Yeah of the folks I've seen with a Apple Watch it just tells them lots of useless dull info about their dull day to day routine. But boy will they try hard to enthuse over it to you.
Smartwatches: I hate to say ‘I told you so’. But I told you so.
If you work in software, I’ll bet you worked on a project like this. It’s where dozens, or even hundreds of people are involved in the spec process, and what tumbles out is a monster that nobody ever wanted. The IA-432 processor, Intel’s first pre-Itanic disaster, was a classic example. It was a tabula rasa, and every …
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 12:01 GMT Paul Shirley
Found this 2011 survey showing <50% wearing watches and phones already taking over for time telling. https://today.yougov.com/news/2011/05/05/brother-do-you-have-time/
I stopped wearing one as a teenager, stopped carrying one when cheap pocketable alarm clocks became available, then switched to phones-as-clocks when they reached disposable prices. Didn't use my 1st mobile as a phone for over a year but it made a great (and tiny) portable clock :)
Even as timepieces watches are irrelevant for most of the population now.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:50 GMT Anonymous Coward
I had chemo last year an it damaged my hearing. I'm not deaf but range is limited and I can't always tell what sounds are. I have a pebble steel. It lasts for about four or five days between charges and I don't miss calls or texts from the Mrs. or my GP (or telemarketers unfortunately) anymore because it's hard to miss the buzzing and blinking thing at the end of my arm which is much more discrete than a small disco going off in my trousers or on my desk.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 10:52 GMT Daggerchild
Tiz the future!
Really, I only want a smartwatch to surreptitiously signal me, and allow me to tell at a glance whether or not it's something I need to pull my phone out for. Tiny, low latency data bursts. Anything with battery-draining delusions of grandeur misunderstands the small difference between a wrist and a pocket.
Now, if you took that Google modular phone, and turned it into a modular bangle, you may have something to argue the toss with.
I'm still waiting for the wristband that can tell the extension of your fingers/vibration/impact from ultrasonic analysis of your tendons so it could allow you to touchtype on anything.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:50 GMT Artaxerxes
Re: Tiz the future!
I'm still waiting for the wristband that can tell the extension of your fingers/vibration/impact from ultrasonic analysis of your tendons so it could allow you to touchtype on anything.
I was wondering where that was for a Mouse replacement, it would solve a lot of problems I'm having with my wrist in my old age.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 12:55 GMT Synonymous Howard
Re: Tiz the future!
You really want to look at the upcoming Pebble Time 2 which is on kickstarter at the moment (nearly $10m so far).
I have an original Pebble (B&W but a bit ugly/utilitarian) and a Pebble Time (colour, nice styling and a comfortable fit) and I've ordered a PT2 because of the bigger display and pulse-meter (as its nice to know if you are zombie)
I also have an Apple Watch 'look-a-like' which is, umm, just a red LED digital watch inside but definitely looks and feels like an AW .. fun for hipster baiting 8-)
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:12 GMT Alfie
I just dont get it...
I had stopped wearing a watch for a few years as I used my phone to tell me the time. From what I can tell a smartwatch is just going to relay info that is on my smartphone, and it doesnt take that much effort to pull that out of my pocket. Sure you can add some biometric data to the mix, but giving me a bunch of numbers on how far I've walked/run/cycled today isnt going to make me fitter/thinner. Doing more walking/running/cycling and eating less should do the trick and I dont need a watch to tell me that. Although I can see a niche market for actual athletes, not MAMILs.
Just a couple of months ago I went retro and bought a Vostok mechanical divers watch, it tells me the time (fairly accurately) and it doesnt need wound up or a new battery that cost more than the watch (G-Shock I'm talking about you!) to keep working. In fact it was probably cheaper than a replacement G-Shock battery.
Dont get me wrong, I love tech and have more than my fair share, but the wrist doesnt seem an obvious place to put it if you want a decent user experience, or it ends up so big that you cant wear clothes over it.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:19 GMT Dave 126
Re: I just dont get it...
