Two Thirds Done

Thoughts and experiences of an eighty one year old Wild Duck.

Avram Miller by the sea
EN | IT

587 posts since 2006

Tag: Apple Watch

  • The Apple Watch, the most anticipated ho-hum product ever launched

    I promised a number of you that I would give my impressions of the Apple Watch. Frankly, I don’t have a lot to say, which in some strange way, is saying a lot. I have numbered the various capabilities on a scale from 1-10, but bottom line, unless you have an extra $500 or so that is burning a hole in you pocket, you could wait out the first generation of the Apple Watch. I am not negative about it, I’m glad I bought it, and I wear it every day, but frankly, my desk is full of wearable devices I no longer wear. I could easily have a garage sale, but I keep this kind of stuff, so it will eventually show up in an estate sale.

    It is a great a watch (8)
    This is the most important thing if you already wear a watch. It has to keep time and feel comfortable. It does that very well. I also love that it shows me my next appointment. The timer and alarm functions are easy to use, especially with Siri. If I want to take a nap, I can say “Hey Siri, wake me up in 15 minutes” and she will. I don’t wear a watch to bed, which some people do, although I have no idea why. So charging it at night is not an issue for me.

    Battery Life (4)
    I have had my Apple Watch for over six weeks. I wear it every day and only once did it run out of power before the end of the day. It seems that if you leave a power hungry application running (like an exercise app) it will suck out all the juice and your phone will die. This is what happened to me. I don’t know why the Apple Watch does not do a better job dealing with this, but there are other examples where I would have expected more intelligence on the part of the Apple Watch. I will give a few examples later.

    Fitness Device (3)
    I think the Apple Watch is a mediocre fitness device. I much prefer the Intel Basic Peak which is smart enough to figure out if I am exercising or not, and even what kind of exercise without having to start up an app. Sometimes I forget to run the fitness app when I exercise or figure out thirty minutes later that I have not loaded it. It does not do continuous heart rate, probably to save energy.

    One of the really stupid things, is that it tells me to get up and move if I have been stationary too long, but it does that even when I am in in an airplane or a moving car. It could use its GPS and Accelerometer to understand that I must be in a vehicle. This could be more difficult in an airplane.

    Glance and Notification (7)
    I like getting short messages on my watch especially when I have my phone in my pocket. But at first I was getting way to many. It is important to decide on the apps that you want to have this capability. Less is more in this case because otherwise you will start ignoring the notifications.

    Siri (6)
    Siri works pretty well, although I feel stupid talking to my watch because it makes me think of Dick Tracey.

    Maps and such (7)
    I love using the native Apple Watch map application when I am walking because the Apple Watch taps me on my wrist to let me know the turns I have to take. I don’t look like an idiot staring at my iPhone while I walk which can also be pretty dangerous when you cross a street.

    Some fun stuff (7)
    I like to order Uber from my watch. I am looking forward to using it with Home Kit devices once they are out. I am still trying to figure out how to send my heart beat to someone else that has an Apple Watch.

    I can use the Apple Watch as a remote for my Apple TV, but I still need to have my iPhone close by. This is something that I hope gets fixed soon. Since the Apple TV has Bluetooth it should either be able to communicate directly with the Apple Watch or act as a gateway to the phone over the Wifi network.

    Passbook seems to work well and you can even check into a flight using the Apple Watch. I have yet to get Apple Pay to work via the Apple Watch, but I just need a bit more practice.

    I will try Yelp, Find Near Me and Trip Advisor when I travel next.

    Stuff I don’t really plan to do at least for now (4)
    I don’t really see doing my email with the Apple Watch. It is hard enough with an iPhone. I am not sure about messaging. I don’t see using it as a phone when I need my phone with me to even use it.

    I also do not plan to use it to control music, but that might make sense for others.

    Relationship with the iPhone (2)
    You have to be within bluetooth range of your iPhone. The Apple Watch is basically a peripheral to an iPhone. This is a major limitation, but it appears to be  necessary one. Too bad Apple does not offer a bluetooth range extender so you could leave your phone (charging) and wander around the house. It does not even send you a notice when you are out of range of your iPhone. In fact, letting you know that you left your phone on the table as you leave Starbucks would not be a bad feature.

