Lets talk smartwatches

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Lounge' started by Fireball926, Mar 12, 2015.

  1. Fireball926

    Fireball926 Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2010
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    Who here on the forums has a smartwatch or is going to buy one? I'm sort pf interested in seeing how many of you have taken or want to take the plunge into this new exciting market.

    I currently have a Pebble Steel and am torn between buying the Pebble Time or the Apple Watch. I'd really like to buy the Apple watch but battery life and imminent year one problems are making me consider just waiting until the next iteration.
     
  2. Anonomation

    Anonomation 👮 Spam Police 🚓


    Honestly think you should settle with the Pebble Steel, no point in spending that much money for something else that can do less. I honestly find the Apple watch useless as I can make calls with my PHONE, and otherwise buy something cheaper for any other reasons one would need it. Just think of how easily the screen could break too, as its a watch on your arm.
     
  3. coconutbowling

    coconutbowling Well-Known Member

    Dec 8, 2008
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    There's only one reason why I'd want a smartwatch
    [​IMG]
     
  4. bigrand1

    bigrand1 Well-Known Member

    Apr 23, 2010
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    #4 bigrand1, Mar 12, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2015
    I'd go with my gut on this one! Personally, I agree with your entire last paragraph! Also, so expensive, limited uses, small and fragile screen also IMO.
    Tell you what has me excited, though, is this Cicret bracelet! It's for Android, and you gotta check this out! This thing actually projects Android OS onto your wrist! Has sensors that tracks when you tap on your skin to perform an action just like a touch screen! It's fully interactive. Now this isn't out yet (or I'd be doing a review here now!) but I just CANT WAIT to see this thing up close in action! The future is here! :D
     
  5. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2012
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    #5 Primoz, Mar 12, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2015
    The Cicret is just a concept and the videos are fake. There are many issues in the concept as well, dark colors couldn't be projected in daylight and your finger would cover up the beam's path. Not to mention that the quality of the "screen" would be terrible because the skin surface isn't smooth (plus you'd have to shave your arm!) and the further the beam shines the image gets increasingly blurry.
     
  6. Teknikal

    Teknikal Well-Known Member

    Oct 26, 2010
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    I've thought about buying them a few times but really when it comes down to it I really don't see much point. I think the only reason I had temptation at all is the LG G Watch R would go well with my G3 and to me it's also the only decent looking smartwatch so far, their URBANE looks even better but I've yet to see it in person.

    On the other hand I think the Pebble is the only one going in the right direction as far as functionality and batterylife are concerned but I just can't help thinking they are cheap and ugly looking.

    The original Pebble Steel I could live with but I still don't think it looks very good.
     
  7. Fireball926

    Fireball926 Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2010
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    Hmm, solid point. The Steel I have uses gorilla glass as opposed to Apple's $400 entry level model which uses ion-x reinforced glass which we know close to nothing about. Thinking of upgrading to the new non steel pebble time, it has a nice look to it and I really would appreciate the 64 color screen.
     
  8. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    I'm still waiting to experience the problem that smart watches are trying to solve. I've got a drawer full of 'em as (particularly on the Android Wear side), hardware vendors are desperately trying to get someone to figure out why average consumers should care about smart watches. I've been to multiple conferences where they're just giving them away to everyone because all they've got going for them is being the Next Big Thing, or that's what everyone is trying (and hoping) to convince consumers of.

    Personally, I hate my cell phone. Don't get me wrong, I love the things that I can do on my iPhone, but cell phones as a whole are about as invasive as Kudzu in the American south. The proliferation of mobile phones basically requires your phone on your person at all times. I can't imagine leaving the house without my cell phone, and when I have it makes me nervous enough that I go back home to get it. Whether legitimate or not, I feel like I absolutely must have a device with me that's worse than a mixture of Navi and Clippy, constantly buzzing to tell me the world needs my attention.

    When giving the various smart watches I have the good ol' college try, the only real use they ever seem to have is piping your notifications to your wrist. So, if you thought your phone was a constant annoyance before, buzzing away in your pocket, now you've got two things vying for your attention. The smart watch arguably makes it worse, as it's often always in your peripheral vision so you're getting a second buzz and a screen illumination for every inane thing your phone alerts you of.

    The social implications of this kind of thing are huge too, as when I'm with friends, in a business meeting, or whatever else I'm giving the people I'm with my undivided attention. I rarely ever pull my phone out of my pocket when I'm around other people, because doing so is quite literally saying "This IFTTT alert I just got is more important than your presence." If for whatever reason I've got my phone out, it's face down, as your screen lighting up for some random alert always draws everyone's attention and potentially breaks whatever conversation you're having. There is no "screen down" on a smart watch, and it constantly buzzing and lighting up around other people is just as impactful as your phone doing the same.

    Without any real killer apps (and believe me, developers are trying) the only purpose smart watches serve is making your existing electronics more annoying and further reducing the impact of meaningful social interaction because it just makes the noise from Twitter and other sources even more invasive. Maybe the Apple Watch will change this, but I doubt it- This train has too much momentum.
     
