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I use my Android Wear, LG G Watch, a lot. I think it has stuck around because it isn't stupid expensive.
I love(d) my G Watch, but I picked up a Pebble Time to replace it. Being able to see my watch clearly in the sunlight is nice.
Agreed about the time. I picked one up as well and found it to have great functionality and more of a companion than the original pebble. It Is a toy for sure but one that I find to have great usage for me.
Did you get the steel time or regular time?
Steel Time isn't out yet, starts shipping to kickstarter backers some time this month.
Oh yeah. I forgot they shipped after the normal PTs. I originally backed a steel, but was able to snag an early bird spot for a normal PT, and decided to put the savings towards whatever smart bands come out for it.
Yes I got the pebble time kick-starter.
I had the original Pebble, got tired of their firmware tomfoolery, and have since been using Android Wear. The Pebble Time is enticing though, I do have to admit. I miss that battery life.
There are definitely things I miss about having an Android Wear watch, namely the deeper integration with my phone/Google services, but the battery life and generally easier to read screen help make up for that.
How do you like the pebble? i have a blackberry so i cant get any of the android watches, but the lack of a touchscreen seems a bit to much to sacrifice.
I love my Pebble Time. Before my G watch I had an original Pebble. For me the lack of touchscreen isn't an issue, since I live in a nice cold climate where gloves are worn often, so the physical buttons are nice.
Oh yeah, the 5+ day battery life is quite nice as well. I'm also interested in seeing what smart straps are thought up for the PT.
I love my original Pebble. I love that any idiot with a passing understanding of programming can create watchfaces, or even crude applications.
And the battery lasts almost a week. So you're not hosed if you go away for a weekend, and forget to bring your watch-charging cable (a sentence that feels stupid as I type it).
I don't own a Pebble Time, but an original Pebble. In the beginning I had the same concerns, but in practice the hardware buttons work just fine (for me) and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. For some tasks they are more convenient also, like skipping music tracks using Music Boss for example. The key here is that the buttons can be operated without looking at the screen.
Moto 360 here, I like it and use it alot, but sometimes I regret buying it
Can you detail why you regret buying it?
I was thinking of picking one up because they have dropped in price a lot, but I think I'll wait for the second gen. What didn't you like about it?
I kinda feel the same about the Moto 360. I really like it, but I hate the fact that the battery lasts a day at most. At times I completely forget using it because it was charging or without battery. My brother got a pebble and I think it is way better.
I have the LG G Watch. I use it daily since its so convenient.
To explain my use-case: I find it makes more sense as a companion to my tablet with 3g capabilities than to my phone. I prefer to use the tablet regularly because of the S-Pen (Note 8.0). I used to bring the tablet and the phone. Now its just the tablet and the G Watch.
They're surprised an overpriced gimmick with no real useful functionality fell off after the hype died and people realized it was overpriced and pointless? Huh.
This is an apple product, overpriced gimmick is half the brand.
Difference being that you can't overprice a watch. A watch isn't new. iPads were, and MacBooks have the benefit of claiming great specs.
But if I'm going to spend that much money on a watch, it better last 50+ years, like other watches in the same price range. I don't want it to become obsolete in a year. It's why I don't feel bad about spending $50 on a Pebble. I don't feel bad when the Pebble 2 comes out.
I believe the thing about MacBooks is that OSX can more or less only run apple software, or software made specially for OSX. So that way you know that your software will actually work, pretty much no matter what, but it has nothing to do with the specs, since they're still overpriced, for what you get.
They are overpriced, but not by as much as people often state. I spec'd out a few different laptops, and while I could find cheaper alternatives, there was always "something" about the quality of the machine, or some other issue that would give me reason to pause. The MBP I ended up getting is definitely more expensive than a similarly outfitted Windows machine, but that Macbook is solid and has not let me down yet. I used Bootcamp to install Windows 8, and it's like having the best of both worlds.
Yin, you should check out bootcamp running windows, or custom linux configurations if you're up to it. Benchmarks run a little higher, with a little more reliability keeping it sandboxed. I've seen longer reliability out of the couple of MacBooks I've had than any other mobile platform I've worked with. If you get into desktop setups, and customized UI's and hardware configurations are your gig, then a PC might be better bang for your buck. But, for the average user, who mostly is looking at reliability and service/support, Apple isn't necessarily the worst way to go. Different strokes for different folks. :)
Sure you can. If the watch is more expensive than many people are willing to buy, then you have overpriced the watch. Also, with other smart watches already on the market, people are going to compare various brands and prices when making their decision.
Specs of other brands are typically better at the same price, it's just that apple don't make cheap laptops.
You expect good performance > $1k
I think the main factor contributing to the lack of appeal of smart watches is the battery life. Perhaps they should not have called it a watch. Watches are basic but they work and you don't have to remove them every day to charge them. Real watches are not limited to whether or not you have a smartphone and real watches are cheap and durable.
Meanwhile, I get plenty of use from my Pebble. Not overpriced, lasts for days, came out years ago.
As usual, Apple is late to the game and pretends that they invented the thing.
The watch idea itself is actually pretty useful, however the price is insane. I have a Pebble and for a price tag of $100 I get most of the Apple watch features.
For what it is, it's way overpriced and after the hype died down people just don't care about it. Probably price-related and a lot of people who can afford to buy it simply don't care because they think they don't need it.
I can afford it, at first I thought it looked good but when I looked closer it reminded me of a five year old iPod touch. So, no.
The iPhone 6's sales also fell 80% after launch, yet it's a smashing success for Apple. This is how Apple product launches have been for a long time. Simply put, there are a massive amount of preorders and the marketing is geared to push this.
It's easy to jump on the Apple Watch hate train, but an article with a headline like that and a log scale graph to prove it's points isn't exactly unbiased.
