Slashdot Mirror
Disappointed Woz Sells His "Worthless" Galaxy Gear Watch
curtwoodward (2147628) writes Apple co-founder and legendary nerd Steve Wozniak is a huge gadget enthusiast, often appearing in lines with mere mortals to purchase new Apple products. So you can bet he's tried out most of the smartwatches on the market today. The worst one? By far, the Samsung Galaxy Gear, which The Woz says he sold on eBay after half a day's use. "It was so worthless and did so little that was convenient," Wozniak said at an appearance in Milwaukee. "You had to hold it up to your ear and stuff." So maybe the watch sucked, but just imagine being the one who bought Woz's used Gear---do you think they know?
I did the same, except I returned to ti Best Buy and got a Pebble instead.
Works a LOT better for what a smart watch is good for, critical Information display.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
More than you can say about yourself for sure. Your biggest achievement in life is probably this post on Slashdot.
The Woz is too pure to give in to petty brand based allegiances, even if he helped start one of those brands.
Hi did you get the newsletter that Woz left Apple like 20 years ago and has nothing to do with the company anymore? And that he's a huge tech/gadget geek and doesn't care if the device is not Apple? And has even publicly spoken out against Apple?
Well now you do.
If you aren't happy with the current features of a smart watches then sit down and make your own, that's what I did, so instead of complaining I just solved my own issue.
He invented the universal remote control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CL_9
You mean besides building a disk controller in software that was faster and far more adaptable and reliable than the hardware versions at the time, and cost a tenth as much?
Yeah, I can't figure why that would be important in 1977.
they're convenient and unobtrusive, especially at the movies or at dinner with other people. they also look nice; yes, this matters.
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
Don't forget about the resolution he got out of a video controller. Or the way he mercilessly attacked the IC count. Woz is a populist geek hero to anybody who wants to maximize performance while minimizing cost.
The big iron folks always look down their noses at the little people with their little computers, but they don't start any revolutions.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
"So maybe the watch sucked, but just imagine being the one who bought Woz's used Gear---do you think they know?"
I am guessing we just need to be on the lookout for someone with a 24/7 erection and a sweaty useless smart watch.
Apple co-founder..."Galaxy Gear...worthless"
Well, "Apple co-founder buys Galaxy Gear watch" was news that made the Samsungphiles happy, so surely when the same Apple co-founder says the watch is worthless, that's just as newsworthy.
I won't delve into the details, I'll just say that calling Woz an "Apple insider" is both misguided and unfair. He hasn't been part of the company in almost 3 decades and has many valid criticisms of the company and Jobs in particular.
Convenience. It takes me a second or so to read my watch whereas it takes probably 15 seconds total to take my phone out of my pocket, wake the screen up, tell the time and then put the phone back in my pocket. What's more, a typical wrist watch will keep time for the better part of a decade with a single charge.
Good luck finding a phone that keeps a charge that long.
Seriously? He cannot get Apple to send him preview builds of their hardware?
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
No one else designed the circuits and firmware/software of a 6502 based computer system with output that worked on a home TV.
He holds four patents as sole inventor:
No. 4,136,359: Microcomputer for use with video display
No. 4,210,959: Controller for magnetic disc, recorder, or the like
No. 4,217,604: Apparatus for digitally controlling PAL color display
No. 4,278,972: Digitally-controlled color signal generation means for use with display
Please post link to your major contributions to the field of personal computing, we're looking forward to it. Unless as I suspect your biggest contribution is the dried and crusted mass on the underside of your system's desk
Wiz is an infamous gadget hound. Go to youtube to see clips of him babbling over androids, google glass, whatever.
I had Null ROM up & running on my Galaxy Gear in less than half a day and I've been quite amused playing with it. Null probably wasn't available yet when he bought his.
While I don't find the argument for a smartwatch to be compelling, I do enjoy the convenience of reading text messages with the flick of my wrist, and, paired with my Moto X, I use voice commands to wake the phone up while it sits in my pocket, tell it who to dial, and then I can speak to someone Dick Tracy-like. The best Bluetooth hands-free (like the best camera) is the one you have with you and in place to use quickly & easily.
Wasn't it only a year or two ago about how we were congratulating ourselves on not having to wear watches, because hey, everyone's got a smart phone and you can just check the time on that.
