Domain: skagen.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to skagen.com.
Comments · 9
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Re:Nobody cares.
My laptop is good at being a calculator. It's a two-keystroke combination to bring up something where I can type quick calculations, it has better editing facilities than any stand-alone calculator I've used, and I can copy a simple calculation and stick it into a proper programming language for really complicated things. Most importantly, I'm already using my laptop 99% of the time that I want a calculator, so there's less overhead from using my laptop as one than there is of switching to a separate physical device.
In contrast, the main use of a watch is convenience. My watch doesn't appear to be made anymore, but this is the closest model. It's a few millimetres thick and so light that I can forget that I'm wearing it and it tells the time accurately enough that I only ever adjust it when I cross time zones. The battery lasts about 4 years (it's about 11 years old now and is on its third battery).
For a smart watch to be useful, it must provide similar levels of convenience. Everything it does is weighted against reaching into my pocket to get out my phone (or, in my case, wandering to the other side of the room to get my phone, because I don't always have it with me). The same company that made my watch also makes some Android Wear devices, but they're 50% thicker, more than 50% heavier, and have a battery that's rated for 24 hours (I've been that long between being near a convenient place to charge one, and you can bet that it doesn't last 24 hours if you actually use it). And the things where it's more convenient than my phone are quite limited. I could receive SMS there, but replying is hard. I have a friend who finds his convenient for 2 factor authentication, but that's a fairly limited use.
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The watch I want doesn'st exist yet.
Smartwatch wishlist:
Shockproof
Waterproof (200 m)
Solar Powered
Flat but Sturdy - Think a combination of Casio G-Shock and Skagen
Pressure Sensor / Height Meter / Variometer
Temperature Sensor
Environment Sensor
Complete Biosensor Package
FOSS OS with every aspect configurable, especially blocking of corporate tracking (Google, Facebook, etc.)
Speed-charging mode
Assistance AI ('please' of course being optional :-) )
--> Watch, when does the milonga in collogne start today?
--> Watch, are the regional trains to collogne on schedule?
--> Watch, please warn me if I cross the speed limit.
--> Watch, please navigate me along the fastest route to school.
--> Watch, I hear cheering from all the windows around me - who just scored a goal?
--> Watch, guide me to the nearest DM that stocks dental care. (Watch knows that I'm on foot and guides me to the nearest Tramstation if required.)
--> Watch, has the bike shop gotten back to us yet? (Watch checks voicebox and all message channels including mail)
--> Watch, please tell me if todays schedule is still valid or if there are any unforseen changes.
--> Watch, what was her name again? Just show, don't say.
--> Watch, please record a tracklist of everything the DJ is playing tonight. Use any analytical software available, not just shazam. And establish what it would cost to buy that tracklist on the music platforms that we're registred on.
--> Watch, please silence youself and all my devices in proximity until tomorrow 7:30 in the morning. Silence all priority notifications except the "Company Server Down" Alert. And go into "Push to show" mode for your clockface and turn of all screensavers and backlights. (Thinks to himself: I want to enjoy this evening/night with this tango-cutie here without any further disturbance. :-) ) ...you get the picture.
Furhtermore:
Standardised wrist strap connections
Cheap and available spare wriststraps in variing colors and materials
Cheap and available spare and extra bumber cases in variing colors and materials
1st hand 3D printing files of wriststraps and variant bumper cases
Quick change from wriststrap to pocket'watch' / pocketdevice mode ...
And probably some other things I haven't thought of yet. ...Allthoug I couldn't say if such a watch would be good for me. With that type of AI my brain would probably start to rott from under-usage quite soon :-) .My 2 cents.
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Re:I prefer my wearables untethered
Now wearable computer, that would be interesting, but this sounds more like some Android gadgets than a wearable computer.
If you already have an Android phone you already take everywhere, then it makes more sense.
An independent device would certainly be more useful, but that would greatly increase cost and size, and increase battery drain. And most of that would just be replicating things your smartphone already does.
Given the hardware constraints, it seems that this method is a decent compromise, at least for a first-generation device.Personally I think the round version from Motorola looks good enough that I'd consider wearing it. It actually looks like a watch, even if a bit too thick for my taste, though I like my watches to be as thin as possible (I tend to buy Skagen).
The LG just looks too much like a gadget to me, sort of like the Pebble and the Samsung Gear, which is why I never got any of those.
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Re:Absolutely, utterly no way!
Personally I went for this pretty little number.
(And I was shocked by the number of compliments it drew from co-workers... "Hey! Nice watch!... for a $100 Japanese watch.... now that I think about it, if that's the effect it has perhaps a Swiss watch would get me laid by random strangers...)
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Re:Absolutely, utterly no way!
the thing on your wrist should be mechanical and made in Switzerland or you'll never get either a girlfriend or a job.
Now that's just bullshit.
Yes, an elegant watch is a smart move to behave like an adult, trying to check the time on your phone when you're sitting down at a dinner or conference table is just made of fail
No, your life won't completely suck if it's digital or made in Japan. It's no longer the 1980's, even bloody Casio makes dress watches. While some of them are still butt-ugly, this one does the trick and it's only $50.
Personally I went for this pretty little number. Elegant enough to wear in public without embarrassing your wife, girlfriend or CEO but cheap enough so that when it breaks or gets lost I won't even flinch. (It actually did get lost, inside a couch for eight months, still had the right time when I found it if that had been a Swiss watch I'd have been in deep fecal matter.)
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Re:A smart watch?
Watches are still useful. I wear a watch from time to time -- I own 4. A dive watch from St Moritz - a Momentum M50; a low-key dress watch from Skagen; a Breitling Old Navitimer; and my grandfather's Breitling Montbrilliant pocket watch. The latter two don't get out of the safe much any more.
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Back to Analog...
After a lifetime of a variety of digital watches, I took a retro step and got the most simple, lightweight and elegant thing I could find and I've never been happier with a watch.
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Re:They can't build them again (economically)
Its too bad that cell phones are replacing watches so frequently these days. Personally, I still have a watch just because I like how it looks and the convience of not having to reach into my pocket. My watch is a Titanium Skagen though, so its really more of a piece of jewelery to me.
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Re:Simple, ordinary analogue watch
I've got the Skagen 233LSS and it's about the thinnest I've ever seen. It's well under 2mm at the edge, although it does bulge a bit in the center to accommodate the works. Strapped against your wrist, however, it appears to be only slightly thicker than a US quarter.
It's also the least "cluttered" watch I've ever owned. No numbers, date, backlight, etc. Just elegant Danish design and Japanese innards.