You and the OP can't be serious.
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Yes, I can look at my smartphone when I'm running or I can use it to skip a song but it is a lot better to use my Pebble for do those actions. So no, the "doesn't achieve anything at all" is wrong, at least for me.
a watch is better than pulling out the phone.
but the key purpose of a watch, that most people use it for is for "quick glances".
here's the problem I have with the current crop of smartwatches, and until there's one that does these things well, it will never be the next "iPod" / "iPhone" for mass adoption
1. At a glance: A watch is not a device you sit and stare at. it's not a fully interactive device that requires you holding your wrist up for long periods of time and interact with. it's an information delivery system, meant to looked at for a few seconds at a time to give you a summary of something. Making a watch that you have to "turn on" to see, or menu navigation just to get information defeats the purpose.
2. Looks. it can't look like the watch the first guy said. the one that came in a box of cracker jacks or from your public schools wrapping paper drive. there is a reason why the majority of people who wear watches, don't actually wear digital / plastic watches. they might have one for the gym or working out, but the average business person wears a standard metal framed watch, that actually is more form over function (usually just telling the time), and will wear that type of watch more than any other. Watches are more fashion accessory than practical. Smart Watches have failed to meet this look and feel people want in their everyday wearable. Samsung's offering is so far off from this, that it will be lucky to sell to anyone outside fo the hardcore geek. those who would wear dick tracy's watch if they could.
3. People like wearing watches because of the no brainer, low maintenance of them. if you have to remember to plug it in regularly, and have battery life measured in hours, You're not going to sell many. I wear my watch because of all my tech, gadgets, doodads and fancies, My watch is a dependable, reliable piece of equipment, that not only looks decent, but is a reliable piece of equipment. everything else might die on me. I maybe completely out of tech, but I know, when I pick up my watch and look at my wrist, in < 2 seconds I will know the Time. no "is my battery charged", no "well, i cant tell the time right now cause It hasn't synced yet". it's just there. On the time. all the time. I may replace the battery once every 2-3 years, but thats it.
until a smartwatch can match these 3 basic requirements for me. I will never pick it up. Making a smartwatch isn't about throwing the most tech on your wrist. You can get away with it with a phone, but not a watch. A watch has to be a quality device.
I've been in the market for a new watch. I look at them all the time. i've been holding off cause I was curious to see what the smart watches of "the future" will hold. So far none have been even remotely appealing to me. I might just go ahead and buy the old fashioned analogue watch I've been eyeing for a few years now.