I don't wear a watch day-to-day. When I do wear one, it's with a suit as a fashion accessory. And I seriously doubt smart watches will ever look classy. Flashy, yes. Classy, no.
It's pretty amazing how short the average consumer's attention span is. I guess I can't blame companies for gettin' while the gettin's good.
yes, I'll agree some jobs require gear to do efficiently. I once had a job where it was beneficial to have gerber multi-tool in a holster, however if most people did that they would just be wearing jewelry.
This is a guy with a nixie tube watch.
http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31369/WozWatch-695x463.jpg
Jobs died of pancreatic cancer, not anal cancer. Mock him correctly, please. For example, you could remind everyone that he might still be around had he accepted some real treatment from actual doctors as soon as the cancer was diagnosed, rather than delayed for nine months trying some 'alternative medicine' nonsense - he went through several diets, accupuncture, herbal cures and some sort of enema-based detox regime before finally admitting that the cancer wasn't getting better and going for surgery - by which time it was too late.
In an office environment, sure, a wristwatch is superfluous. Doing anything even remotely active, you don't necessarily have your cell phone in a handy spot: jogging, biking, swimming, sailing, fishing, etc. You also can snag a quick look at your watch without getting caught - much harder to do with a smartphone, and much less socially awkward. Smart phones sometimes die - I don't always get a full day out of my battery, but a watch will run essentially forever. Smart phones aren't very durable, even with protective cases - so if you are doing something where the smart phone might get wet or subject to impact, it isn't really an option. Smart phones also aren't very pretty. You can deck them out with fancy cases, but at the end of the day a shiny piece of functional jewelry is still nicer aesthetically. People would probably wear something on their wrist even without the time-telling feature - that is sort of a bonus.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
he was eternally tormented by the decision to remove user expandability in the Apple2
so, he started the brand and it was pure, and fought it when it became what he hated
Wozniak is still an Apple employee with a salary of $120k/year and he still has a bunch of stock. I doubt he has much if any involvement in Apple operations, but saying "he has nothing to do with the company" is not true.
You are correct that he calls them like he sees them, regardless of brand. I generally love Samsung and have owned a bunch of their phones, but the Gear has no interest for me for exactly the reasons Woz states.
Because they are pieces of art. The combination of form, function and movement is inherently beautiful.
Woz gets way more hero worship than I understand, but he left Apple WAY before they made flashy smartphones. Like 20 years before in the Apple II/Macintosh days.
This demonstrates the fact that people who are very smart in one area can mistake themselves for experts in an unrelated area where they're totally incompetent. Jobs over-estimation of his own abilities wound up killing him when he confidently went for fantasy-based fake medicine due to his total lack of expertise regarding medicine.
For mine, I wear it because it tracks my heartbeat, perspiration, body temp, and activity. Do you have an alternative to a watch that can do all these things?
It turns out that you're way behind the times iggymanz, so it's hilariously ironic that you're talking about watches being part of the past.
Works a LOT better for what a smart watch is good for, critical Information display.
See that's the problem I have with watches generally. 99% of the time they provide me no information that I critically need that I cannot get from my surroundings or my smartphone. I don't need a clock to be available to me at the flip of a wrist except very rarely. My day is not scheduled that tightly and there almost always are at least 2 clocks within eye shot anywhere I usually go. Occasionally they are useful for things like flight navigation or diving where knowing the time immediately is really critical but that's rare for most of us. The most common use is for competitive running where time obviously matters. Furthermore I find wearing one uncomfortable. I don't like them bouncing around on my wrist and if I make it tight enough to avoid that it digs into my skin pretty good which is also uncomfortable.
The only thing I can think of a "smart watch" being useful for in my life would be basically what I could use a fitbit for right now. I really just don't see the point of them.
they are, no practical need for them in most cases. male jewelry with a timepiece, that's what you're wearing
Doing anything even remotely active, you don't necessarily have your cell phone in a handy spot: jogging, biking, swimming, sailing, fishing, etc.
Why would I actually need a wristwatch for any of those activities? Competitive running or navigation on a sailboat out of sight of land maybe but fishing? I don't know where you fish but I don't really want to know the time when I go fishing. The whole point is to not worry about it. My philosophy on fishing is that if you need to bait the hook you are missing the point.
