My day with an Apple Watch

[Mr.C]

But since most of us carry our phones in our pockets all the time, is it really $800 handy? Again, just giving the counter argument....I already have a much more practical and way more powerful controller through my phone, and moreover, it also works my Harmony set-up. (Not available for Apple Watch).

I'm sorry for being so negative in all my replies, but is it really a truly life-changing reason to own an Apple Watch?

I've yet to hear about a truly revolutionary app that would make the watch worthwhile.

So far I think it works for fitness junkies, and it serves as a great reminder tool for people who take medication at regular intervals (but I can think of much cheaper solutions), although the taptic engine is admittedly very good.

But that's it so far. Not much value on a $800 gadget.

Reading this and your previous posts with all due respect in my opinion you just don't understand the concept of the watch or how it's meant to be used in conjunction with a phone. I have an iPhone 6S Plus but I use the watch as an extension to it. It means I do not have to take my phone out as much as I use to reducing the risk of dropping it or getting stolen. The watch is also more discrete especially at work where if I was to take my phone out and use it all the time it would be frowned upon plus look rude in front of customers. The watch allows me access to some of the functionality I would have otherwise done on my phone.

It's not going to be the perfect products as no products are. It's also not going to offer all the functions and features that everyone wants as everyones wants and needs differ. It's also a first generation product which will no doubt improve over time like any other new technology product. If you go back to the first iPhone and iPad they were pretty basic in functionality and over the years have improved.

That's not to say the initial watch model doesn't offer good functionality as in my opinion it does. It certainly makes my everyday life easier and more convenient and I find it to be far more worthwhile then a mechanical watch that costs thousands of pounds and only tells the time. Each to his own but you obviously have too high expectations plus don't really understand how the watch is meant to make everyday tasks and uses more convenient.

 

[BlueMoon63]

Yes, but I don't want to carry my watch AND my phone when I'm out running. If I had a watch, I just want to carry that....if you get what I'm saying? Also (weirdly), I don't have a music library. After not touching my music collection for over 3 years, I decided to finally ditch it and delete over 750GB of MP3's, FLAC files etc...and move over to Spotify 100%, so perhaps I'm in the minority but until Spotify (and sync) is supported on the Apple Watch, I don't actually have any music to put on it! I expect this situation will become more and more common with newer generations of users....why store GB's of music when you can stream it on the fly and cache what you need at that time.

Interestingly I think the best purpose I've seen for this watch so far is for fitness junkies IF they can remove the dependency from the iPhone.



I also found the ATV controller on the Watch, but by the time I opened the app, and got it ready, my wife had already taken charge of the movie choice on Plex with my

I hear you but the watch holds up to 2gig of music without the phone. You can leave the phone at home and just have the watch and Bluetooth headphones. Just wanted to correct your statement. But yea, if you only use Spotify, you are right. At first you made it sound like the watch needs the phone to play music.

 

[douglasf13]

I've yet to hear about a truly revolutionary app that would make the watch worthwhile.

I think that's the crux of it. I bought the Watch simply for dealing email/text/phone, and, of course, telling the time. It's basically a window into my phone that's easier to get to. All of the other stuff is bonus, to me. If the Watch had only those features, I still would have purchased one, because it's that useful to me in my work and personal life, but I can see how it's not important to everyone.

To be honest, while I've purchased a new iPhone every couple of years since the 3G, 90% of what I use my current iPhone 6 for could have been done on the iPhone 3G, albeit with less speed, resolution, etc. I mean, how many apps have we all downloaded, used for a week, and then never touched again?

I'm sure I'll upgrade my Watch from time to time (although I think the upgrade cycle will be less frequent than my phone,) and there will be new, fun features sprinkled in along the way, but the current watch, just like my iPhone 3G or my 2008 Macbook Pro, currently performs the tasks that I intended when buying it, and the price was worth it.

Wondering why people would by the Apple Watch is a little bit like wondering why someone would buy a $1000 external monitor for their Macbook, when the Macbook already has a screen that works just fine. It's about ease of use/convenience.

p.s. I don't get an overly negative or aggressive tone from your posts. I think it's just a nice discussion from different perspectives.

 

[Enygmatic]

I think many people expected it to be a device that operates independently and replaces the iPhone. I don't think the AW will be able to replace the iPhone for years (or potentially even ever).

