Everything you mentioned is more a CONVENIENCE than a necessity. You can glance at your phone in a meeting. People do it all the time. Not having to pull your phone out of your pocket in a meeting or in class is a convenience -- but doing so is a social norm.
Every single thing that Apple sells is for convenience, not necessity. Everything. You don't need a laptop, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a watch. They aren't food, shelter, or clean drinking water. They aren't required for life. Most of these things didn't even exist twenty years ago, yet somehow people survived without them. So, of course we are talking about convenience. It all comes down at the most basic level to a simple question. How much is that convenience worth. And that varies by person.
To me, what the watch provides is worth a lot. You think it is fine to pull out your phone in a meeting to check the time. That's okay. I think it is rude and distracting, especially when it happens more than once. That's okay too. It is just an opinion, and a preference. One of us isn't right or wrong because of it. I do disagree that it is a social convention. That implies everyone agrees with you, and I can assure you that isn't the case, even if they don't say anything about it.
I didn't mention the health tracking aspects, because to me, that is essentially worthless. It is important to you, and I understand and respect that, but I have zero interest. Which really highlights my point. The Apple watch, at least this first version, is weak in the health monitoring category. If that were my main interest, I'd probably wait for the next version. The other aspects that you care less about are very important to me, so there isn't a need for me to wait.
It is just personal preference, and I get that. What bugs me is when people say they don't understand why anyone would want one. If Apple came out with a wrist band that had a ton of health monitoring functions and couldn't display texts, alerts, or the time, I'd pass on it. But I also wouldn't get on every forum, declare it a failure, and act like I can't understand why anyone would want one.
And that's what I see happening here. Over and over again. Every time at least one person patiently explains it, but it just doesn't end.
Not that you are doing that, but that behavior is what prompted my original post.