You can get G-Shock batteries very cheaply, it's just the pressure-testing that they do after replacement that adds to the cost. If you don't go diving and can trust the person in your local watch shop to not be a complete clutz with the case gasket, you should be fine.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:14 GMT Doctor Syntax
" If you work in software, I’ll bet you worked on a project like this. It’s where dozens, or even hundreds of people are involved in the spec process, and what tumbles out is a monster that nobody ever wanted."
Every spec should have this as its front cover: http://projectcartoon.com/cartoon/3
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 22:48 GMT Dave 126
Re: This was a good article
If you click on my moniker you'll see that I'm occasionally critical of this Reg writer Orlowski, so I thought it only fair to say when I think he's done a good job today. I would have posted this view earlier, but I got distracted.
And hey, you fellow commentards: This has been a nice thread. Give yourselves a pat on the back too! :)
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:16 GMT Tony Paulazzo
Perfect smart watch for me
replace the phone with 64 GB storage space
voice and motion controlled with 4G connections
Holographic display when required...
In fact, screw the watch, how last century is that? a Star Trek: TNG pin that beams a holographic display (with working keypad) in front of you.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 13:22 GMT Seajay#
Re: I have noticed my Facebook feed has become a lot less busy
If you're a mugger do you
a) Find a population who are likely to jog past your preferred mugging spot, monitor their smartwatch activity, set up some sort of alert to let you know if they appear to be headed towards the park, keep a motorbike outside your house so that you can get to the park before they do and be ready to attack.
b) Hang out by the sheltered bit of the park and wait.
Unless you're POTUS, there is no security issue with a smart watch.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:52 GMT Anonymous Coward
Swatch introduced watches with some "payment" capabilities years ago...
And they didn't become a durable success. I have one I used when skiing (with gloves, it was more comfortable than the ski-pass card), it could have been also used for public transportation, but not many places allowed it. Today Apple and Google are bigger than Swatch and the acceptance of that payment method easier, but you can also pay with a card or a phone, without being forced to wear the same watch every time - some people like to wear different watches...
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:53 GMT James 51
Smart watches have their uses. It's just that it you're going to charge an arm and a leg to make a lot of money you have to show people something for it. There's also mind share to be considered. It's a pity pebble have swiveled towards the fitness side of things. I have a pebble steel and it is great for sneaking a look at texts in meetings.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 11:59 GMT Anonymous Coward
Garmin Vivosmart
I have a Garmin Vivosmart that seems to hit the mark - it tells the time (!), counts steps (and other fitness related info), has music player controls and shows me notifications from text messages and emails. It is small, waterproof with a touch screen and only needs recharging once a week or so.
The only downside is that I am now on no.4 as the screens keep dying on them (but Garmin keep replacing the unit and are quite efficient at sending out new ones)
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 12:08 GMT DrXym
The shortcomings were quite obvious
The display which turned off to save battery. The display which didn't work in strong glare. The battery which could barely last a day or two. The constant bother of charging. The proprietary chargers and accessories. The lack of compelling apps. The proprietary protocols and ties to phone platforms. The cost. etc.
All these things sunk smart watches. At the end of the day a "smart" watch was just a normal watch which didn't tell the as well as a normal watch and was considerably more bother to use.
When smart watches make substantial progress on all of the issues above, then they may get some market traction.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 12:18 GMT Mario Becroft
Dissent
Allow me to present a dissenting opinion.
I've found my Android Wear watch very practical. Maybe the UI could be improved, but the existing Wear UI based on simple swipe actions is a damn good effort and works well. I actually don't see a need for major changes.
Main uses I get from the watch:
- Telling the time. Why do you think wristwatches were invented in the first place and took over the market from pocket watches? Our phones are now our pocket watches. Any time I leave my wristwatch at home nowadays I find myself glancing at my wrist... oh... dig phone out of pocket, turn on screen... yeah that sure is just as easy as glancing at the wrist. No benefit to a wristwatch here at all...