The ONLY thing I can think of that a watch makes sense for is if you need to carry some sensors in a compact way ala fitbit or if you are doing some very niche activities where knowing the time immediately is critical. Otherwise they are simply redundant.
You also can snag a quick look at your watch without getting caught - much harder to do with a smartphone, and much less socially awkward.
As opposed to looking at one of the several clocks that is almost always in view? Hell I have 3 on the dashboard of my truck put there by the manufacturer. As I type this I have 2 on my monitor, one on my smartphone, one on the wall and there is another just around the corner. I cannot fathom why I would bother lugging around yet another redundant device.
Smart phones also aren't very pretty.
Neither are most watches that are actually affordable. Personally I don't really like to brag about the size of my bank account via jewelry but that's just me.
People would probably wear something on their wrist even without the time-telling feature - that is sort of a bonus.
Women maybe. Not most men in this country.
that's right, VOIP phones we call land line, quite common in offices these days.
printing a requirement of the industry I'm in, bet that's because of the watch wearers
You'd be surprised how many people wipe boogers under your desk!
Ezekiel 23:20
sure, great for some sports and some jobs too. part of the gear. can't see the sense for most people though
funny, the boats I've been on for fishing on Lake Michigan had clocks. and gps, etc.
And I seriously doubt smart watches will ever look classy.
See I think watches either look anachronistic or make you look like a showoff in most cases. There are a few niche use cases for wearing one but I really don't see the point most of the time. If the watch is expensive enough to be bling (read Rolex) then it isn't really for function - it's jewelry. Whatever function it serves is incidental to its real function of showing off. If the watch is cheap enough to be practical for uses other than showing then there no longer is a point to wearing it most of the time.
>> Apple co-founder..."Galaxy Gear...worthless"
Hmmm...I read that as "Apple insider says Google device bad." And...you were expecting?
Wos has used and praised lots of different Android gear.
Still there is something fishy about the whole story.
Multi-billionaire takes the time to sell something on ebay? Really? REALLY?
Even having one of his "people" do that would never pay for itself.
Why would he not just flip it into the trash, or give it to some kid, or donate it
to some museum with a signed letter of gifting, which would quickly raise its worth by a factor of 10 or 100.
He says its worthless, and then proves it isn't, and pockets the money? Really?
The whole story seems unbelievable.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
He holds four patents as sole inventor: No. 4,136,359: Microcomputer for use with video display
So with this patent alone, wouldn't he be able to patent troll the entire computer industry out of existence? I'm only half kidding.
so you wear a collection of biometric transducers that also includes a time display. cool.
Well jeeze, Woz, with salesmanship like that, I'm surprised you managed to sell it at all!
I think you got your Steves mixed up.
it takes probably 15 seconds total to take my phone out of my pocket, wake the screen up, tell the time and then put the phone back in my pocket.
You have vastly underestimated how long 15 seconds is. Go on, try it.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
> belts...[use instead] elastic waistbands
I hear Sandisk diskless flash chips company started out as the Sansabelt slacks company.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I guess he went back to his Nixie Tube Watch.
I have to agree. This makes slashdot sound like a bunch of One Direction groupies. Woz is a good dude and all, but seriously, no need to gush like a teenage girl.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Yeah, all those things are great for people who don't go outside.
/* No Comment */
No, my toilet does not need a IPv6 connection. I promise you I can still take a shit without it.
Sorry, as part of the "pay per flush" sewer service billing not only will it be monitored it will also have an override to disable it in the event of a police raid...
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
my cell phone does that, don't need a second clock strapped to my wrist, how l 19th and 20th century.
First wristwatch was in 1868, the last one needed was over 20 years ago.
even more clocks are everywhere now, on system desktop, on the land line phone, on my printer.....
Your smartphone has a screen too. Time to chuck out that old-fashioned monitor, along with your HDTV, calculator, paper, pencil, and deck of cards. That's why smartphones were invented. Obviously.
What the hell are you still doing with an ISP at home? Your smartphone has internet access too. Cancel that home shit already grandpa and get with the times. No reason you need a second internet provider...
How would a non-programmable universal remote work?
