Sell me on the apple watch

M

martymar112

macrumors member
i really want an Apple Watch but for 400 am I going to use it all the time. I am in the milatry and work in law enforcement. What are some reasons you bought the watch and now some reason u love the watch or don't. Thanks
 
It's really something you need to try out yourself. At this point yes I'd probably wait for the AW2 unless you get a great price on the current model. The biggest thing for me is that it allows me to remain in contact for important stuff while basically untethering myself from my phone for most of the day. I can leave it at my desk or in a coat pocket or bag, and roam around without ever needing to take the phone out just to check on notifications or even deal with a lot of basic stuff. In the car I don't have to dig my phone out of my pocket every time I feel it buzz. Same when I'm out with friends, in a meeting, or talking to someone. The interactions are much more discreet and much quicker.
 
After time, aside from the ability to glance quickly at notifications and check the time, I did not find much use for mine, which is why just recently sold it.

At the beginning, I found it a nice way to not be tethered to my phone all the time, however, the fact that I then relied on my phone to act upon whatever I needed to act upon, really diminished the watch's usefulness to me. It was also just too slow to be an effective tool to perform the tasks that it could do. It was much easier, and quicker, to pull out my phone and accomplish what needed to be done.
 
I have my notifications so pared down that nothing really comes through the watch I can't deal with right there. No email. Only calls, texts, appointments and reminders. Everything else stays silently on my phone and gets dealt with when I get to it.

I definitely agree that it's too slow, but I've found Siri to be remarkably accurate, and instead of waiting for the visual prompts, I'm learning to trust that Siri heard me, and then I can feel the haptic taps on my wrist when it has completed the action or needs more input from me. Makes the relatively slow response a lot more tolerable.
 
martymar112 said:
i really want an Apple Watch but for 400 am I going to use it all the time. I am in the milatry and work in law enforcement. What are some reasons you bought the watch and now some reason u love the watch or don't. Thanks
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Like I've said to others. If the watch did nothing but display the time and a few other bits of information on the watch face and also show you notifications would you buy it? If not I do not think the other features would be able to validate your purchase.

You buy a Swiss Army knife for it's blade but know that you have other tools at your disposal compared to buying a Swiss Army knife only if you think you will use the scissors, toothpick, tweezers and magnifying glass and other tools often.
 
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I started out wanting to try Apple Watch just for FUN, yes more of a fun addition to my current swiss mechanicals. But it now becomes my daily wearer. Purely for its time-telling function it has replaced my mechanicals. I'm guessing probably because I have gotten the one with stainless steel and leather buckle.

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Honestly, if you need someone to "sell you" on an Apple Watch. You probably don't need it but are looking for an excuse to buy it.

If you want it, buy it. If not, don't. There are many sales on the first gen right now. Look at Best Buy for example.
 
I would have the agree with easheer. I still own my AW however wear it in rotation with other watches I own. Like Totally said as well, if you need someone to "sell you" on an Apple Watch then you don't need it. Don't purchase a product over "hype". Purchase one if you feel you need one.
 
I don't agree. I think the changes the AW bring are so subtle to most people's routines that left to just think about it they'll decide they can't see why they'd want one. I was not interested in the slightest beyond the initial announcement, but then received one as a gift and I have been pleasantly surprised at how it integrates into my day and streamlines my interactions. It's definitely not a need, but it's a lot nicer than I expected.
 
martymar112 said:
i really want an Apple Watch but for 400 am I going to use it all the time. I am in the milatry and work in law enforcement. What are some reasons you bought the watch and now some reason u love the watch or don't. Thanks
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I bought the SS AW. A long time Apple customer, I was hoping to have a great experience. Sadly it's rather fragile and not up to my active lifestyle. A fashion piece in its design I now know why Apple is pushing it to the ladies and offering it in genuine gold. I can't imagine it possibly being durable enough for your use.
 
I'm probably not going to be convincing you, but I will say its a luxury item that is not needed in life. That is, it does not perform any specific task that no other device can do. With that said, it does make life a lot easier and its nice to receive the notifications on my watch especially when I find myself in situations where I cannot or should not pull out my phone.
 
I am afraid if you need convincing, it may not be for you. There is no doubt you can live without it, only way to know for sure is to get one and try it out. If you do not like return it within the grace period.
 
When people ask me if they should buy one I hesitate a little. Its not that its a bad product or a waste of money, its that I'm not sure they will find it as useful as I do. I'm not sure they will use it like I do. It sounds silly but one of my favorite features is accurate time, something you can get from another style watch but with some work involved. This just simply keeps excellent time. The weather on my wrist is fantastic. I could look at my phone or any number of other sources but as I'm dressing I typically already have my watch on but the other devices like my phone elsewhere. I can glance at my wrist to see the temperature. Its for me the small things it does that make the biggest difference. Notices, reminders, the timer...I use the timer nearly every day. "Siri, set a timer for 25 minutes" and its running. I like to track my runs and bike rides and I like that I have music stored on my wrist that work with bluetooth headphones. I don't take my phone with me running anymore. Its not as accurate this way since the watch has no GPS but its consistent. I know from run-to-run that however its reading my distance its doing it the same each time and with that I can compare my times and pace.

You can find other ways to do the things the watch will do. The same applies to many other areas of life. The right tool for the job is just so nice sometimes.
 
