Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot Asks: Do You Want a Smart Watch?
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?
No
I'd like a very *simple* smart watch...
* Simple caller-ID and memo display, programmable shortcut buttons, nothing else.
* Very long charge life comparatively (2 weeks would be okay) and/or very easy charging (put it on a charging pad).
I'm on my fourth watch and this one even has a date window. I cannot comprehend how a watch can get even smarter!
Full disclosure: I am the son of a jeweller / watchsmith.
Don't want it for the same reason I got rid of my cell phone. I was servicing it more than it was serving me, and it's redundant to my portable computer anyway.
NO. How many more stories are going to ask this question?
I signed up for a Pebble on day 2 of the Kickstarted campaign. When I finally got it, I spend many hours loading watchfaces, apps and exploring all the features. Nothing really klicked for me. Kept it on my arm anyway for a week - just for show and tell - and now I'm totally hooked.
The killer app is the alerts. Not having to pull out the phone 500 times every day is what keeps this ugly thing on my wrist.
Forget all the music control, runkeeper, navigation and whatever they try. Camera - that's just stupid. That's all done better on the phone, but the *alerts* are golden! Several friends went through the same process. Initial disappointment turned to must-have. I never use the buttons - just a quick glance when the thing buzz. Android or iOS in the watch is nonsense. Pebble got the idea right, but could scale down on the features and focus on the looks.
So get me a "moderately clever" watch...
I would like a better fitness watch that tracked pulse rate without a chest band, respiration rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood o2 levels, as well a movements such as swimming and riding, not just waking and running. I would like to to use the GPS in my phone and not have one built in.
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
No thanks. The watch is just another device on the long list of separate things that got consolidated into my phone (mp3 player, camera, calendar, ebook reader, flashlight, GPS, alarm clock, etc.). As with all those other things, the version on my phone is so far into the "good enough" range that having a separate device for the same functionality just doesn't offer much appeal.
Too many of the smart watches seem to try to move functionality back off the phone, which seems pretty pointless (until at such time as it could completely replace everything on my phone, which case I might be interested. You know, some sort of holographic magic screen that replaces the need for a large physical screen, or maybe interfaces with some futuristic contact lenses that project a HUD that only I can see).
Anyway, that seems to be the core problem - these watches just don't do anything worthwhile compared to what I'll already be carrying with me. I don't want a watch as a status symbol, I don't need a watch to just tell time, and I don't need/want a watch to do a bunch of stuff my phone already does.
An exception would be for highly niche purposes. I have a kid with type I diabetes. If he could have a watch that could monitor is blood sugar levels and dispense insulin, I'd buy it.
The computer in the watch can do that, no biggie.
The key is user interface and that seems unlikely.
Some of the smart watches out there look OK; for instance the Martian Watches Passport SmartWatch looks like a reasonable timepiece, has a reported 1 week battery life, and does some simple Dick Tracy stuff while still managing to be a wristwatch.
If it had a separate power supply or some way to use the last bit of the main supply strictly as a watch with a 6 month reserve for essential functions I'd probably buy that.
But most of them are little phone gadgets for your wrist that will require charging daily, or nearly daily. Useless.
Changing the name from Ask Slashdot to Slashdot Asks seems a rather telling display of your character. You see yourselves as Slashdot, and the commenters as ... what, customers? the audience?
The next Beta Sucks is coming, it is only a matter of time. Until you realize that we, the commenters, are the site -- that we create the value you sell to the readers -- you will never be out from under that hanging sword.
Do me a favor; go to YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Ars, and half a dozen other sites, and read some comment streams. Do you see how vacuous they are? Do you see how much chaff you must wade through to find one or two poignant insights?
The moderation and metamoderation systems here have generated a unique community (well, not entirely unique, with SoylentNews cruising along in the wings). It is the community of commenters that you have the privilege of monetizing. But only so long as you don't piss it away with your narcissism.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
I would love a smart watch but it would be more like computer on your forearm. the problem is the requirements are has, a highres display that flexes in three dimensions, sticks to your arm using the van der waals force (like gecko feet), uses heat from your body for power, weighs less than a 10 grams and is 1mm thick. It's not impossible, my idea is just an expression of several "almost there" technologies.
that is the smartphone i really want.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
My first smartwatch was a Seiko Data 2000, it was released in 1983 - and had a 4-line dot-matrix LCD display that lasted surprisingly long. It had an external keyboard with induction technology to transfer the data from the keyboard to the watch.