There aren't any current cellphones that fit in the pockets of the sort of clothes she wears. Size zero/one fashion clothing often doesn't even have pockets, much less ones that'll fit the half-tablet-sized cellphones these days. She had an HP Veer, the size of a credit card, that she loved, until it died. So now she has the same smartwatch and has what she calls a GIANT cellphone in her purse or stuck in her desk at work, and takes calls using her watch.
Size zero clothing is probably not on Woz's radar, but there are people who want tiny connectivity.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
For mine, I wear it because it tracks my heartbeat, perspiration, body temp, and activity. Do you have an alternative to a watch that can do all these things?
An alternative to track your perspiration? Yes, I do. It's called my nose.
And don't worry about alarms. My mouth works too.
Only downside is I don't have much of a silent mode. I tend to fart a lot. Part of my self-calibration program.
I don't see what is so fishy about that. He was also a school teacher, you would assume the salary he makes at that was paltry compared to the money he has from Apple, why would he even show up for work if he doesn't need the money?
Pretty sure he puts on his pants in the morning like the rest of us, don't see whats so out of character about acting like a normal human being; especially when he has a reputation of being a down to earth guy rather than some playboy moneylover. If you had told me Steve Jobs had done this, I would be shocked. This doesn't really surprize me from the woz.
Its not exactly unusual either for a person to be frugal out of habbit rather than need, especially if it is a lifelong habbit. Using myself as an example, I will stand there comparing products over price and weight at the grocery store to save a few cents I can easily afford, but I seldom remember to turn off lights and save electricity.
Is it entirely rational? No, its just habbit.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
You mean people still have need for a wrist mounted Chronometer with a battery life measured in years(or no battery at all)? Yes, yes they do. Its a serious tool, not just a silly bracelet.
Good-bye
I have to agree. Trying to make a wearable device pretend to be something it isn't and conform to a 19th and 20th century form factor seems silly. I know it sounds a little nerdy but a small unobtrusive 16:9 flexible display on the bottom of your forearm would be a better solution than a watch. Maybe a small near invisible projector HUD display for people who wear glasses. There's lots of cool wearable stuff you could do and do stylishly... I just don't get these pretend watches that are never going to look right on half the population with smaller wrists.
I agree totally with criticizing him for the alternative treatments. But you do have to remember that Pancreatic Cancer is tough, and Jobs had a particularly bad version of it. Yeah, he futzed away valuable time, once he decided on normal treatment he spent a metric-sh*t-ton of money on his treatment. I do wonder if he'd only started earlier what would have happened.
Look at Patrick Swayze for another example. Swayze was not a poor man, yet he succumbed to Pancreatic Cancer pretty quickly. Its a tough tough disease. Anything that fiercely attacks your ability to get energy and nutrients from food will get you fast.
Dude I'm sorry but... Woz would kick Ghandi, Mother Theresa and FDR's ass.
Hi did you get the newsletter that Woz left Apple like 20 years ago and has nothing to do with the company anymore? And that he's a huge tech/gadget geek and doesn't care if the device is not Apple? And has even publicly spoken out against Apple?
Well now you do.
Not to mention that every time he says something remotely bad about Apple or an Apple product, you can be sure to find a Slashdot story about it.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
I just did. Took me 13 seconds to do it, though I really didn't need to wake the phone to get the time.
A programmable remote you tell what frequencies to use; a non programmable you choose from a table of frequencies that different manufacturers are known to use.
Do you actually know how chemotherapy works? It doesn't "bombard the human body with radiation". The accelerator is calibrated and targeted to fire a very specific amount of radiation directly at an area only slightly larger than the tumour. Because cells are at their weakest during division, and cancer cells divide at an exponentially higher rate than regular cells, they are far more vulnerable than the healthy non-tumour area around them. Which means the healthy cells are largely unaffected by the radiation, while the cancer cells are killed because they are weaker.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Yikes. How much crap do you have in your pockets? I can do it in 4 without really trying.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Manufacturers rarely change much about the codes used by their IR remotes, unless there is some new feature on the device that requires new buttons/codes.
Unless they are Sony, and invent a new protocol to control Blu-Ray players even though they don't need any buttons you don't get on a typical modern DVD remote.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
of keeping you in that company's ecosystem every time you look at your watch.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
He wrote Apple Integer BASIC in 6502 machine code with no prior experience. Designed the Disk ][ (I still have working ones - these suckers were/are robust!) with trivial prior experience. Convinced Jobs to put all those pesky expansion slots in the Apple ][.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
Must... resist... feeding... the troll...
