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Apple watch????

genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran


As probably the oldest person on this bulletin board, I wonder what any of you whipper-snappers think of the idea of having a wrist watch will all the "apps." It sounds dumber-than-dammit to me, and inconvenient besides, but that may just be a function of old and increasingly-cranky age.

What's your take?

Comments

  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator

    I don't like watches at all so the idea of a smart watch doesn't appeal to me in the least. I already hate feeling tethered to my cell. The last thing I want is to increase that.
    My son, however, likes the idea. He is into attempting to automate everything in his entire life. He even has a lightbulb in his room he can control with his cell so that he can turn the lights on as he pulls into the driveway. I admit, that is kind of nice (not worth the price tag to outfit the whole house, lol) as I don't have to leave lights on for him when he is home after we go to bed. He wants to set up as much of that in his life as he can so he has more time to do fun stuff, like travel.

    Myself, I enjoy the effort I have to put into keeping myself alive, and think that part of the reason we tend to be an obese and otherwise unhealthy country is our tendency to remove our connection to our own lives and what it takes to keep us alive. Everything is too easy. I don't like life that way. My son is the opposite. Most of the kids his age are as well.

    However, that level of control with devices can have positive effects, too, like using smart phones to monitor and control diabetes, and using them, in time, to control nano cells in our bodies to attack cancer cells and so on. It'll be interesting to see how things work out. Like I said in another thread, we are still struggling to find a balance with all our technology, I think.

    dantepw
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Well, it's all a bunch of hype, but in time (pardon the pun) this is the way things will move.

    Beam me up Scotty.... ;)

    (And yes, I DO know he never actually said that....)

    mockeymind
  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    I think I'd prefer shades with holographic touch screen.

    I never liked the feel of watches and especially can't stand the patch of skin just beneath the watch. It always starts stinking like a band aid that's been on too long, gross.
    Vastminddantepw
  • VastmindVastmind Memphis, TN Veteran
    edited March 2015

    ^^^ IKR??!!! Yep...watches aren't for me, either.

    I feel like the big tech companies are running out of ideas...or should I say...places to put the same ideas..Flip phones are becoming popular in parts of Asia...hahaha...phones were the size of small appliances....then went credit card thin...now I tease some people at work that they have phones the size of small TV's....hahaha...

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Yes it's funny watching someone talking into a 'dinner-plate'....

  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    edited March 2015

    I can say that kids today can see so far into how these devices can be useful. Ways most of us can't comprehend. I keep up with technology pretty well, but my brain doesn't function that way to be able to see those kinds of ideas and know how to put them to use. It's pretty amazing. He also has pointed out that more and more jobs will continue to be automated and in the not to distant future, a significant portion of the jobs available for humans now no longer will be. So if you aren't in a tech field where you can work on those programs and devices, you won't have a job. I don't know if that's true or not, but i can see it more now than I could 20 years ago. Obviously we still need people to do some things (I think? lol) but a lot of the medical fields, law enforcement, even law, will be reduced to automated functions ala Idiocracy.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited March 2015

    When I was a school Governor (Back in the mid- late nineties) the Head Teacher, a far-seeing individual, pointed out that children then, were being educated to occupy jobs that hadn't even been invented yet.
    My mind boggled then....!

  • It functions as a watch though which makes it more practical. I'd rather have a watch that can do things than a fancy expensive gold watch or whatever.

  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator

    That's a good point. i can see some uses, but for me, it would mostly be for health tracking and syncing, which I already do. I have enough of a problem attempting to use the touch keyboard on my phone (which is fairly large) I can't imagine trying to touch buttons on a watch! Plus, on the rare occasion I might wear a watch (I do have a gps watch for tracking calories burned, heart rate, mileage and so on) I cannot stand when they are big. I need to be able to comfortably bend my wrist to 90 degrees. So far, the smart watches I've seen are unacceptably large.

  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    If they give the option of a pocket watch, I'll be more inclined.
    stacey
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran

    I don't even understand the desire to watch a movie on a little tiny screen.

    But I did look at the price tag on the Apple watch just out of curiosity. I'll pass. The top of the line models cost 3 times as much as the first car I ever bought.