Since then, there has been numerous PIM watches released over the years, some with icons, some databanks etc. And 5 years ago - I bought a Chinese Watch-Phone with mp4 playback/recording, spy-camera, GSM-phone, Bluetooth (stereo) headset and a color touch screen with a mini stylus hidden in the wristband itself.
I used it the first 2 weeks to show off to my friends, I had to make numerous phone calls with it because no one at that time would believe that it actually worked as a phone, but yes - it most certainly did...and this was WAY before the well-known brands came with their limited "smart" watches, this thing could already do more than their stuff today.
I think I wrote...I used it for 2 weeks, gave it away to a watch-collector as a christmas present, because honestly...I'd never use it.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
No, I do not want a watch that is meant to sell my private information to third party, ass-holes like Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft etc. etc. etc.
I already have a phone to do that.
Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
As with the existing technological hassles in my life, I would use a smart watch only if it did something significantly new.
In the old days (1980s), my laptop would go weeks without a battery charge. Now, my laptop barely makes it through a day, if I'm not actually using it much during that day. But my new laptop is vastly more capable, with high-DPI IPS display and 802.11ac WiFi and the ability to run a C++ compiler many times in a single hour.
In the less old days, my phone would go a bit over a week without a battery charge. Now, my phone usually makes it through a day, but not if I'm using its GPS or its processor extensively; and it's much bigger. But my new phone has a camera that doesn't entirely suck and a lot of apps, some of them useful, and visual voicemail. Still, I wouldn't have bought it if it didn't have another compelling feature: Really cheap unlimited plans.
That's 2 devices that I have to plug in every day to keep using. A smart watch would be a third. So far, I haven't heard of any compelling features. The current crop has what? The ability to show notifications. Which my phone already does when I leave it on the table next to my mouse, and which I'm already consciously choosing to ignore when I want to maintain focus. And Samsung's watch has its trademark heart rate sensor, which works only if you're not exercising.
I can imagine some uses for a smart watch, in concept, if it could do stuff independently of the phone. A camera that you don't even have to dig out of your pocket (or purse, if you have a Samsung). A communications device that you can carry without pockets. A security/control device (if it doesn't come from Google, Apple, or Microsoft, and runs free software). The concept is interesting. It just needs good execution.
Have a nice time.
I have a Pebble -- until recently, a Kickstarter-edition one, though it malfunctioned and the company quite helpfully replaced it.
I originally got it as a geek toy, a whim, but it turned out to be hugely useful for me, given my constraints and work circumstances. Largely, this came down to three factors:
I manage people, and at least at my current company that means that the vast majority of my time is spent in meetings. Having a Pebble on which to see what messages I'm receiving (just for text messages, not FB or email) means I can know when someone's texted me (a rare, but potentially important, occasion) and be able to see what I got without having to reach for my phone in my pocket; it also means that because being able to see the message doesn't necessitate using the tool with which I respond, that I'm less likely to respond immediately, which makes the process less disruptive to the people I'm in meetings with;
I used to miss meetings often because I'd get in the middle of something (or another meeting) and forget to check where I next need to go. My phone quickly vibrating in my pocket was easy to miss. But my watch vibrating? For me, it's unmissable, and it makes me much more aware of where I need to go next.
The other factor that's made a huge difference is not work-related. Being able to control music on my phone via my watch is a trivial improvement when I work out, but it's made another issue basically go away: The "What the hell did I do with my phone?" problem. If I can't find my phone these days, calling it doesn't necessarily work -- it's typically in quiet mode -- but using my Pebble to get some music playing on it, and increasing the volume, is usually immediately helpful in figuring out where the phone is.
You could, of course, argue that these three factors are not, or should not, be relevant to the average geek -- maybe you don't have as many meetings, or are more disciplined about checking your calendar. And God knows we all found our phones before we could remotely start them playing music. But it's been very helpful to me.
