Who Is Wearing Them?

[Jonny Kansas]

So, I've been setting the Note 4 up for use as a spare today in between a million other things. I put my regular watch on this morning thinking I'd just wear it until I get my 6P back (just dropped it off at UPS on lunch), but I find myself glancing down at my wrist quite often just to see if I've missed any notifications.

Don't think I'm gonna make it 10-14 days from the time they get the 6P without my Urbane. Didn't feel like having to reset it to pair with the Note, only to have to reset it again when the 6P comes, but I think I'll have to do that anyway since I had to reset the 6P before packing it up.

 

[Sajo]

So, I've been setting the Note 4 up for use as a spare today in between a million other things. I put my regular watch on this morning thinking I'd just wear it until I get my 6P back (just dropped it off at UPS on lunch), but I find myself glancing down at my wrist quite often just to see if I've missed any notifications.

Don't think I'm gonna make it 10-14 days from the time they get the 6P without my Urbane. Didn't feel like having to reset it to pair with the Note, only to have to reset it again when the 6P comes, but I think I'll have to do that anyway since I had to reset the 6P before packing it up.

Go for it! It's not doing any good collecting dust on a nightstand, might as well use it. I know what you mean, I didn't line mine up on the charger correctly a while back and the battery died about 10 AM the next day. It was weird not having it on & functional; I have grown so used to looking at it and swiping away stuff I don't need right now.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I think I will. I grabbed the Martian Notifier watch I bought a while back when some of us were discussing it here at lunch. The "smart" part wouldn't power on and I have no idea where I left the proprietary charging cable. It's micro USB, but extra long to get deep into the housing to help with water resistance.

I figure, if I have to dig that up and search all over the house, I'm better off taking the time to set my preferred smartwatch back up and doing it again when my preferred phone comes back. In the long run, that will probably take less time than trying to find that one specific cable that's likely tangled up with other regular USB cables in a bag or drawer.

Not to mention, I'll have the full functionality that I love about AW.

Doubt I'll have time today though. I've got to meet with a lady about selling her a chair for my grandma after work if she can get the money, then I have to be at the theatre shortly after that to talk with the news about our play that opens on Friday, then we have to rehearse.

Terrible week to be having to set up devices and such. Good thing I had a slow morning at work. Haha

 

[PereDroid]

I know one person with an AW watch (well, 2 if you count my FIL who has my G) and 2 with iWatches.
The first smart watch I ever saw in the wild was the LG...what was it called? R

That's probably the best AW commercial I've seen and it even didn't say a whole lot.

 

[mountainbikermark]

I think I will. I grabbed the Martian Notifier watch I bought a while back when some of us were discussing it here at lunch. The "smart" part wouldn't power on and I have no idea where I left the proprietary charging cable. It's micro USB, but extra long to get deep into the housing to help with water resistance.

I figure, if I have to dig that up and search all over the house, I'm better off taking the time to set my preferred smartwatch back up and doing it again when my preferred phone comes back. In the long run, that will probably take less time than trying to find that one specific cable that's likely tangled up with other regular USB cables in a bag or drawer.

Not to mention, I'll have the full functionality that I love about AW.

Doubt I'll have time today though. I've got to meet with a lady about selling her a chair for my grandma after work if she can get the money, then I have to be at the theatre shortly after that to talk with the news about our play that opens on Friday, then we have to rehearse.

Terrible week to be having to set up devices and such. Good thing I had a slow morning at work. Haha

The Notifier loses battery even when the smart part is off. Foxkat could probably explain why some devices do that more than others, it's a bunch of big words to explain it but that's why disposable batteries now have expiration dates printed on them.
I wore my Gear Fit today since I was gonna be kayaking all day . I hadn't worn it all day in a while and it's kinda comfortable but I'll be switching back to the S before work tonight so I don't have to worry about using my phone for anything. The tiny form factor of the GF is nice but it's just too limited for what I've come to rely on daily.
Oh I forgot why I quoted this. I use the cord that came with my Notifier as a regular one for my phone and other devices. It fits, just sticks out more. I don't have to worry about finding it that way.