- Receiving messages. Recieve an SMS, glance at the wrist and there it is. The majority can be dismissed with a flick of the wrist. If a response is warranted it can be made by voice dictation in a fraction of the time it would take to pull the phone out of the pocket. And the voice dictation is good! Less error-prone than the auto-correcting on-screen phone keyboards my friends seem to use (based on experience of trying to interpret their messages).
- Sending messages. The number of times I've been stuck in traffic and fired off a quick SMS using my watch's voice dictation feature without having to use my hands (illegal here).
- Customisable watchfaces. I can add whatever data strikes my fancy to my watch, which I'd probably never be able to find in a traditional wristwatch. Examples: ISO week number, 12 and 24 hour time, UTC time, sunset and sunrise points indicated on the dial, current weather report... All while looking beautiful like a traditional wristwatch. Do I need to take an umbrella with me today? Just glance at my watch. Sounds silly until you try it. When working in project management, glancing at the watch to get the week number is so handy. Doubtless there is a mechanical watch somewhere out there with ISO week, but does it have all the other features? Likely not. Point is I can make my watch work how I need and want.
- Apps. Stuff I could do on a phone, but it's so much easier on the watch. Like whipping out a calendar when discussing meeting/operational dates. Even checking my bank balances to see if I need to move money around before a big purchase--takes two taps to the screen. Done before I could have even got my phone out of my pocket.
- Novel applications which could never be done with just a phone. Guess what one of the best features of my smart watch is? It acts as a viewfinder for the camera in my phone. This is invaluable when trying to see the cabling behind some networking gear poorly packed into a rack, for example. I was on-site with a colleague just the other day, and this feature blew his mind. Sure I could find some remote camera hardware to serve the purpose, or fiddle around with a mirror on a stick, but this feature is there *in the watch already on my wrist*.
I've only scratched the surface here of all the smartwatch features I use on a regular basis.
If you've never used a smart watch then don't be so quick to dismiss its usefulness. If you have and disagree, I respect your opinion. But for me it all comes down to convenience. Sure, I *could* do many of these things with a phone. But nowadays I hardly ever take my phone out of my pocket except to answer calls. Smart watches have reached the point where they are unobtrusive and highly functional. In my opinion they are right in the sweet spot.
As to the people moaning about having to recharge it every night... how many of you wear your conventional wristwatch all night? Or do you take it off and put it on your nightstand? Thought so. Well, you do the same with your smartwatch, and it stays charged. There are zero instances where lack of battery life has been an issue for me with either of my smartwatches.
Disclaimer: I haven't used the Apple watch. My experience is only with the Moto 360 and G Watch R, both of which run Android Wear.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 13:16 GMT ChrisB 2
Re: Dissent
I like watches, I have a couple, so the time-telling thing was not a driver for me. I have to say I largely agree with you. I got an Apple Watch, used it for a few weeks, lost interest and only recently started using it again. I find it useful during the working week for almost all of the things you mention. At weekends I prefer my older (and nicer) mechanical watches.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 17:59 GMT Dadmin
Re: Dissent
YISS! Another mechanical watch fan lured into the seamy underbelly of the new era smartwatches.
I can't explain, but I had to get a smartwatch for work. I held off getting a "iWatch" since it came out because I was not yet an iPhone user, and I have a rather medium sized collection of many different types of analog and digital watches. My favorites are my Solar/Atomics, I have about four different Casios, two of which are G-Shockers, and two lovely Citizens a black and a sliver/Blue Angles flight-style watches. I also have a medium-luxury Tag Hauer Formula 1, which is the most expensive I would dare to get at about $1000 US retail. And my mini-collection of about ta dozen Swatch Watches dating back to their fist year with my trusty Jellyfish. So, for me getting a smartwatch meant leaving behind about 60 very nice watches and exclusively using a new bit of kit that I did not know if I would like or not. Also, I'd rather have a nice smart pocket watch, rather than a wrist worn device, and I didn't yet want the activity monitoring aspects of it. Just something to keep from walking around like a fucking 14 year old with a phone in my hand and my eyes glued to it like a retard. Stupid.
