps would operate in standalone mode without the phone. This is likely related to the SDK limitations, but it's also a matter of app developer priorities of course.

nkkollaw 9y ago

So, you used Apple Maps and you were actually able to get home..?