What do you mean a specific phone or vendor? The Pebble has been around for a long time and has no such allegiances.
And ugly? Have you seen the Steel? It's more handsome than the majority of watches I've owned.
Calendar alerts, live weather, caller ID, and text messages all have made me a fan of my Pebble. Try one for a couple of weeks - I'm pretty sure you'll become a convert. I'm sure it varies based on style, but I've discovered that I probably only respond to about 30-40% of text messages (some are ignored, others are received ends of conversations). The rest can be viewed on my watch without having to ever mess with the phone.
With a watch and a blue tooth head set soon enough the question will not longer be who needs a smartwatch, it will be who needs a smartphone - I think the mini-tablet will ultimately reign supreme and act as a hub for tiny peripherals. That's what I'm hoping for at least.
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Almost, I want a smart phone sitting in my top pocket that will tell me the time and date when I ask it, even when it is pin locked. So some more shirt pocket voice commands when screen is locked, handy when driving.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
"Have you paused to consider that there might be other lifestyles than your own?"
Sure. I know there are ascetics. Then there are the other vast majority of us. You know, people without your magical 100% perfect memory, people who listen to music [or podcasts], people with children, people who take pictures, and most important people who have myriad other problems not discussed here because their needs are outside my imagination, and yours.
"Why would [using a mic on my watch] be better than the [mic on my] phone?"
Because the phone is in my pocket, as stated in the hypothetical. Before you ask your next question, here's the answer: for the same reason it's more convenient to have a phone in my pocket rather than tethered to my kitchen.
A smart watch could:
* Displace smart phones/dedicated GPSes used for turn-by-turn directions (visual and audio) while driving. It's going to be great for motorcycle users. I'm not sure yet whether it will be legal for this use.
* It will make the policeman's job more difficult by allowing drivers to check their emails/texts while driving without it being obvious to an observer.
* Provide quick updates to stock/commodity traders who are on the go or not near a desktop/laptop.
* Allow joggers to skip songs without carrying their smartphones in their hands.
I bet there are many other uses, but only gadget lovers and those who find its services very useful are likely to buy it -- the general smart phone user is more likely to skip the watch.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Unless you like carrying a smartphone in your hands all the time in crowded places, or like leaving your smartphone on the table where it can get lost or stolen, the smart watch is better. Nothing beats a watch for quickly checking something. Constantly fishing a phone out of your pocket, unlocking it, checking stuff and putting the phone back in your pocket can become extremely tedious quickly.
Constantly having to take it out to skip songs gets tiring and many people don't like voice control.
Sorry, your alternatives aren't that much better either. According to you, the wristwatch should've never been invented. People should just be satisfied with fishing out gold/silver/steel watches from their breast pockets to check the time.
I haven't owned any of the current generation of cellphone-accessory smartwatches. The ones I have owned:
-- Casio GPS watch - It was a gift from my wife, back before GPSs had taken over the world. It was big and clunky, got me all kinds of geek cred at work, didn't work very well as a GPS but the fact that it worked at all was amazing. -- TI EZ430-Chronos watch - programmable, using their MSP430 microprocessor set, had a reasonably flexible display. It didn't have a lot of sensors, and I didn't end up hacking it very much, but it was a lot of fun. It had a low-power radio link that let it connect to a heartbeat monitor band, so you could use it for things like watching your heart rate while jogging. -- Watches with various other functions built in, like moon phase, tides tables for surfing, that kind of thing. One of them had a screen saver for entirely no good reason, just because it could.In practice, I find that almost all of the time I'm either in front of a computer screen with a clock display in the corner, or in an environment with clocks around, or carrying a cellphone with a clock display on the main screen, or in an environment that's not very friendly to watches, or in a social environment where I don't really care what time the clock says it is, so I've stopped wearing watches most of the time.
When smart-watches get smart enough to be the phone instead of being a peripheral display for the phone, maybe. But is a smart-watch phone that needs a Bluetooth headset and needs reading glasses to use more convenient than a cellphone with big text that can use a wired headset? For me, it's really not.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks