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Top 10 Geek Watches
peanutbutter13 writes "Productdose lists their picks for best geek watches. From the article: "Considering the wealth of geek chic wristwear out there at the moment, we started thinking about the point where nerd-tech meets personal style...and we've compiled a list of our current wristwatch favorites, which we hope will help you channel your inner geek-gent."
Looking at the list, I can't help but notice they are mostly about features, and not about ergonomics.
Most of the features talked about don't really help you keep track of time better or use the 'watch' functions more easily. The only real advancement in watch design I've seen since illuminated faces is the watch(from Timex?) that used a simple rotating ring around the bezel to set the alarm. It would be nice if they made a watch that would let you use a control like that, or even an iPod-like touch scroll on the screen, to let you set the time, date, and alarm. It's a PITA setting those on regular digital watches because going too far by a few minutes adjusting them means having to cycle through a whole 12 or 24 hours to get to the time you want again.
It would also be nice if you could activate the light without the other hand, like by knocking it or shaking it a few times. A thinner strap, and a latch that's next to the watch so I don't have the latch digging into my veins when I lay my wrist down would be cool, too. Aside from that, the only "non-watch" feature I would really want in a watch is a LED light that could illuminate the surroundings like one of those keychain lights.
On the watches themselves:
The first one looks cool, but it says that it goes to a 'negative display' (light text on black) at night. I currently have a digital watch with negative display, and one of the reasons I want to get a new watch is that it's harder to read than a positive display watch, especially in dark conditions. The digits are huge, about a full centimeter tall, but it's harder to read than a positive display watch with half-cm digits. Maybe if the light part where actually white instead of grayish and more reflective it would help, but right now it's very hard to read without the light.
The ruler watch: Why?
HF LED watch: Looks cool, but don't try to use it while driving or cycling, you might get a bit distracted trying to figure it out.
Nixie watch: Good luck getting through airport security with that thing.
My guess is that some people simply find analog watches easier to read.
:-P
Like yourself, I'm a student, but I like mechanical analog pocket watches for the mechanics and geek value. I recently found a cheap "skeleton" analog pocket watch (it has the entire inner workings exposed so you can look at it and marvel at the tiny springs and gears inside) which is now part of my small collection. Everything about old-style pocket watches fascinate me, the mechanics, the craftsmanship involved in making a precise analog clock movement, the often very finely detailed engravings...
I don't use them on a day to day basis though, my mobile phone is a perfectly adequate keeper of time, although I guess it is kinda pocket watch-ish... Though unfortunately, it's not mechanic
Eat the rich.
And yes I've seen all the prototypes and the computer renderings. It still doesn't mean I can go to a store and buy one off a shelf. Here is what I want this mythical bluetooth watch to do:
-When I have an incoming call it should: display the caller ID, light up the backlight on the watch, and maybe flash a little LED to get my attention. The watch needs one phone specific button to clear the alert and let the call ring out in silence then get sent to voice mail. That's all it needs. It would also be nice to have a button that answers the call on my bluetooth headset, but that's not really necessary. It should prevent the phone from ringing or even vibrating for a couple seconds so I have time to look at the caller ID and make a decision about the call.
-It needs to do something similar for a text message. Maybe just flash the LED a couple times and display something like "new message from Bob" with the backlight lit. If I can read the text message on the phone that would be cool, but not strictly necessary.
-I want a PDA or smartphone to be able to use the watch as a way to alert me of an impending meeting/appointment. The watch should have an open API to let other bluetooth devices talk to it and *be controlled by it* in at least a basic way.
-If I can look through my contact list on my phone through it and use it to place calls and have the audio routed to a bluetooth headset, that would be cool. If not I can live without that feature.
-Be something like a normal watch size. I will not wear something the size of a brick on my arm.
-Have a readable monochrome LCD display. The wathces that were meant for use with that spot / msndirect thing seemed to have this figured out. I don't really have a sense of how big the watches were, but they didn't seem too huge...
-Have a backlight that stays on for however long I hold the backlight button. This is not complex but I've had too many watches where the backlight would only stay on for a couple seconds at a time no matter whether you held the backlight button or not. It drove me nuts to be constantly jabbing that stupid backlight button.
It needs to *NOT* have the following:
-wifi
-a color screen
-a GSM/CDMA radio
-a fast processor
-It's own unique copy of my phone book / contacts / appointments that must be synchronized to other devices. It should not be editing these, just displaying them when they're relavent.
This shouldn't really be that expensive. Bluetooth headsets are down to the $25 range, so obviously the bluetooth hardware isn't that expensive. And digital watches are way under $20 so that can't be a huge issue. This kind of a feature set is the only reason I'd ever be tempted to buy a watch again, so the sooner the watch industry gets on this, the sooner it makes a potential sale.
^I'm with stupid.^
Personally I think my favorite watch would have to be just an ordinary Casio atomic watch, one of the ones with analog/digital/stopwatch/whatever. All that other geek stuff might be fun and amusing, but as far as actual function goes, the only thing I need is a device that keeps time, and doesn't need to be set.
;-)
(It's also rather nice-looking, despite the fact that I've drowned it once and superglued it twice... my stuff tends to get abused
My second favorite, for reasons still unknown, is one of those Shark Tale promotional things my friend got from a cereal box. I don't know why, I just like the thing.
Creative misinterpretation is your friend.
"What, is there some sort of luddite movement that forbids digital watches at certain jobs? Are digital watches considered socially unacceptable among the upper crust?"
I do a lot of work for high-powered New York attorneys and their clients, which is about high as one can get in the crust. Here's how it is...nobody gives a crap about your watch or your shoes. I see digital watches all the time. Just wear a decent suit, be a good listener and a good worker and you'll fit right in. Heck, I just ordered a pair of Time Tag watches from Thinkgeek, as someone mentioned in this thread, and I'll be clipping one to my sleeve for business meetings.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!