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[mountainbikermark]

Just started using my S for something new again. I've had a file reader app, file transfer app and a pdf reader on the watch for a while but never really used them much until today. I think I shared the story a few months back about having a user manual on the watch that made a rep kinda just go from blinging all her iOS stuff at me to just "thank you for that" when I gave her the part number she needed.
Anyway Trans Gear sends any shareable file from the phone to the watch, File Master lets me manipulate the storage and usage of files and Docs Reader can read pdf, epub (e books) and other formats of document. The watch can't handle color pdfs and stuff but I can screen shot it on the phone and it saves that way fine. Dunno why about that.
File transferring to watch via Trans Gear

Files of all types in File Master
Images

Tap image file (vs just simply using the gallery because I can)

Video playing

Documents

Documents in Docs Reader

A pdf of the Bill of Rights

A pdf of info from the pool our family is a member of

Next I'm gonna figure out how to send files from the watch to other devices besides my phone. That way next time the Fisher Price rep needs a part number that's not in her iPad, iPhone or Apple watch I can just send her the whole manual

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[Sajo]

Here is what the Fitbit CEO said about smart watches in general:

"I think one of the general knocks against smartwatches is that people still don't know what they're good for, so they've crammed everything in."

I tend to agree with that a little bit. They don't seem to have caught on with the general population. One, they are expensive. But two, most people ask me "what can you do with it, what is it good for"? Is it a watch first, and then mainly just an extension of the phone? That's why I bought one. Or is it a phone replacement? Meant to do everything a phone can do? Have Google and Apple crammed too much into a watch and made them too "nerdy"? Have they clearly defined the purpose of a smart watch with their advertising? Maybe Fitbit is killing Apple and Android watches in sales because of a simple approach? A fitness / health data tracker that also serves as a watch.

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[mountainbikermark]

Here is what the Fitbit CEO said about smart watches in general:

"I think one of the general knocks against smartwatches is that people still don't know what they're good for, so they've crammed everything in."

I tend to agree with that a little bit. They don't seem to have caught on with the general population. One, they are expensive. But two, most people ask me "what can you do with it, what is it good for"? Is it a watch first, and then mainly just an extension of the phone? That's why I bought one. Or is it a phone replacement? Meant to do everything a phone can do? Have Google and Apple crammed too much into a watch and made them too "nerdy"? Have they clearly defined the purpose of a smart watch with their advertising? Maybe Fitbit is killing Apple and Android watches in sales because of a simple approach? A fitness / health data tracker that also serves as a watch.

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I think it's more like an iPod thing. Once the iPod dominated out of the gate, nothing else has ever caught on . The Gear Fit is basically a clone of Fitbit but its sales were anemic at their peak and fell quickly after that. Garmin has fitness watches that have lackluster sales and probably always will.


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[Jonny Kansas]

I'm not so sure you SHOULD compare the iWatch and AW to fitbit. The fitbit is super standalone with no support for third party devs that I'm aware of.

With AW and iWatch, a lot of the functionality depends on third-party devs to make the watches do more than they do out of the box. Without any third-part apps, these watches are more like a fitbit, tells time, counts steps, gives some notifications from phones. Even at that point, the notifications are more rich and interactive, depending on what apps you use on your phone.

Knowing that so much depends on third-parties, I'm not sure how you really go about advertising what these things can do without running the risk of alienating some devs or confusing the average consumer. Feature one dev's app in your commercial, might make others upset. Show something the watch can do with a third-party app, have people frustrated that the watch doesn't do it out of the box without downloading said app. Just my 2 cents. Maybe I don't give people enough credit...

 

[Sajo]

Excellent points Jonny. I wasn't necessarily trying to compare the actual devices to each other, just pondering the approach to the devices. Most people seem to know exactly what a Fitbit is used for & what it can do. Most people I meet, and ask about my AW watch, have no idea what it is primarily used for or what it can do. I was just wondering if that, or the price, is a key reason they don't seem to be as popular as many people thought by now.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I know. Sorry. I was thinking it was more funny that the guy from fitbit had anything to say about smartwatches. What his company sells isn't a smartwatch, imo. It's a fitness tracker.

I feel like these watches are simply in a place where smartphones were several years ago. Before the OG Droid, I was in the minority of people I knew who had a smartphone. I had one friend with an iPhone and I had the G1. Other than that, we had friends with flip phones and one friend with a WinMo phone at one point. Back then, it was a nerdy thing and way more than anyone wanted or needed.

Now, I only know a handful of people who don't have a smartphone. I'm not saying I think smartwatches will ever catch on to the point where everyone with a smartphone has a smartwatch, but I feel like we're still in the realm of them being pricey (that's surely a factor for me when it comes to ANY new device) and seemingly nerdy and un-needed. We that use our AW watches agree that it's weird not wearing them, but it's hard to make the case to someone who's never used one for a while as to why they should spend the money on them.

Even then, not everyone likes them. Look at Mustang. He's got one collecting dust because he didn't care for it.

 

[PereDroid]

You guys have seen The Blaze, right? Not quite AW level...more like Martian Notifier meets Fitbit. My wife, the fanatical Fitbit wearer was like "ewwww...". Doesn't really look very ladylike, amirite??

I agree they are 2 different things.
I think they haven't caught on for a few reasons, as stated.

