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Slashdot Asks: Do You Want a Smart Watch?

Posted by timothy on from the does-it-shoot-deadly-darts? dept.

Watches that do more than tell the time have been around for a long time. (And in fiction, James Bond, Dick Tracey, and Michael Knight all had notably high-tech watches.) The new smart watches from Samsung and LG, without a phone connected via Bluetooth as backhaul, can still serve to show the time and to serve as alarms (and Samsung's can measure your pulse, too), but all the magic features (like searching by voice via the watch) do require a connection. They can't play MP3s or take pictures on their own, and they don't have built-in GPS. Even so, compared to the polarizing Google Glass, the new breed of smart watches are wearables that probably are an easier sell, even if this far the trend has been to replace watches with smart phones. (Android Wear has gotten a lot of attention, but Microsoft has their own upcoming, and Apple almost certainly does, too.) Are you interested in a smart watch, and if so, what uses do you want it for? If they have no appeal to you now, are there functions that would make you change your mind on that front?

1 of 381 comments (clear)

  1. @CauseBy - Re:Yes by nukenerd · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    In answer the TFA question :- No.
    In answer to Causby :-

    I want one. ..... tell me the time faster than pulling the pod (cell phone) out of my pocket

    I have a dumb watch for that.

    Oh, I forgot my pod in my car when I went into the shopping mall? I'll know because my watch will vibrate

    I don't forget my phone. Keep trying though.

    at a playground trying to manage multiple children ...? I'll know if one ... starts to wander away

    I don't manage multiple children.

    listening to a podcast in earphones

    I never listen to music.

    use the mic on my watch for better audio quality.

    Why would it be better than the phone?

    take a 'selfie' ... go pose, look at my watch to see what the camera sees

    Rarely do selfies, but never found a problem framing - just note some landmarks in the camera viewfinder first.

    You are the same people who would say "Why would I need my cell phone to have a big screen on it?"

    Yup, that's me.

    Have you guys paused to consider that there might be applications beyond your current imagination?

    Have you paused to consider that there might be other lifestyles than your own?