Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Wrist Watch For the Tech Minded
NNUfergs writes "Sure, my smartphone can deliver just about any piece of information I could want in under 30 seconds, but I miss being able to just look at my wrist to get the time, date etc. I've been shopping around for a while and haven't come across anything particularly inspiring. There are loads of various features that have been incorporated into watches, but you usually only see a small, specialized set in a given watch. Budget is always a concern, but I am willing to invest in a quality time piece. In short, I'm not looking for a piece of jewelry; I'm looking for a gadget to wear on my wrist. Are there any neat, fun or just plain cool watches out there for techies? What do you have?"
It's a programmable watch by TI. sells for 50$, but 50% deals are regular.. so you can snag one for 25. Has a bunch of things inclusing heart monitor reciever, altimeter and temperature sensor.
http://dilemma.gulecha.org - My philospohical short film.
http://www.tokyoflash.com
They have an array of really cool designs that are pretty damn geeky. Its pretty easy to tell the time on most of them, but for some telling the time is the equivalent of a binary clock.
Build a watch. From parts. I am currently wearing my general-purpose utility watch, a waterproof automatic I made with an ETA 2824-2 movement and a one-of-a-kind nickel and brass dial I made that evokes a mid-century modern aesthetic. I've built several others, but they're more decorative than utilitarian. This is a watch I can wear no matter what I'm doing without worrying about it. Mechanical watches are AMAZING instances of applied science, and even though the technology hasn't changed substantially in decades, they still represent the pinnacle of micro-mechanical manufacturing. Understanding and working on watches is a decidedly geeky pursuit, but it isn't that big an undertaking to obtain the necessary knowledge to assemble and maintain one if you're already a well qualified geek. And chances are that you'll start to appreciate the aesthetic design aspects more once you get into it. Let me tell you, ladies do love interesting, classy watches - and telling them you made it yourself and there's only one in the world is catnip.
I am a geek attorney, but not your geek attorney unless you've already retained me. This is not legal advice.
A watch is just for telling the time - your other gadgets are for everything else.
That being the case, there are few things as geekishly awesome as an automatic (ie self-winding) mechanical wristwatch.
A little tiny machine, small enough to wear on your arm, that uses nothing but springs and harmonic motion to keep time, accurate to within a couple of seconds per day.
If you have the means, you can spend $_absurd on a status-symbol automatic watch.
If you don't have those means (or that inclination), you can get some serious bargains.
My everyday watch is a Vostok. http://www.vostok-inc.com/ . Delivered from Moscow for under $100. Seemingly indestructible, and more than accurate enough - I only ever need to adjust it if it stops, after not being worn for a couple of days.
I've seen some Seiko 5 automatics recently on Amazon for similar prices. More elegant (and delicate) looking than my Vostok (which is more like a watch movement set in an anvil), but very good little units.
Second-hand mechanical watches can be found for even less.
Get some cheap watchmaking tools off Ebay and pull a cheap mechanical watch to pieces, just for fun. Because you can.
Yes but as chips grow smaller and voice functions grow easier to use the watch might just come back.
Say you have a watch, with a good sized data storage for music, able to make cell phone calls, and bluetooth. Combine with an earpiece and decent voice commands and then you don't really need nearly as big of a screen.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/ipod_accessories/cases
The best part is that I have built about 600 of them myself. The bad part is that I just spent 4 months of Nixie watch profits on more Nixie tubes.
The determined Real Programmer can write Fortran programs in any language.
Exactly the same reasons why I have a Casio GW-2500BD-1AER:
- Solar powered (as long as I wear it at work, which is inside all of the time, it stays charged 100% meaning it'll keep running for 6 months in total darkness)
- Multi Band 6 radio sync every night so it's always correct (unless I'm on vacation further North in Norway) and I'm always on time.
- Both digital and analog
(- and since it can withstand 200m of water pressure I can safely think of it as being properly waterproof).
I hate to braeak it to you, but you are in the minority. In the real world, women actually appreciate a man with style. Not sure about 1K man-earings ... odd comparison, but whatever ... but stylish clothing, nice watch, nice car, yup women do dig them. Show up in your cheeto-stained armpit-holed thinkgeek tshirt and android held like a lightsaber in your meaty paw ... all their questions are pretty much answered before you even utter your first 'whatsup?'.
And would I choose a stylish watch to act as a compliment to my phone ... in a cold hard second! Pebble hardly qualifies as stylish, but is on the right track. I don't want to dig my phone out every time it dings or rings, esp. in meetings, at meals, driving, among friends, at a movie, on a date, on a hike, riding my bike, etc. but life and work demand this attention. A watch would clearly be much better and more socially graceful.
Heh, but look who I'm talking to.
I haven't seen it posted yet, so wanted to throw in my bit. TokyoFlash has some of the most beautiful watches I've ever seen.
http://www.tokyoflash.com/en/watches/1/
All sorts of styles, displays, and interpretations. Some are more pricey than others, but I'd say every last one is a piece of art more than a plain watch.
They are all limited edition, so if you wait a few months they will have in new models, but at the same time some current models will be discontinued. So if you find something you really like, don't put it off.