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On another note, while I'm not a smartwatch owner myself, I've heard some interesting opinions that have shifted my views of them. The primary complaint about Smartwatches is that they are "overpriced gimmicks with no real useful functionality" and nobody needs one. Well sure, nobody needs one, but there are times when having one is convenient and clearly an advantage over not having one. They're mostly fringe cases like using a GPS while biking, or checking a text surreptitiously without pulling out your phone, but there are plenty of these cases. Happy smartwatch owners aren't saying "this thing changed my life", they're saying "it's nice to have around sometimes, so yeah I'll keep using it". Once affordability, form factor, and (especially) battery life hit a sweet spot, and it's inevitable that it will happen, then there will be little reason not to wear a smartwatch given the choice.
Tablets hit market saturation because of the same line of thought. Very few people need a tablet, but they're nice to have around sometimes. We laugh now, but if an oversized iPhone can catch on, watches can too.
A linear scale would have made that plunge look even worse. I was much more irritated that the graph was an animation -- I can actually understand that the horizontal axis shows time, thank you very much...
Like when I'm in class! :D
This is no big surprise. I mean, the watch was driven hugely on its hype. Now that there is no hype, all sales are based on whether the consumer think it's a good product. And clearly, the average consumer does not believe it's a good product.
well of course, the early adopters and apple fans have bought their watch and now sales will go down. I don't think this means the apple watch is a big failure.
This watch is terribly useless.
Spot on, battery life, expense, autonomy and fragility are all downsides to this product.
Imagine in a years time when the battery life is fading, and the tech is more obsolete, and you realise you spent $350+ on a paperweight
Not surprised. Personally I love my Pebble Time - its still at its core and doesn't try to be a second phone.
I thought from the beginning that Apple would have a hard time with this prototype of a digital watch. Very limited applications, Very poor integration with the iPhone as a host, Then the true killer: Battery life. No one in 2015 is going to charge their watch every day. I'm sure Apple will get the watch right, Assuming it survives this initial blunder. But the damage is done.
I agree, this is too soon. Battery life isn't evolving anywhere near as quickly as the rest of the components in the watch, but here it's the one feature that needs to improve drastically. I quite like Pebble's workaround, but obviously that isn't what Apple would do (I don't think they have it in them to work with an e-ink screen even though they should try).
Speaking just for myself, even if I thought it'd be worthwhile to plunk down a minimum of $349 on an Apple Watch (or really any smartwatch), I'd wait until at least the second or preferably the third or later generation/revision before doing so because the differences are usually drastic enough that the first-generation looks gimped by comparison. Think iPad 1 -> 2, iPad Mini 1 -> 2, iPhone 2G -> 3G/3G[S], etc. Totally worth it to wait, in my opinion.
I think the price is whats hurting it. No one wants to spend $300 on a phone then spend just as much on the watch. Its just way to much to spend with no real use for the watch.
Honestly, I just hate having something around one of my wrists. The functionality might be great, but its not really worth it to me to pay a few hundred dollars to save the couple of seconds it takes to pull out my phone.
Yeah I've never even really owned a watch, I have all that functionality in my phone. Putting on a watch now just feel uncomfortable.
I blame J&J Security.
IT was pushed as this really amazing device that could do tons of things, and in the fine print though it says requires Apple iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6 or 6 plus to work. So I need 799 for the phone, 399 for the watch... and the watch does nothing without the phone? Uh... no thanks. I like Apple, I find them restrictive on their phones but I don't mind them. They make pretty decent hardware, but their watch strategy was a no go.
I guess I'm just a luddite when it comes to wrist jewelry.This is a watch. What Apple is selling is a toy that latches onto your arm and occupies you when you're bored.
Eh I think they'll get better, but right now the technology is way to new to pass judgement.
A lot of people hated the iPad as well, and thought it was an overpriced gimic. Maybe the watches will do the same.
The iPad worked well though. It was initially hard to see its uses but once you got one in your hands you could instantly see the point. It wasn't for everyone, but it turned a lot of haters on first sight and of course the sales speak for themselves.
The watch has the inverse effect to some extent. Once you get one in your hands it's frustrating and underwhelming. It doesn't do anything you think it can't, and it does a lot of things badly that should be simple.
I don't think Apple is capable of making anything other than flash in the pan technology anymore. They're not making the waves, they're riding them.
This wouldn't have happened if Jobs were still in charge.
What do you think that he would have done differently? I wonder if he would have every green-lighted the project.
Exactly, I doubt he would even approve of it because he made sure Apple products were considered a status symbol, and even if it's a "smart" watch, it's still a watch in the end and he would've known most people won't trade their Rolex for some thingy with a touch screen. They also kind of toyed with the idea with the iPod Nano and its wristbands and it didn't seem to catch on, so they eventually ditched it. If even so he decided to make it, I'm sure he would've pushed his developers and designers to their limits to at least give it that organic, classy look that Apple products are known to have and some new interesting features. Tim Cook is a nice guy and all, but it takes a crazy asshole to make Apple what it is/was. Steve was a genius making people think they need stuff that they really don't.
This is par for the course for Jobs. Just look at all of the other overpriced products they push onto their cult. Put shit into a box, call it the Apple Shit, price it at $150, and they would sell at least a million dollars easy.
I got the Gearfit and I really like it. I have doubts that Samsung will continue it because there are simply too many players on the field. I hope I am wrong.
I have had my pebble for about 2 years now and I still wear it everyday, usually charge it on Saturday nights and it does everything I want it to do. I was intrigued about the Apple Watch when I first heard about it, but it doesn't change anything up that my Pebble can't do. I do like the idea of smart watches though, my commute is about a hour in a half each way and when I get text it pops up on my wrist.