The #1 Reason, which is truly something that affects so many things. ADVERTISING...



I mean, come on.... that is the LAMEST commercial ever. Who are you trying to appeal to? "Milennials" who (very generally speaking) can't even afford most of these watches? And maybe I really know nothing about that generation. Any millennials here? Does that commercial speak to you? Of course there is only ONE iWatch so it was bound to surpass AW but compare the commercials of the 2.

Then there are the nerds who bought it (see 'Stang) even though they weren't watch people and they got bored of it. Some people are just NEVER going to be watch people. And that's cool. Until you can pour coffee out of it, it's just never going to be the thing for some people.

Personally speaking...I pretty much use it as a watch and a cellphone finder and an Email\SMS notifier. I spent a lot of time playing with 3rd party apps... I don't want to play games on my wrist. I don't need my gallery there. Don't need to read PDF's there (looking at you Mark). Or a calendar. There are some things that are just NEVER going to be useful on a watch to most people. I rarely talk to it anymore, except when showing it off.

I have "the spiel" for people and I always bring up my 2 favorite things first, which have about ZERO to do with it being a smartwatch. Any BT watch could do it.

Where is the commercial showing the dude running late to work, hopes in his car, backs down the drive *Buzz Buzz Buzz*. *Looks at his watch.
Snap, forgot my phone!
Run in the house. Where is it? Where is it?
"Ok Google, Start Find My Phone"
*Blare Blare Blare* (It's in the bathroom)

I promise that would sell a few.
I should have been in marketing.
*FIN

 

[Sajo]

Good points Pere!

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[Jonny Kansas]

According to this definition, which seems to be pretty standard, I'm technically lumped in to the Millennial crowd. Urban Dictionary: Millennial

However, I do not self-identify as being a member of that generation, even though I was born 3 years after what's supposed to be the start of the generation. Maybe it's because I'm the baby of the family and I have older parents/siblings? My parents were 35 and 36 when I was born. My oldest sibling is 13 years older than I am.

In any case, to me, that commercial is, at best, about the different options of watches you have, but I'm not sure that I realized it was about the watches the first time I saw it...

 

[mountainbikermark]

You guys have seen The Blaze, right? Not quite AW level...more like Martian Notifier meets Fitbit. My wife, the fanatical Fitbit wearer was like "ewwww...". Doesn't really look very ladylike, amirite??

I agree they are 2 different things.
I think they haven't caught on for a few reasons, as stated.

The #1 Reason, which is truly something that affects so many things. ADVERTISING...



I mean, come on.... that is the LAMEST commercial ever. Who are you trying to appeal to? "Milennials" who (very generally speaking) can't even afford most of these watches? And maybe I really know nothing about that generation. Any millennials here? Does that commercial speak to you? Of course there is only ONE iWatch so it was bound to surpass AW but compare the commercials of the 2.

Then there are the nerds who bought it (see 'Stang) even though they weren't watch people and they got bored of it. Some people are just NEVER going to be watch people. And that's cool. Until you can pour coffee out of it, it's just never going to be the thing for some people.

Personally speaking...I pretty much use it as a watch and a cellphone finder and an Email\SMS notifier. I spent a lot of time playing with 3rd party apps... I don't want to play games on my wrist. I don't need my gallery there. Don't need to read PDF's there (looking at you Mark). Or a calendar. There are some things that are just NEVER going to be useful on a watch to most people. I rarely talk to it anymore, except when showing it off.

I have "the spiel" for people and I always bring up my 2 favorite things first, which have about ZERO to do with it being a smartwatch. Any BT watch could do it.

Where is the commercial showing the dude running late to work, hopes in his car, backs down the drive *Buzz Buzz Buzz*. *Looks at his watch.
Snap, forgot my phone!
Run in the house. Where is it? Where is it?
"Ok Google, Start Find My Phone"
*Blare Blare Blare* (It's in the bathroom)

I promise that would sell a few.
I should have been in marketing.
*FIN

I am definitely in the minority for my smartwatch desires, thus will share what I do with mine and also realize 99.9% will at most think it's a cool toy but not even consider buying one. As far as most of them being merely an extension of a phone (aka phone butler) I grew bored within weeks of that limitation. That is a point I believe I share with the majority of smartphone owners. A back pocket is just as easy to reach as flipping a wrist and/or pushing a button. The co-worker I've spoken of that has an Apple watch has left the company now but before doing so he'd stopped wearing his watch out of boredom with it and he's a tech geek. If I have to step back to just a phone butler in the future I'll be joining the "meh" crowd about smartwatches. If I can't use my watch effectively while my phone isn't in the general vicinity I'll just use my phone or (gasp) pencil and paper.

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