This is were it all changed for me. I upgraded the phone from a 2005 Moto RAZR to an iPhone 6s+, then got the iWatch a week later. I love this thing! Here's why; I don't have to pull out the phone, it tells me stuff that I want to know, and I can shut off the stuff I don't need. The activity monitor is actually a fun way to track what physical activities you're doing through the day and the device itself is much MUCH smaller than I anticipated. Most every one of my Invictas are slightly larger to over 5 times larger than the 42mm iWatch. So, no complaints here. Just very useful stuff, without having to hold other devices and log into them. Just tilt, swipe, swipe, hit the button if you're done, and you're off to the next thing. I almost wish they had made it a bit bigger, maybe option-out the fitness parts, and added a 4G-LTE radio to it for complete tether-free use, and in pocket/fobb style. I could re-engineer a band to be a fob, but that would leave the fitness sensors hanging out doing nothing. So, keep that for now.
Anyway, like you I will honor my old-timey analog and digital collection on the weekends, but I really do have many uses for this new iWatch device that makes holding the phone unnecessary. Other than the 1st party wares, I got a sweet XBMC remote so I can control my Kodi boxen right on the watch. Very handy indeed. Oh and both BBC News and the Sports apps do the iWatch justice with their implementations. So, I get why people are not flocking to buy these little expensive devils, but I don't think the market is quite dead yet, just going slow until some killer app comes along and a bulk of users say "oh yeah, I want that too." We'll see how it all plays out. So far, this is a good bit of kit.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 18:43 GMT werdsmith
False Consensus Bias
You are right, you get it - it works for you. The problem with most of these comments are the people that don't get it, they assume that their opinion is universal and dismiss these watches as pointless because they believe that their little world should apply to everyone.
There are many things I see other people doing that strike me as pointless, but I'm not inclined to declare it at every opportunity, because it's not all about me.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 13:41 GMT Seajay#
Re: Dissent
Great post, thank you. Sounds like you've already found some genuinely useful functions which I hadn't considered. They are all pretty minor advantages for something which costs >£100 but the uses are only going to increase as more people have and play with them.
The only bit I'd take issue with is the overnight thing. I have always worn my watch 24/7 whether digital, mechanical or now fitness tracking. This is one of those things which because it happens in the privacy of your own bedroom, you never see other people doing. So there's a tendency to assume that everyone is like you. Not the case and it is an issue for smart watches. However, given that a generation pretty quickly changed to not wearing watches at all, not wearing them overnight is a pretty minor adaptation (though it does remove the value of sleep and resting heart rate tracking in fitness watches)
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 14:11 GMT Gert Leboski
Re: Dissent
I'm with you on this. I have an LG Watch Urbane. I find it to be a useful piece of kit and it looks pretty good on the wrist in my opinion. Average use will see you get a couple of days battery life out of it.
Plus, I have found what I believe to be the killer app. A fart button, that turns your phone into a remote whoopie-cushion. Can I get a high five?
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Wednesday 8th June 2016 15:33 GMT Pedigree-Pete
Re: Dissent
I put my wristwatch and (my employer supplied) iPhone on my bedside table every night and charge the iPhone (in that mode, it's my alarm clock as the Casio speaker seems to have blown).
After years of uncomfortably and dangerously sticking my head down floor boxes to see possible cable runs I final realised my clip on 6 LED web cam and a VidConf application would do the same job without the gymnastics or the risk of slashing my carotid on the floor box edge. PP
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 12:30 GMT magickmark
My Wearable
My wearable attached to my wrist with a band of leather, it has one function which it does perfectly. It was made in 1916 (hallmarked silver) and still works perfectly toady.
