I had the exact same thoughts, roughly, and then I got one at Google IO. When I'm not at the house, it's a godsend. I barely use my phone anymore, and instead

I had the exact same thoughts, roughly, and then I got one at Google IO. When I'm not at the house, it's a godsend. I barely use my phone anymore, and instead just pick up my wrist, say "Ok Google, text wife", a brief pause, and then "Can you pick up some milk? We're running out." It saves battery life on the phone like whoa, is convenient to know when messages are coming in, but (IMO) less distracting than ringtones. It allows me to wait for urgent messages while I'm in a meeting without disturbing anyone else, and without obviously picking up my phone every few minutes to check for them. Beyond that, they're much easier (and maybe even safer) to use while driving. At the least, I avoid the whole rummaging-through-my-pocket-to-pull-my-phone-out-because-it-vibrated bit.