Not sure how/why "many people" would expect that, as it was NEVER promoted as such. And despite what some insist on adding to their Wish Lists around here, it will never be an iPhone replacement - either in practicality, or in Apple's handling/direction.

"Never say never."

I'M. SAYING. NEVER.

 

[manincognito]

But since most of us carry our phones in our pockets all the time, is it really $800 handy? Again, just giving the counter argument....I already have a much more practical and way more powerful controller through my phone, and moreover, it also works my Harmony set-up. (Not available for Apple Watch).

I'm sorry for being so negative in all my replies, but is it really a truly life-changing reason to own an Apple Watch?

I've yet to hear about a truly revolutionary app that would make the watch worthwhile.

So far I think it works for fitness junkies, and it serves as a great reminder tool for people who take medication at regular intervals (but I can think of much cheaper solutions), although the taptic engine is admittedly very good.

But that's it so far. Not much value on a $800 gadget.

I know you & I had a little falling out the other day so don't wish to repeat that. The watch really isn't for you at the end of the day, not yet anyway, maybe not ever & that's not necessarily a bad thing, for myself I really enjoy it, is it life-changing? No, is my iPhone? Not really, nor my PS4 or countless other luxury items that I have but it does make me happy using it & does serve a function for me so for that it's money well spent.
It's not that I have a problem with your negative comments its just more so if someone was reading reviews thinking about buying the watch your review (in my opinion I'll admit) is a little bias & overly negative towards it & a lot of the reasons you list can (in my eyes) be avoided or sorted...

 

[Night Spring]

Not sure how/why "many people" would expect that, as it was NEVER promoted as such. And despite what some insist on adding to their Wish Lists around here, it will never be an iPhone replacement - either in practicality, or in Apple's handling/direction.

"Never say never."

I'M. SAYING. NEVER.

I think people will always need/want an iphone-size screen. But I think eventually, the watch or other wearable will become the main device, and the screen will become the accessory. Such a reversal is probably still a way off -- probably take 10 years or more before we get there. But I have no doubt that is where technology is headed.

 

[beanbaguk]

I know you & I had a little falling out the other day so don't wish to repeat that. The watch really isn't for you at the end of the day, not yet anyway, maybe not ever & that's not necessarily a bad thing, for myself I really enjoy it, is it life-changing? No, is my iPhone? Not really, nor my PS4 or countless other luxury items that I have but it does make me happy using it & does serve a function for me so for that it's money well spent.
It's not that I have a problem with your negative comments its just more so if someone was reading reviews thinking about buying the watch your review (in my opinion I'll admit) is a little bias & overly negative towards it & a lot of the reasons you list can (in my eyes) be avoided or sorted...

Fair play, but that's why if you are an educated buyer, you will read many reviews and not just mine...

 

[zetaplus93]

Not sure how/why "many people" would expect that, as it was NEVER promoted as such. And despite what some insist on adding to their Wish Lists around here, it will never be an iPhone replacement - either in practicality, or in Apple's handling/direction.

"Never say never."

I'M. SAYING. NEVER.

It's just the typical response I hear from those who don't know what the AW is capable of. It's a reasonable assumption since most devices operate independently. The part about replacing the iPhone is more of a wish, I suppose.

My current thought is that the AW will become independent in the near future (operating on Wifi or perhaps cellular connection), but I don't think it'll replace the iPhone any time soon since both devices takes care of different tasks (though the AW will "steal" more jobs from the iPhone, like using Apple Pay and using Siri for creating reminders etc).

 

[BarracksSi]

..why store GB's of music when you can stream it on the fly and cache what you need at that time.

Because I don't want to blast through my data plan (and battery) by streaming all the time.

Then again, I don't listen to music very often, and I usually listen to news radio during my commute. My day job is being a musician, and maybe I just feel like I get enough musical racket at work.

 

[danniexi]

different strokes for different folks. everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm not sure why a lot of people here are getting defensive over your thoughts on it. i bet a majority of the people will feel the same way you do which is totally fine. the apple watch certainly isn't a necessity (as oppose to a phone or laptop) and it will have different uses to different people. same goes for iPads and what not.

tbh, i had the same thoughts as you did but because of the 14-day return policy, i decided to keep using it during that time and my opinions have later changed. it hasnt left my wrist since April and I, personally, have found it to be useful. shame that my Tag or IWC hasnt come out of the drawer since.

oh well. at least you gave it a chance and used it for a week before assuming anything about it. no harm in that.