When I worked in the real world I wore a wrist watch all the time. But since retiring, and especially since getting a smart phone, I have found it more bothersome than helpful. If I want to know the time there are usually clocks around, and if not I can pull my phone out of my pocket pretty easily. And as a retiree it isn’t too often that I really need to know the time.
But I have been intrigued by the idea of a “Smart Watch” that is Bluetooth linked to your phone, and so I got one for my birthday. There are a few on the market, but the “Pebble Watch” seemed to be the most useful.
When something arrives at my phone, such as email, text messages or phone calls, the watch vibrates and shows me a summary of the event. Without pulling the phone out of my pocket I can read the message, and if it is a phone call see who is calling and either reject or accept.
The watch also gives control over music playing on the phone, but I rarely listen to music and don’t expect to use that capability.
There are more and more apps available that can give information such as weather, stocks, sports, Tweets, etc. It can display GPS turn-by-turn info, give feedback on exercise, or act as a pedometer. I’m still exploring.
I’m still not sure how useful it will be, and if the inconvenience of wearing a large (though lightweight) watch on my wrist will be worth it. And I can already hear comments about how tied we already are to our phones in this always-connected world. I enjoy being connected, but this may push it too far.
I’ll post an update after wearing it for a few weeks.
14 responses so far ↓
1 Donna // Mar 15, 2014 at 11:26 pm
I want to know who Sarah is and why you are picking up milk for her.
2 Don // Mar 16, 2014 at 5:46 pm
When are you getting your Google Glass?
3 Don // Mar 16, 2014 at 5:48 pm
Wow! $150 for that? Or am I missing something?
4 Daryl // Mar 16, 2014 at 7:49 pm
Donna,
Shh! Don’t tell Gisele!
Don,
Yep, $150. I don’t know if you are missing anything.
I’m not sure how well Google Glass works with one eye. For one thing the default is on the right eye (oops) and even on the left eye it seems that it would further obstruct my already limited peripheral vision.
Update:
I have already learned how to program for the watch, and published an app that shows current latitude, longitude and altitude on the watch face. It’s just simple C and Javascript, though there was some learning how to send messages between the phone and watch.
5 Dale // Mar 17, 2014 at 11:08 am
Is this something you have to charge every night?
6 Daryl // Mar 17, 2014 at 1:02 pm
The battery is supposed to last 5-7 days.
7 Don // Mar 17, 2014 at 1:32 pm
It just seems like $150 on top of what you spend for a smartphone (especially if you buy one that’s not subsidized) is an awful lot of money just to help you be a little lazier.
I suppose it would be nice for those occasions where you don’t want to pull your phone out but most smartphones are only $200 max if subsidized.
8 Daryl // Mar 17, 2014 at 6:47 pm
I don’t know if the cost can be justified. It’s pretty cool and I enjoy programming it.
Besides the slight convenience of not retrieving my phone, it is also much harder to miss a notification. If I’m in a noisy environment I often don’t hear or feel my phone in my pocket. I always feel the watch vibrating on my wrist.
The scam of phone subsidizing is another topic! The deal is you pay a higher monthly charge, but get a reduced price for the phone. It wouldn’t be so bad if once the phone was paid for they lowered the monthly access charge, but in the USA only T-Mobile gives you that option. Even bringing your own unlocked phone to Verizon or ATT doesn’t lower your monthly rate.
9 Don // Mar 18, 2014 at 12:51 pm
But how many people keep a phone longer than the 2 years they make you sign for these days?
Some companies are now offering an “anytime update” feature that of course just rolls the cost in quicker.
Have you done the math to determine if it’s actually cheaper to pay full price and then go with T-Mobile?
10 Daryl // Mar 18, 2014 at 6:15 pm
No question that it is cheaper. My Google Nexus 4 phone cost $350. I pay $30/month to T-Mobile for 5GB of high speed data. Cheapest plan with Verizon with 4GB of data would be $110/month. Saving $80/month pays that $350 back pretty quickly.
ATT and Verizon both offer voice and 2GB of data for $65/month. That’s still a difference of $35 x 12 = $420, paying back the full price of the phone in less than a year.
I have unlimited text, but only 100 minutes of talk. That’s usually just about enough, but if I go over it’s only $0.10 a minute, so at most I have paid an extra dollar or two in a month.
On the down side, T-Mobile coverage isn’t as complete as Verizon. I find more dead areas, especially outside of cities, though I am able to connect in most urban places.
11 Don // Mar 18, 2014 at 6:22 pm
Wow that is a lot cheaper. Maybe it’s time to move Betty to something like that once her contract is up.
Mine is paid for by ThinKom so it’s a no brainer.
12 Daryl // Mar 18, 2014 at 6:26 pm
If she needs a lot more than 100 minutes/month, SmartTalk offers a $45 unlimited talk/text/data using T-Mobile, though I think they throttle data at some level. I don’t need much talk, so I save $15/month.
13 Daryl // Mar 18, 2014 at 6:27 pm
By the way, Google just announced today their Android Smart Watch standard, with watches by Moto and LG due out later this year. It responds to voice commands and has a color display. Sounds like a big step up from what I have.
Maybe I should have waited…
14 Donna // Mar 20, 2014 at 5:23 pm
The next great thing is always just around the corner. That’s one reason I haven’t bought a new phone yet. What if I buy an Android and the next iPhone comes out early and blows everything else out of the water? It’s a hard decision, and even harder waiting.
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