Apple Watch Transformed Me — Other Reviewers Myst Like Windows

The Apple Watch has changed my life for the better, solving all the problems I had with the iPhone (such as missing calls while I tried to find it) as well as solving other problems I didn't even now I had until I got it.

I didn't want to write this blog about the Apple Watch, because I didn't want to seem like an Apple geek. But after reading the misleading reviews by other editors that shall remained unnamed, I just felt like I had to set the story straight. For one thing, all the features that one reviewer panned (he had put his Apple Watch on Craigslist because of them) were exactly the ones that not only work for me, but have streamlined by workflow and changed my life for the better.

I know that Apple CEO Tim Cook showers with his Apple Watch and its supposed to be water proof to 5 meters or some such, but I put my Apple Watch on as soon as I get out of the shower--it doesn't seem right to me to shower wearing a watch. But as soon as I put it on I start using it. I check the weather first, which tells me hour-by-hour (on a round display that shows temperatures instead of hours) so I know what layers to wear to make it through each day. While I'm dressing I turn on some mood music from the watch which is paired to my "bedroom" Mac. And at breakfast I continue listening to music in the kitchen by streaming it from my iPhone to my Bluetooth headset I wear all day to answer the phone. Whenever a phone call comes through I get a tap on the wrist then it goes straight to my headset, or if I'm not wearing it, it "rings" on my wrist where I can them answer directly from the watch, which has a small but very hearable speaker, to which I answer back by talking into the MEMS microphone on the same side of the watch (opposite the crown) just like Dick Tracey.

To do a selfie, all you do its put your iPhone where you want it (I have a stand built into my ZeroChrome case, so it can be propped up either horizontally or vertically). Using the photo app on the Watch I can see in realtime what the iPhone's camera is seeing, and after getting every-one, -thing or -whatever framed properly I snap the shutter directly from the watch.

The edition I bought was 38 millimeter (because the 42 millimeter doesn't look like a watch on your wrist unless you are a giant) with the black anodized aluminum case for light weight and sweat-resistant band which is curved underneath so it breathes).
(Source: Apple)

I never miss an appointment anymore, because it taps me on the wrist in plenty of time, even if I have to account for driving time to get there--which the calendar keeps track of for me. It also gives me a summary everyday of what I need to do and even reminds me to get up and walk around at least every hour to maximize circulation or something which it keeps track of with infrared sensors on the bottom side of the watch that look through my skin to track my heart rate by the minute. (You can also send an "intimate" heartbeat message to someone, if you're into that kinda thing).

It also reminds me to do my exercises everyday (which for me is yoga, but it can track any type of exercise, multiplying your heart rate times your movement to estimate calories burned). When I walk the dog everyday it keeps track of that too, telling me afterwards how long it took, how far I went, how many calories I burned and a bunch of other details it automatically transfers to my iPhone for long-term logging and for setting automatic goals. Its smart about goals too, normally encouraging me to gradually increase them everyday, but also letting me drop back and get a new start (say after a business trip when I haven't been exercising).

I also use the timer daily for all sorts of things--from timing how long things are baking in the oven (yes, the oven his its own timer, but you have to be in the kitchen to hear it) to keeping me from wasting water by tapping me on the wrist when its time to turn off the sprinklers.

I also check the sports scores I am interested in and have switched to only watching games (on replay) when my team wins (its too depressing to watch games where I know my team is going to lose).

At Starbucks I pay for my drinks with two taps on the screen, likewise at the airport I just show them my boarding pass bar code at the gate-again with just two taps. My friends all have their credit cards scanned into their Apple Watches so they can pay for things with their watches, but for me that's just an invitation to accumulating credit card debt (so I carry cash on a money clip, and when my discretionary money of the month runs out, I stop spending, which my girlfriend says makes me "cheap" but I'm wise to that trick).

I could go on and on, such as about turn-by-turn warnings it gives with a tap on the wrist and a voice in my headset (or coming out of my iPhone), the notifications it gives of incoming mail, the instant access to Siri (which seems to work even better than Siri on the iPhone), the voice-based dictionary access and a hundred other apps I haven't even tried yet.

I got the cheapest model ($349) which is more than I've ever spent on a watch, but the Apple Watch is more like an iPhone on your wrist. I've started carrying my iPhone in my tiny briefcase that's just big enough to hold my 12" Macbook, a single file folder and my iPad too. I hardly pull the iPhone out anymore (except to read the funnies everyday). Likewise, I've stopped carrying my iPad all the time (unless I want to use it as a second screen for my Macbook--yes, there's an app for that). But I still use my iPad everyday at home for things like watching sports on the back porch.

Now I've gone and revealed I'm an Apple nut. Sprint gave me a Samsung tablet for free--all I had to pay was $10 per month for 4G access--but I took it back after a week and had to argue with them to not charge me a $75 restocking fee. Samsung must have made a lot more tablets than people are buying. Others rave about Android, but it just seemed as clunky as Windows to me.

So if you are an iPhone and Mac user, the Watch is an essential accessory in my book. I guess those other reviewers must be Android lovers or (shudder) Windows lovers, or are just used how they work, but for me Apple's stuff all fits together nicely and the watch is definitely worth $349 even if it will be obsolete next year.

But after reading the misleading reviews by other editors that shall remained unnamed, I just felt like I had to set the story straight. For one thing, all the features that one reviewer panned (he had put his Apple Watch on Craigslist because of them)...

So the guy who wrote this article is responding to multiple editors who wrote critical articles about the Apple Watch?

Why not put those articles up on FR too? I mean, if you are interested in discussing Apple products (and not simply shilling for Apple), wouldn't you want all of the opinions to be considered? Or are you only interested in the articles that praise Apple? Why is that?

So the guy who wrote this article is responding to multiple editors who wrote critical articles about the Apple Watch?

I have. They aren't that bad. . . just moderate. Frankly, there aren't that many negatives. They were usually positive with a few negatives sprinkled amongst them. Most of the negative press comes from people who don't use the Apple Watch so is an unqualified opinion and I don't post those because they mean nothing. Those are basically echo chambers of people saying I have no use for this product.

I post both positive and negative articles on Apple.

So the guy who wrote this article is responding to multiple editors who wrote critical articles about the Apple Watch?

By the way, if you find one that I've missed, post it and let me know and I will ping the 700 members of the Apple ping list so they can discuss it if these TROLLS don't make a mess of the thread.

Incidentally, I post only about 40% of the Apple threads. Most are posted by other Freepers.

Thanks for your interest.

I see these things as workflow tools. I can definitely see how it would impact someone who was fully invested in the Apple infrastructure.

Doesn't fit me or what I do, but it's cool for those it works for.

I do have to make one snarky comment though... he's never spent more than $350 on a watch? He's definitely not a watch guy. LOL. I'm not gonna say how much the watch I'm looking at right now costs, though several I've really drooled over were almost $20k. There's no way I could talk the wife into letting me drop the hammer on that though.

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