A glance at my wrist gives me date, time, weather, the S&P 500 index, phase of the moon, and (for me) the all-important activity rings. About the only other thing I do on it is start workouts and talk to Siri, but that last is fantastic. "Hey Siri, set a timer for 35 minutes" when cooking, or "Hey Siri, tell my wife I'm on my way" when driving is a lot easier than fumbling with the phone with greasy fingers.

I primarily bought it for the fitness aspect, and in that respect it's been a great success - I'm down 65 pounds.
 
martymar112 said:
i really want an Apple Watch but for 400 am I going to use it all the time. I am in the milatry and work in law enforcement. What are some reasons you bought the watch and now some reason u love the watch or don't. Thanks
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You will most likely not use it all the time. Unless you want to use it for fitness tracking. Which personally I don't.

Having said that, I use my AW for very specific things and can't imagine life without it at this point.

1. On the go I control my music and podcasts directly on the AW. No need to fish out my iPhone on the run. This is huge. I can also verbally tell my AW to play a specific song. Especially fun when I'm driving on the highway and don't want to take my eyes off the road.

2. I never miss a notification. In the past I always did on the run. Room was too loud, or I couldn't feel the vibration in my pocket, etc. Also you can verbally respond to texts which works well or choose a canned response. Much easier than pulling out your phone and typing.

3. Apple Pay. This can't be overstated. If you can use the AW at retailers you frequent it is simply awesome. No need to pull out a credit card. It's even easier than using Apple Pay on your iPhone as you don't need to authenticate via Touch ID.

I would suggest you wait until the AW 2 at this point. Which is rumored for an April release. 3rd party apps are still too slow to load certain times plus I feel the AW is too expensive at retail currently. (Unless you purchase used or find sales.) And this coming from someone who openly dismissed the AW on this forum after the initial keynote.
 
martymar112 said:
i really want an Apple Watch but for 400 am I going to use it all the time. I am in the milatry and work in law enforcement. What are some reasons you bought the watch and now some reason u love the watch or don't. Thanks
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If you need to be convinced, then don't buy it. I didn't even need to be convinced, and I think it's very overrated by the people in Apple forums. The current version isn't worth $400.
 
ultravisitor said:
If you need to be convinced, then don't buy it. I didn't even need to be convinced, and I think it's very overrated by the people in Apple forums. The current version isn't worth $400.
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I agree to a point (minus the overrated bit and its worth vs price) if you need convincing it might not be for you, go to an Apple store and have a play for a bit.
 
blairh said:
You will most likely not use it all the time. Unless you want to use it for fitness tracking. Which personally I don't.

Having said that, I use my AW for very specific things and can't imagine life without it at this point.

1. On the go I control my music and podcasts directly on the AW. No need to fish out my iPhone on the run. This is huge. I can also verbally tell my AW to play a specific song. Especially fun when I'm driving on the highway and don't want to take my eyes off the road.

2. I never miss a notification. In the past I always did on the run. Room was too loud, or I couldn't feel the vibration in my pocket, etc. Also you can verbally respond to texts which works well or choose a canned response. Much easier than pulling out your phone and typing.

3. Apple Pay. This can't be overstated. If you can use the AW at retailers you frequent it is simply awesome. No need to pull out a credit card. It's even easier than using Apple Pay on your iPhone as you don't need to authenticate via Touch ID.

I would suggest you wait until the AW 2 at this point. Which is rumored for an April release. 3rd party apps are still too slow to load certain times plus I feel the AW is too expensive at retail currently. (Unless you purchase used or find sales.) And this coming from someone who openly dismissed the AW on this forum after the initial keynote.
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Thanks this is what I was looking for. How do you use your app,e watch and do u find it helps in your day to day life. I will wait till the Apple Watch 2.
 
martymar112 said:
i really want an Apple Watch but for 400 am I going to use it all the time. I am in the milatry and work in law enforcement. What are some reasons you bought the watch and now some reason u love the watch or don't. Thanks
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For me, it's moving the important notifications from the phone buried in my pocket to my wrist where they're instantly accessible.
I often use the timer function, so having that at my fingertips too is convenient.
The complication that shows my next up-coming appointment is always on my watch face except for when I'm on vacation. Very handy for work.
There's also a few apps which are very nice to have on my wrist. The main ones are the Wink app and the Philips Hue app. I have a well-configured home automation system. So I can tap a button on my wrist while driving down my street - with my phone in my pocket - and have my house open the garage door, unlock the entrance, turn on the main lights and, if off, restart the thermostat. Very handy (no pun intended).
 
Cheaper than Rolex, Omega, and extremely smarter also, and can do thousand more things than Rolex/Omega, and counting.

If you count cost per thing can do, it could be something like less than $5 per thing can do, vs maybe $1000-$5000 vs any highend watch.

Sometimes, value of what thing worth to our life may not be value at material cost, but how much it make our life easier, and save our time. For some people, each hour productivity lost could be more than $50+, so one day lost in productivity will get your $400 back.
 
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jasie02 said:
Cheaper than Rolex, Omega, and extremely smarter also, and can do thousand more things than Rolex/Omega, and counting.

If you count cost per thing can do, it could be something like less than $5 per thing can do, vs maybe $1000-$5000 vs any highend watch.
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They are almost impossible to compare. The Apple Watch is a wrist mounted computer gadget and the others are luxury timepieces. I also think they appeal to very different people.
 
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