  9. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    If the apple watch came out before the iPhone years ago it would have been massive. But I don't see the point of these watches. Look great etc but I can do everything I want on my phone (haven't wirn a watch for about 10 years now due to phones)
     
  10. Stevenseagal

    Stevenseagal Active Member

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    Preach, Eli. Smartphones are incredibly (incredibly) useful, but also so goddamn distracting. Why anyone would want an extension of that constant nuisance on their wrist at all times (and pay more money for it) is beyond me.
     
  11. bigrand1

    bigrand1 Well-Known Member

    Apr 23, 2010
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    I realize this is isn't made yet, but I absolutely LOVE the concept! I'd like to see this become reality, that's what excites me! Not sure about the shaving the arm thing unless they're an ape! The inside of most people's forearms aren't really that hairy at all. Just the whole idea seems right, though. ;)
     
  12. slamraman

    slamraman Well-Known Member
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    Aug 27, 2011
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    My wrist was not made for a watch. Smart or not.
     
  13. cloudpuff

    cloudpuff Well-Known Member

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    Mine either lol. I've been paying attention last few days and I've not seen a watch on anyone's wrist under the age of 50.

    I'm not sure how to say this but my brother has an android one and he looks like a right twat tapping away on it. So my brain has been kind of hard wired to associated them with twattines lol. Saying that, I said tablets were crap and would never take off, and I'm glued to my ipad now. :)
     
  14. Fireball926

    Fireball926 Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2010
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    For me personally, though I'm sure this applies to others, It helps keep the distraction down to a minimum, especially during class. When I get a text and my phone is in my pocket I have to go through the effort of pulling my phone out of my pocket, unlocking it, and then checking the text and deciding whether its something worth replying to. Then since my phone is unlocked it just adds to the possibility of getting myself further distracted. With my Pebble I'm able to make that decision whether or not to reply in a second. Check the temperature? Glance at my watchface. Date? Glance at my watchface. Now this certainly doesn't apply to all smartwatches though, Pebble has that nice benefit of the screen always being on, with other smartwatches it seems you need to activate it by movement or by tapping it.
     
  15. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
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    Do you, though? What do you do that requires an instant response? That's what's weird to me about all this, when did things shift so severely that your phone buzzing means you need to check it? Try rolling in DND mode for a couple weeks, it's actually real nice using your phone when you want to look at something rather than your phone constantly interrupting your life.
     
  16. crunc

    crunc Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2008
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    The only real plus to me with a smart watch is that you can have it notify you only when it is something from somebody important to you. Like your Mom. But rather than spending $350+ on an Apple Watch to do that, I am getting this thing:

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ditto/ditto

    It's cheap and it does exactly what I want: notify me only for people that matter. But this functionality could just be built into the phone. I'm not sure why it isn't. Let me know when my Mom texts me, don't let me know when Best Buy sent me junk mail.
     
  17. bigrand1

    bigrand1 Well-Known Member

    Apr 23, 2010
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    #17 bigrand1, Mar 12, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2015
    You got THAT right! Wow! Someone else thinks like I do! And why anyone would want such a tiny, fragile screen, crummy battery, very limited usefulness, first generation, (and you know how that goes with Apple), and is way over expensive, is beyond me too!
    And like someone else here said, I've also noticed that nobody under 50 even wears a watch anymore, so that whole idea is a thing of the past, from what I've been seeing! Who needs that? To me it's a stupid product that's not gonna fly. But there's a big amount of people who are gonna buy whatever Apple puts out, so I could always be wrong! :>\
     
  18. Eli

    Eli ᕕ┌◕ᗜ◕┐ᕗ
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    I love this. Sort of similar but not really is the Razer Nabu- http://nabu.razerzone.com

    Things like that appeal to me as the one use case I've had that was actually pretty nice is being able to go out and cut my grass during the work day when there's nothing going on and having my Pebble buzz my wrist (since I can't hear or feel my phone while cutting the grass) is pretty sweet. But, again, here you're talking outdoor dirty labor and using a $350+ smart watch to solve a "problem" (with massive exaggerated air quotes).
     
  19. Fireball926

    Fireball926 Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2010
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    I'm a student, if thats what you mean by "what do I do". While its not exactly necessary for me to check it, if I'm getting a text while in school I assume its at least moderately important. This may not apply to you and your everyday life but when people text me its usually a split of "Hey look at how funny this is" which I can often ignore and look at later by just glancing at my watch, but often its a mix of "hey what was java homework?" Or "what pages did we have to read?" which are obviously texts sent to me where the sender expects a reply back in reasonable time. Again, I'm not sure if this applys to you in particular, but as someone who oftens finds themselves in group messages its great to be able to semi-follow the discussion from my wrist rather than constantly pulling my phone out to check them. And just like you said, it is really nice being able to open my phone when I want to look at something instead of constantly pulling it out and interrupting my life.
     
  20. Papa Deuce

    Papa Deuce Well-Known Member

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    If they are under $100 when I need a watch, and if I don't need to buy bandwidth, I'm in... But only if that is the case. I don't need a wrist phone.
     

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