  • howhow Veteran Veteran

    I think we are just being prepped for quantum brain chips.
    And like saying today that having a computer is optional,
    tomorrows options will be no less avoidable.

    lobster
  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    Convenience almost always turns into necessity.
  • Rowan1980Rowan1980 Keeper of the Zoo Asheville, NC Veteran
    It's interesting in an "Inspector Gadget" sense, but I honestly wouldn't go out of my way to get one. Hell, I still have no intention on upgrading my iPhone 4S until it's necessary.
  • HamsakaHamsaka goosewhisperer Polishing the 'just so' Veteran

    Just open my skull and implant that tech so I can interface with it virtually, 'cuz I'd lose or break that sucker, I know how I am. Plus I'd need new prescription glasses to even SEE those little icons!

    As far as being 'old' and baffled at what to do with all this newfangled stuff, I am just old enough to start wondering WTF, too. I'm still fascinated and excited by it, whether or not I know what to do with it. Rather than my "WTF?" leading me to snub all the newfangled stuff, it's more of a curious WTF? and I hope to live to see this tech go far past a smart watch, or smart glasses :)

  • It is a first generation wrist phone (that requires a separate phone as base unit), needs charging every day. About generation 3 it might start to be useful.

    I am far more interested in mobile see through HUD specs, so for example on the simplest level you could watch a youtube video hands free on fixing a bike, whilst fixing a bike and using voice or similar control. Or have info street map overlays as you walked, or first aid info etc.

    Such augmented systems are being developed, some expensive, some specialised but they have far more potential.

    This first generation Apple watch is not for me.

  • If I just had a few hundred dollars with no idea how to spend it
    then maybe =)

  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran

    I keep wondering whether the Facebook- and Twitter-inclined will survive when/if the electricity goes out. And that's not to mention the downside distances such apps create between people as they ballyhoo our "connectedness."

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran

    Apples belong in a bucket of water.... ;)

    David
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator

    Voice control (that actually works) is fun. We have an xbox 1, and that has decent voice controls for what it is. It always thinks the dog is one of our children though, so it'll pipe in with "hello, child!" when the dog walks by, lol. But it's nice to be able to shut it down when it gets turned on by mistake or left on, without having to change the tv input to do so. It's nice in games, too, to not have to remember so many menus and just tell the game "map!" except when it doesn't work quite right and you are in a panic to figure out how to get to what the xbox isn't understanding, lol.

    I'm excited about some of it on one level, but apprehensive. We will no doubt use some of it, we are a pretty techy family but a lot of that is because we have kids. I'd rather live in a small cabin with kerosene lamps and an outhouse. (seriously.) So we'll see at what point my desires come into conflict with the world we live in and the necessity of having those items to help kids in school or to even do your job.

  • VictoriousVictorious Grim Veteran
    edited March 2015

    @genkaku said:

    As probably the oldest person on this bulletin board, I wonder what any of you whipper-snappers think of the idea of having a wrist watch will all the "apps." It sounds dumber-than-dammit to me, and inconvenient besides, but that may just be a function of old and increasingly-cranky age.

    What's your take?

    I say Hell No! Never wear that.

    But This maybe.

    http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/03/01/huawei-smartwatch-blends-classic-styling-with-modern-tech

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yPRykEG-nVo/VPSIv--qT_I/AAAAAAAAID8/L_WifxVHiyc/s1600/Huawei+smartwatch.jpg

  • This is one thing I can live without - =)

    lobster
  • I love using ApplePay from my phone, but I hope I never get so lazy that I spend money to prevent me from having to take my phone out of my pocket.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Apple watch. The title conjures up visions of Isaac Newton seeing a fruit fall.....That set the ball rolling.....!

    Rowan1980
  • I find it rather uncomfortable at first sight! I rather a nice Android 5.0.x phone :) that way i can use the phone's capability + play games/watch videos/etc
  • DakiniDakini Veteran

    @lobster said:
    It is a first generation wrist phone (that requires a separate phone as base unit), needs charging every day. About generation 3 it might start to be useful.

    Give me a good, old-fashioned shoe phone. =)

    vinlynRowan1980
  • I wonder if they are partly capitalizing off the 'high' people remember getting when they first got a smart phone. So they want that excitement and delight of again having a remarkable gadget. I will buy an i-watch before a fancy gold watch.

  • Rowan1980Rowan1980 Keeper of the Zoo Asheville, NC Veteran
    @Jeffrey - I've no doubt that it's a huge factor.
  • edited March 2015

    Apple is running out of ideas. Next up- Ipencil. Wonder what their TV ads for the watch would be like if they showed it in actual size.

    dantepw
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