As I am sure you can guess is a watch. In this case a Swiss made wristwatch and it does exactly as I want, a quick glance way of knowing the time. Anything more complex than that and I'd use my smartphone.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 12:33 GMT marky_boi
Pebble does the job just fine
Bought mine as a notification extension of the phone to my arm. I am on-call every 5 weeks and my darling wife appreciates the fact the watch vibrates to wake me up rather than a jangling phone...... I have an original pebble time and the thing lasted 10 days while I was on holidays. I swapped out the stupid silicon band for a black stainless steel jobbies from e-bay and get comments all the time on how nice the watch looks most are surprised to find out it is a pebble. The epaper display reads well and with a flick of the wrist the thing lights up at night. I will be stumping up some more coin for the updated pebble2 on offer as I have belief in the sense of using the pebble. I looked at android behemoths and decided that the pebble fitted the bill, i have not regretted that choice 3 years later.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 13:17 GMT SquidEmperor
Gear Fit - Boomerang
I bought the Samsung Gear Fit when it was first released because I liked the look. Typically after about 90 days I tossed it to one side and went back to my expensive Analog Mont Blanc. ....but.... about 5 months ago I started to wear it again after about a year of neglect. and I am still wearing it daily. I think the sweet spot the Gear Fit hits is that [a] It look good and [b] it doesn't try and do everything - but what it does do it does fairly well. It buzzes on my wrist to remind me of meetings, enables me to track multiple timezones and see a preview of messages and app notifications as they arrive. And it (as unreliably as anything else) enables me to count steps and exercise. All in all not remarkable but reliable enough and useful enough to hang on my wrist. Now if they could just redesign it so it didn't need a dongle to charge with I'd be very happy.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 13:55 GMT Jos V
Outdoor activity watch?
What I'd like is a watch that has GPS build in, plus compass, so it can show direction + distance to waypoints, a mini flashlight, an analog clock face, and a mini-usb to charge it up and read/set data.
Communicating to the phone optional, if only to do the waypoints through an app... I doubt if it can't be done under $100...
Or is it there already? Can't be bothered to search for it :)
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 14:00 GMT John Miles 1
iAPX432 and redundant solutions
That's the first time I've seen a mention of the iAPX432 (Intel's post 8086 new dawn) in about 30 years. One of the problems it aimed to solve was bad object pointer references and buffer overflows. At the same time the Ada language addressed the same problem through compiler technology. Bizarrely Intel then launched the processor with an Ada compiler - so there was then no need for the key features in the new architecture. Both the processor and the language tanked (except for specialist and defense applications) and 30 years later we still have buffer overflows and all the security nasties that flow from that.
Seems to be the same problem with smartwatches - if we didn't already have smart phones they might be rather useful.
In both cases one solution is better than two or zero.
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Friday 3rd June 2016 18:18 GMT Michael Wojcik
Re: iAPX432 and redundant solutions
While the iAPX-432 failed, that doesn't mean it was a mistake.1
There had been commercially-successful capability architectures before, principally the Burroughs machines. There was a commercially-successful capability architecture shortly after: the AS/400.2
There was a pressing need then for capability architectures. There still is.
The problem with the iAPX-432 was that Intel didn't market it as safety and reliability over performance, and probably didn't have footing to do so anyway. IBM could sell the System/38 and then AS/400 on that basis, because IBM's customers were already conditioned to accept that trade-off. Intel's were not (and still are not).
Andrew's understanding of the iAPX-432 is impoverished and his interpretation sophomoric. Shocking, I know.
1Tommy: "That it ceased to exist, I'll grant you. But I don't think it can be definitively said to be a failure." Charlie: "For me, ceasing to exist is failure. That's pretty definitive." Tommy: "We all cease to exist. That doesn't mean we're all failures."
2I know some Wikipedant claims the AS/400 was not a capability architecture. I don't find the argument convincing, and in any case for our purpose it's so close as makes no difference.
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Thursday 2nd June 2016 14:55 GMT John Lilburne
Way back in 1982 ...
... I was used a watch to time a darkroom print exposure, during one session I dropped the damn thing in a stop bath tray. It never worked again and I've not used a watch since. If I need to know the time it is displayed on my computer, iPod, and old nokia phone. Around the town there are big towers which display the time, it is displayed on the dashboard of my car, and is usually displayed on the wall in cafes and shops. Why would I need to pay £20 let alone several £100 for another time display?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
