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Honestly, I've been pretty happy with my Apple Watch. It's a lot of small things. I use my phone a lot less; something I didn't expect. As an engineering man

by wdr1 11y ago

Honestly, I've been pretty happy with my Apple Watch. It's a lot of small things. I use my phone a lot less; something I didn't expect. As an engineering managers, I attend a lot of meetings. It's super convenient to just glance at my watch to find out which conference room I need to head to next. Get a silent taptic alert lets me know we need to start wrapping things up. When I get a text, I can glace & see if it's something urgent or not. Much less disruptive than taking out my phone. Traveling this weekend, I found it helpful at the airport. Passbook integration is nice. I just tap & my Southwest UPC boarding code is right there. I can even scroll it up a bit to show I'm TSA Pre at security. The countdown clock is nice when grilling. Battery life so far hasn't been a problem for me. The biggest test for me was on the ~4 hour flight mentioned above. I failed to put the watch in airplane mode, but it lasted from ~8:30am to midnight. I did have a low battery alert at end, but it didn't die. The remote app is convenient for controlling Apple TV. (At home, I empty my pockets into a dish, so I usually sit down, then realize I have to go fishing for the Apple TV remote or my phone.) Things like camera & the iTunes controller I haven't used, but I could see the point. I sometimes have my phone outside by a bluetooth speaker to power music for BBQs, etc. Being able to control it remotely is nice. Obviously, not an everyday thing, but nice when you need them. Of course it's not perfect. I've had it spontaneously reboot once or twice. Not all my wrist movements trigger the screen display. It can lag in responsiveness every now & then. A lot of third party apps were clearly created in a emulator & people are still figuring out the space. The biggest question to me boils down to the price point. If it was a $100, no-brainer. This is a homerun, everyone will get one. But for $400? Harder question. Honestly, I'd be inclined to say that's what is going to limit its appeal, but then I remember thinking that exact thing about my original iPhone & original iPad.

exodust 11y ago
Sounds like you're still in the honeymoon phase, if I may be so cynical. Your first example mentions "when I get a text, I can glance and see if it's something urgent or not". In reality, truly "urgent" messages are rare. Most people incorrectly call "important" messages, "urgent". If you're using your phone or other devices anyway at regular intervals in the day, "important" messages will be covered along with the rest. This is more efficient that dealing with messages in a granular per-message workflow. Sure, some people really do get urgent texts, like "website down" etc, but those people are IT support staff. What I mean is, the examples you mention can and often are covered by other devices that you're already using. Apple TV, again... when it comes to browsing or searching for things to watch, your phone or tablet will need to come out. I find it difficult to imagine you would not bother getting your phone for the rest of the evening because "it's in the dish with your keys and you have your apple watch"... I don't buy that! I think you retrieve your phone from the dish at some point. Countdown clock is not a smartwatch feature, you can get that on a regular watch. Not sure why you'd mention that as a plus for a $400 Apple Watch. For kitchen countdown clocks, nothing beats those cheap k-mart fridge magnet timers. Batteries last for ages, and they're always ready to go, dedicated to the task, you don't need to "open the countdown app". Controlling bluetooth speaker: Most of the time you want your playlist visible, or browsing list of songs. For that you'll need a phone. For skipping and volume, yes the watch would be handy, but... again, you're supposedly using a smartphone as the source music device, so the apple watch just gets in the way. And if someone else at the BBQ connects their phone to the speaker, suddenly your watch is no longer paired with the speaker.
- wdr1 11y ago
  > In reality, truly "urgent" messages are rare. Most people incorrectly call "important" messages, "urgent". Perhaps triage is better. My wife texts me to know our son's doctor is fine. Not urgent, nice to know. > What I mean is, the examples you mention can and often are covered by other devices that you're already using. That's true. But that was also true when I got the iPhone & iPad. > Countdown clock is not a smartwatch feature, you can get that on a regular watch. Not sure why you'd mention that as a plus for a $400 Apple Watch. Just a way I used it that's different from what I did with my watch before. (My prior watch was a self winding Hamilton.)

by wdr1 11y ago

exodust 11y ago

Sounds like you're still in the honeymoon phase, if I may be so cynical. Your first example mentions "when I get a text, I can glance and see if it's something urgent or not". In reality, truly "urgent" messages are rare. Most people incorrectly call "important" messages, "urgent". If you're using your phone or other devices anyway at regular intervals in the day, "important" messages will be covered along with the rest. This is more efficient that dealing with messages in a granular per-message workflow. Sure, some people really do get urgent texts, like "website down" etc, but those people are IT support staff. What I mean is, the examples you mention can and often are covered by other devices that you're already using. Apple TV, again... when it comes to browsing or searching for things to watch, your phone or tablet will need to come out. I find it difficult to imagine you would not bother getting your phone for the rest of the evening because "it's in the dish with your keys and you have your apple watch"... I don't buy that! I think you retrieve your phone from the dish at some point. Countdown clock is not a smartwatch feature, you can get that on a regular watch. Not sure why you'd mention that as a plus for a $400 Apple Watch. For kitchen countdown clocks, nothing beats those cheap k-mart fridge magnet timers. Batteries last for ages, and they're always ready to go, dedicated to the task, you don't need to "open the countdown app". Controlling bluetooth speaker: Most of the time you want your playlist visible, or browsing list of songs. For that you'll need a phone. For skipping and volume, yes the watch would be handy, but... again, you're supposedly using a smartphone as the source music device, so the apple watch just gets in the way. And if someone else at the BBQ connects their phone to the speaker, suddenly your watch is no longer paired with the speaker.

wdr1 11y ago
> In reality, truly "urgent" messages are rare. Most people incorrectly call "important" messages, "urgent". Perhaps triage is better. My wife texts me to know our son's doctor is fine. Not urgent, nice to know. > What I mean is, the examples you mention can and often are covered by other devices that you're already using. That's true. But that was also true when I got the iPhone & iPad. > Countdown clock is not a smartwatch feature, you can get that on a regular watch. Not sure why you'd mention that as a plus for a $400 Apple Watch. Just a way I used it that's different from what I did with my watch before. (My prior watch was a self winding Hamilton.)