GOD DAMMIT
You do know who Steve Wozniak is, right? Regardless of whatever fanboy you are.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
Assuming it's caught before spreading and treated aggressively, the 5-year mortatlity rate is about 80%. If I remember correctly, in Steve Jobs' case, it wasn't discovered until it had affected his liver so the year or so that he stuck around was actually a pretty damn good fight.
You have all of that exactly backwards. Steve Jobs lived 8 years after his diagnosis. Jobs had a rare type of pancreatic cancer that grows very slowly and is much easier to treat.
But you do have to remember that Pancreatic Cancer is tough, and Jobs had a particularly bad version of it.
No, that is completely backwards. Jobs had a rare type that was much easier to treat. It was nothing like the type that Swayze had. Jobs lived 8 years after his diagnosis.
Until they reform the patent system, like they keep reforming the copyright system. Original copyright in the US was 14 years, renewable to 28. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C... The copyright laws were so much nicer before 1790, you know why? Because they were nonexistent!
Probably so. Mahatma Gandhi advocated fighting the Nazis with a one-two knockout punch of surrender and mass suicide. Mother Theresa was a galactic douche with PR talents that you might expect from the love child of Oprah Winfrey and Gandalf. And FDR, well, about the best you can say about FDR is that he made World War II look like a lucky break for the US economy.
Woz? Um, well, I heard he was caught doing 115 MPH in a Prius. That's about the only bad thing anyone has ever said about him. Personally, I would have given him a trophy rather than a ticket, but that's probably why I'm not a cop.
How amusing. I selected the wrong term. Why yes, however, the GP wasn't even talking about chemotherapy anyway so it's kind of a moot point.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Yeah, it's much easier to put down your rod and make your way over to the cockpit to check the time.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
"Practical need" is a pretty low bar for dismissing something awesome. I'd have a hard time justifying most of my possessions based on "practical need".
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Yes, but somehow I think that his shareholdings are probably a little bit larger than most of the million of other shareholders. He probably has a little bit more sway in the shareholder voting than you and your million friends do as well.
No, my toilet does not need a IPv6 connection. I promise you I can still take a shit without it.
I'd buy a network connected toilet. In fact Bluetooth ones already exist and have some useful features, like only turning on the heated seat when you are at home so they don't waste energy. I don't have a problem with well designed, secure hardware like that.
Some people seem to think that securing such things is impossible. I'm not willing to give up on a Star-Trek like future just because, like Microsoft back in the 90s, current manufacturers don't have a clue and are rushing in with no thought for security. I'm willing to wait.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Don Lancaster never wanted to go corporate. He likes his independent life. He wrote a book about how to do it yourself: The Incredible Secret Money Machine. The second edition of the book is available as a PDF download on his web site: http://www.tinaja.com/ebooks/i...
I got to beta one of those. It was pretty amazing in its day.
It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage. - Colonel Henry Walton Jones, Jr., Ph.D.
Well, I am working on an Arduino-driven underdesk sanitation system....
It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage. - Colonel Henry Walton Jones, Jr., Ph.D.
Actually, the type of tumor Jobs had is typically survivable, at least according to a harvard medical school researcher. I was also going to state that he lived longer than most people with pancreatic cancer, but found out that he didn't have adenocarcinoma, which is the bad kind. He probably could have lived.
He tried to outsmart his cancer. Once he gave in, he did go to great lengths to survive, since he had a whipple procedure, a liver transplant, had his cancer sequenced, and got targeted chemotherapy.
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company -- Mark Twain
Whilst I have no patience for people using alternative medicine over real medicine, it's over-stating to say that it killed him. He would most likely have still died had he gone for real medical treatment straight away.
Not according to this guy
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company -- Mark Twain
only done by those who have not entered the proper state of mind for fishing, where the sun alone is the timepiece.
that was first released in december 1981. thanks for playing
Oi! Some of us predate LS
Yes, I envy those people - but the reality is that I have a family with young kids and cannot just go and forget it all like that. I have to make due with "be back by dinner".
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Oh for fuck sake APK, fuck off.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Backup WHAT bullshit?
Just fuck off.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
APK, no-one gives a shit about your hosts files. FUCK OFF.
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".