Here are my opinions after spending the weekend working on and tweaking my Apple Watch. I wanted to share my impressions and thoughts.
My first few hours were a bit overwhelming then I realized that I really don't want or need to interact with every app on my watch like I do my phone. Some things are better used on the iPhone and some things lend themselves to the watch very well. After I realized what my threshold was for phone versus watch interaction I turned off and removed some apps from the watch. This was an actual thought process and decision point I made. Other users may want to replace using their phone with the watch as much as possible. I would rather hone my watch experience to exactly what I need and use my phone when I feel the need. This will be a very personal process and will change as other users provide learning to the watch user community.
I am flowing my usage more for the time intended to interact with the watch rather than overusing the smaller screen of the watch with tasks better performed on the phone. This has reduced my time on the watch but increased my focus on what I'm using each device for based on the contact time and intrusiveness of the app. The interesting byproduct is I actually set my phone down and move about doing other things more freely. I actually had to think of where I left my phone a couple of times yesterday. In the past I would usually keep my phone within arms reach. Thats a win in my book. I was so absorbed in doing other things that I didn't care where my phone was exactly because I knew if something came up my watch was focused for those notifications and everything else was white noise.
Another learning issue was actually developing the sense to feel the device being worn and what the device was telling me. I missed the first few notifications because I wasn't used to the watch or aware I was even wearing it. That went away pretty quickly.
Another small issue was learning what does or doesn't work with the watch. I had ideas of what I wanted the watch to do but had to learn the realities of what it actually does do. There are little things you would think should work only to find out there isn't a way to do that yet. Examples escape me right now. I don know that some limitation are being lifted with app solutions, like replying to email on the watch.
So now for my big comparison. To me the Apple Watch is like Twitter, the limited size and function (42 mm screen/140 characters) that left most of the maturation of its existence to the users. Apple Watch will be best defined by the end users along with the support of the user community and app developers. Look at how Twitter evolved from a what is this and why the limitations of 140 characters to a major social media player. The users of twitter developed the use of the hashtag for trending. App developers created apps to help solve limitations of the 140 characters, or tweeting pix. Now we have apps that show us how to better manage our social presence and growth of our follower base. None of this was the original vision of Twitter but it became reality after time and usage. I think the same thing will happen for the Apple Watch.
Source
So what I'm trying to say is the individual has to decide if this new platform is for them or not. It shouldn't be based on what the watch can or should do out of the box today. Does it meet where you want your technology experience to go or are you just fine with you're current technology? What I hedged my bets on was the support from other users and developers will really drive where the watch goes and that's exciting to me.
It's really a blank canvas with tons of upside rather than a limited platform that is undefined. In our technology minds, we want a defined experience to solve a set of problems, the watch may not have a needed place in one's technology portfolio but I believe it will evolve into a major player in technology where we will one day wonder what we did before smart watches. I really feel Apple was working towards the blank canvas more so than putting out a flawed watch with numerous limitations.
Thank you for taking a few moments to read my post.
My first few hours were a bit overwhelming then I realized that I really don't want or need to interact with every app on my watch like I do my phone. Some things are better used on the iPhone and some things lend themselves to the watch very well. After I realized what my threshold was for phone versus watch interaction I turned off and removed some apps from the watch. This was an actual thought process and decision point I made. Other users may want to replace using their phone with the watch as much as possible. I would rather hone my watch experience to exactly what I need and use my phone when I feel the need. This will be a very personal process and will change as other users provide learning to the watch user community.
I am flowing my usage more for the time intended to interact with the watch rather than overusing the smaller screen of the watch with tasks better performed on the phone. This has reduced my time on the watch but increased my focus on what I'm using each device for based on the contact time and intrusiveness of the app. The interesting byproduct is I actually set my phone down and move about doing other things more freely. I actually had to think of where I left my phone a couple of times yesterday. In the past I would usually keep my phone within arms reach. Thats a win in my book. I was so absorbed in doing other things that I didn't care where my phone was exactly because I knew if something came up my watch was focused for those notifications and everything else was white noise.
Another learning issue was actually developing the sense to feel the device being worn and what the device was telling me. I missed the first few notifications because I wasn't used to the watch or aware I was even wearing it. That went away pretty quickly.
Another small issue was learning what does or doesn't work with the watch. I had ideas of what I wanted the watch to do but had to learn the realities of what it actually does do. There are little things you would think should work only to find out there isn't a way to do that yet. Examples escape me right now. I don know that some limitation are being lifted with app solutions, like replying to email on the watch.
So now for my big comparison. To me the Apple Watch is like Twitter, the limited size and function (42 mm screen/140 characters) that left most of the maturation of its existence to the users. Apple Watch will be best defined by the end users along with the support of the user community and app developers. Look at how Twitter evolved from a what is this and why the limitations of 140 characters to a major social media player. The users of twitter developed the use of the hashtag for trending. App developers created apps to help solve limitations of the 140 characters, or tweeting pix. Now we have apps that show us how to better manage our social presence and growth of our follower base. None of this was the original vision of Twitter but it became reality after time and usage. I think the same thing will happen for the Apple Watch.
Source
So what I'm trying to say is the individual has to decide if this new platform is for them or not. It shouldn't be based on what the watch can or should do out of the box today. Does it meet where you want your technology experience to go or are you just fine with you're current technology? What I hedged my bets on was the support from other users and developers will really drive where the watch goes and that's exciting to me.
It's really a blank canvas with tons of upside rather than a limited platform that is undefined. In our technology minds, we want a defined experience to solve a set of problems, the watch may not have a needed place in one's technology portfolio but I believe it will evolve into a major player in technology where we will one day wonder what we did before smart watches. I really feel Apple was working towards the blank canvas more so than putting out a flawed watch with numerous limitations.
Thank you for taking a few moments to read my post.