Yes, I was a geek.
besides fitness purposes I see absolutely no value to this trend. We just spent two generation moving away from wearing a wristwatch. I don’t see the mass potential to return.
Not interested at all.
I’m still a fairly young guy, can’t pry my smartphone out of my cold dead hands, but this watch thing, or the Google glass. Just looks silly and cumbersome.
Putting your smart phone in your pocket isn’t the answer. Putting it in a pouch clipped to your belt isn’t the answer.
Maybe strapped to your wrist is the answer?
Someone come up with the answer is going to make someone a lot of money.
Announcer: Someday, everyone will own a watch like this. Now, it is available only for the privileged few. The Mogasaki Corproration of Tokyo is honored to announce... Kromega III. [ lightning strikes ] A watch so complex, it takes two people to make it work. One hand wears the watch. The other hand presses the buttons that activate the 100% solid state multi-function digital quartz crystal micro-computer unit. And now, you’re ready for the third hand to trigger the light-luminating dial to give you an alphanumeric readout accurate to within 9 a year. It’s that simple.
KROMEGA III. Command-crafted in impact-resistant crushed chrome. It’s no wonder that professional skiiers prefer Kromega III over any ordinary timepiece.
Woman’s Voice: And I love Lady Kromega III. The sleek, space-age styling compliments any outfit. [ Woman’s other hand presses one of the buttons ] And the clearly displayed perpetual calendar helps me to remember my many appointments. Would you mind? [ other person brings in a spare hand to operate the Lady Kromega III ] Thank you.
Announcer: Kromega III. It’s like asking a stranger for the time.
I don’t even have a smartphone and I don’t see the need of one.
Read a review of Android Wear/Galaxy Gear Live last night.
In the author’s opinion the new OS, while being a considerable leap forward, will not be enough to drive sales in the general market.
Perhaps if they start resembling actual watches....
Silicon Valley is about trying out new ideas and concepts.
Most fail.
Google Glasses and Smartwatches will fail.
The technology to make these portable devices really small will succeed.
Yes, I was a geek.
I was a Pebble kickstarter backer. Once you have one, you never know how you lived without one.
My everyday Submariner won’t be replaced with one of these.
I have no idea whether this will catch on or not. My record on tech predictions is poor. I’m the guy who thought putting a camera on a phone was the dumbest idea ever. Now I use mine all the time.
But I do have a notion of what the eventual system will look like.
1. Core “smartphone.” Most if not all data and data processing will take place in the phone. You always have it with you so you’ve always got what you need.
2. Smartwatch or something similar to control the phone without having to dig it out of your pocket or off your belt for most uses.
3. Bluetooth ear thingie.
4. Possible Google Glass type device.
5. “Dumb” tablet to make it easier to work than on your phone’s smaller screen.
6. Laptop or equivalent to do actual work.
Some of these may be combined or deleted. But I’ll be surprised if we don’t wind up with a similar system over the next 10 years. Thereafter, of course, advances will involve direct neural connection.
But you should always remember my tech prediction record. :)
Read (well, actually listened to) a book recently. Written in 1999 and was trying to predict the future, especially in tech, 15 to 20 years out.
Got some things right and some wrong.
Absolutely nailed the smartphone phenomenon. But they thought it would be your watch that would fill this role. :)
I’m waiting for one with a cloaking device that will make me invisible.....
I haven’t worn a watch daily since I left my last job in 2002. I have a couple of nice watches for special events, but I don’t need it. My smartphone has the time on it, if I need to know the time I just glance at it.
Smartwatches won’t coax me back.
One more thought on the issue.
Nobody has a great record, to my knowledge, on predicting which tech will take off.
I remember reading multiple articles on why the iPad would never go anywhere. And others on how nobody would ever be able to compete with Apple on smartphones.
I own a Pebble Steel.
Personally, I love it for several reasons.
1) I work in an office and I can know someone is texting me without the rest of the office having to hear the non-stop buzzing. I have several family members with health issues and never know when I’ll be called to hospital. While in a meeting, I can see if the hospital is calling me without having to be rude and pull out my phone.
2) When I’m out on my bike, I can run the GPS from my phone to the watch. When a new direction is coming up, my watch vibrates and tells me which way to turn and in how many feet. I can leave my phone safely in my bad or pocket and still have a fully functional GPS.
3) I do a lot of kayaking. I leave a wireless bluetooth speaker in the front compartment. I can leave my phone in dry storage and still change songs, Pandora stations, or volume from my watch (which is water proof).
Those are the three main reasons, but there are other little fun things it can do when needed. But I’m also a watch guy, I have several Swiss and Sturhling skeleton watches as well.
The thing I like most about the Pebble Steel is the fact that’s it’s really simple. It doesn’t try to be a cellphone on your wrist. It is primarily a watch that has the ability to connect to your phone of a basic level. I think things like the Galaxy gear are just overkill.
A smart watch, eh?
I guess I am a luddite, I went from using the latest and greatest Casio Watches with the little keyboard to now using a mechanical, (windup), pocket watch when I leave to go into town. My wife has to remind me to take the cell phone with me and I invariably leave it in the car.
What turned me off to the recent advances in personal electronics was the walking dead aka cell phone users who walked head down and punched away furiously in text-ese to all their myriad ‘friends’. Then there was the recent visit to the park with my grand-daughter. Most of the young kids were playing on the equipment and the older kids as well as their parents were head down and concentrating on the gadget in their hands.
So in conclusion I won’t be getting one of these gadgets anytime soon. There’s so much of the world around us that still there to explore with all of our senses.
The Motorolla smartwatch is the first one that I could see myself wearing.
I currently wear a solar powered atomic G-Shock, the shear convenience of always having the right time and never changing or recharging batteries may keep me away from a smartwatch for the foreseeable future.
no
i’ve been developing code for 30+ years.
smart watches?
DOA
put them right next to ‘it’ (the segway, if you forgot)