    Apple Watch now and then
    We have to keep in mind this is a first-generation product. I think Apple made the right trade-offs. Because of battery limitations, the watch could not really support WiFi so it has to be tethered to an iPhone. I think we will see functionality move over to native apps on the Watch over time. Eventually, we can use the watch instead of a phone although we will need bluetooth headphones if we want to use it as a phone.

    The Apple watch has a long way to go before it is in the “must have” category currently occupied by the iPhone. I think that will take about five years and then you will never be able to imagine how you could have lived without it. So like most of the people that have bought an Apple Watch, I am not recommending that my friends buy one yet.

    If Steve Jobs is turning over in this grave, it probably is not to check the time.

  • The Apple Watch

    It is now several weeks since Apple announced the Apple Watch (formerly known as the iWatch). Normally, I have strong opinions on tech products as soon as they are announced or at least a few days later when I can read reviews of those that got hands on access to the products. This time is clearly an exception. I still don’t know what I think about the Apple Watch over all.

    My predictions-how did I do

    I made several posts on this blog about the Apple Watch.

    Apple laid the foundation for the iWatch at WWDC and everyone missed it!

    What to iWatch

    Your wrist: The most important real estate on the earth and why Apple wants to own it now.

    I thought I would go through my predictions one at a time and rate myself but frankly as I started doing that, I got bored myself so I am pretty sure most of you would find it boring.

    For the most part, I called the functionality pretty well especially since I predicted most of that over a year before the Watch was announced.

    What I missed most was the requirement for the Watch to be connected to an iPhone in order to perform most functions. I also did not understand how limited the battery and charging system would be.

    The Good, Bad and Ugly

    I have personally not seen the Apple Watch but imagine it is stylish. It has to be to succeed. Watches are about style and status to a large extent. My sense is that Apple is doing a good job with this.

    Apple introduced a number of important capabilities such as Haptic feedback (you feel that someone is tapping on your wrist) and touch force input. The Watch has a “crown” that is the primary way of providing control info that makes sense to me.

    The focus on health and fitness makes sense. Apple will do a good job in this area, especially in the future when the Watch may have more physiological inputs like blood glucose and blood oxygen levels.

    Having to be close to the iPhone is a very great limitation. I think this is especially true when you are home or in the work place. I was hoping I could live my phone on my desk and just communicate with the Watch to do things like Home Control, Media Control and Communications. If I understand things well, I will still have to have my phone near me, so I am not sure what the Watch is buying me.

    The battery and charging are major issues. One will have to charge the Watch every day; I believe. That will most likely be done at night when one is a sleep. That means that the Watch can not monitor sleep like is currently done with products such as the Base (that I am wearing as I write this). The charging is done via an inductive method, but it still requires the watch to be touching the charging unit. Having yet a new charing unit is a pain. What if you go on a trip and forget it. What if you take the charger with you and leave it at the hotel. Perhaps, future iPhones and iPad will use the same charging method which will make this pain go away.

    Apple announced Apple Pay that I also predicted and which I will write about in the future. However, Apple elected to use Near Field Communications (NFC) instead of low power Bluetooth. They did this probably under pressure from the credit card companies since NFC has already been deployed. But this means you have to touch the payment device. I think that may be a bit awkward with a watch on your wrist.

    The Apple Watch will be using for messaging. I see that as a big problem for drivers. The UK has already added the Apple Watch to the list of  devices not allowed to be used by auto drivers and for good reason.

    Will the Apple Watch succeed
    I think it will. We have to remember that this is the first generation. Just think back on the first iPod, the first iPhone and the first iPad.

    I believe the key limitation is battery. With enough power, the Watch could connect directly to WiFi and the cellular system and not require an iPhone. Then it would be a killer product. Until then, it will just be another device that those of us that are addicted to Apple and have the money, will have to own.