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I don't get what all the fuss is about over GPS for running. Runkeeper Which is free lets you map and or edit your route on their website so it is just as accurate as GPS and probably more accurate due to being to fix the areas where GPS is poor and has you running s screwy squiggly route

What would be the point in buying the Watch then? You could just as easily use Google Earth and a $50 heart rate monitor - ten year old technology. You would also miss out on your current pace - which is one of the reasons people upgrade to a GPS watch. It's also a problem for anyone that runs in a forest.

Oh and the mapmyrun bit - yes it was around before the iphone, as were gps watches

On the HR topic - have we heard any details about whether or not the watch will give us continuous monitoring?
 
What would be the point in buying the Watch then? You could just as easily use Google Earth and a $50 heart rate monitor - ten year old technology. You would also miss out on your current pace - which is one of the reasons people upgrade to a GPS watch. It's also a problem for anyone that runs in a forest.

Oh and the mapmyrun bit - yes it was around before the iphone, as were gps watches

On the HR topic - have we heard any details about whether or not the watch will give us continuous monitoring?

The watch still will show your time and a gustimated distance/pace and mapmyrun was not available on any phone/running devise that I know of before 2007, please do correct me if I am wrong on that.

My guess is the heart rate monitor will be continuous just like the chest strap heart rate monitors, at the very least it will do it in timed incriments, or based on set distaces/what you set it for.
 
The watch still will show your time and a gustimated distance/pace and mapmyrun was not available on any phone/running devise that I know of before 2007, please do correct me if I am wrong on that.

Mapmyrun launched 2005, added GPS functionality in 2006.

My guess is the heart rate monitor will be continuous just like the chest strap heart rate monitors, at the very least it will do it in timed incriments, or based on set distaces/what you set it for.

If it is continuous, it's surprising we haven't heard more about it as it would be a reasonable selling point vs e.g. Moto 360, which as far as I know isn't continuous and therefore not particularly useful for athletes.
 
Mapmyrun launched 2005, added GPS functionality in 2006.


If it is continuous, it's surprising we haven't heard more about it as it would be a reasonable selling point vs e.g. Moto 360, which as far as I know isn't continuous and therefore not particularly useful for athletes.

That is correct but they did not have an app for ios or android until 2007.

Ya more I thought about it it probably won't be continious. It probably will work like the heart rate deteector apps where it reads it before and after a workout.
 
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Didn't realize you could track your run distance and time on a non existant iphone in 2005.

SO to answer your quetion NO but nice attempt on trying to be cheeky

I really wasn't trying to be cheeky, lol. Look, I have a MacBook Air, I have an iMac, I've had an iPhone since day 1 for v1, and I've had an iPad since day 1 for v1, I get it. A lot of you are excited about the Apple Watch, that's fine.

My issue is Apple marketing it as some kind of revolutionary running watch. From what I read, it's not.

My key issues:

1 - No GPS. Yesterday, I ran 16 miles in NYC, it was snowing, I didn't want to map out a course ahead of time, I just wanted to run, figure it out on the fly and not have to lug around my iPhone.

2 - Not waterproof. If it rained instead of snowed yesterday, it could have been an issue. But even with the lack of rain, sweat can be dangerous. Also, I can't swim with it, I can't use it for triathlon, so for me, not cool.

3 - No ANT+. The watch will not talk to my power meter, cadence sensor or speed sensor on my bike, and it won't talk to my foot pod or chest strap HRM when I run (it should, however, speak to my duel broadcasting optical HRMs).

4 - The mystery of the Apple Watch optical HR sensor. Apple hasn't announced any details about it so we don't know if it is going to be a general all day sensor that is pretty much ineffective during exercise (like the Basis) or highly accurate during exercise at the expense of design and battery (like the Mio). I am betting it's the former - after all, if it was accurate during exercise they would have showcased it during Turlington's presentation.

So hey, I am sure the watch will be great. It just won't be a great running watch for me so I am going to pass and keep my fingers crossed for v2!
 
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Except, it still can't tell my route w/o a GPS, that's a show stopper for me.

I like to see the route also, but have always been disappointed by the GPS sampling rate of tracking apps. They are so slow that they cut off the route at corners and don't correctly measure distance (and thus speed). So, while it is good to know where you have been, it is a bad way to measure speed and distance.
 
But how many runners are going to want to shell out for both a running specific gps watch and an apple watch? Some I guess, but many won't. I won't. So apple watch not having gps puts those people to a choice: do I want a good running watch with limited smart functions (eg fenix 3) or a good smartwatch with limited running functions?

It's just a shame we have to pick one or the other; that's all I'm saying. Hopefully either apple adds gps in v2 or Garmin et al step up their "smart" features in the next generation of devices.

It certainly is odd that Apple is pushing the health side of the :apple: Watch even to the point of imploring a runner, who also is a model, but it lacks what many serious runners want...built in GPS.

Perhaps the health features are geared more for the majority of users just needing a bit of a push now and then to get off their a$$ which is where the greatest net affect will be seen. You can't make everyone happy all the time but you can make some of them all the time and as a business I'd aim for the biggest segment to maximize exposure.
 
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