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Smartwatch sales are tanking

techcrunch.com

121–130 of 181 posts

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#121

The "smartwatch" from Apple and Android is not a good idea. Fitbit and Pebble are closer to the right direction. Apple/Android keep trying to make watch-sized smartphones. But they will never compete with actual smartphones, they will just always be annoying inferior smartphones on your wrist. The key factor is to consider which senses are optimal UI for each device. Smartphones dominate the visual and audio senses.…

> Get rid of that silly big screen on Apple watch. Put the touch sensor there. Why not just allow thumbprint scan, wave my watch at a Apple Pay terminal, and buy things? Way less effort than taking out my phone.

Just in case you missed it, this is already supported, and it's somewhat better than you're suggesting. Once the watch is unlocked, it does not need additional authentication to pay until it leaves your wrist (at which point it relocks). Double click the side button to put it into pay mode.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#122
What killed the smart watch for me is the watch form factor. I don't want stuff strapped to my body. I had to stop wearing a watch many years ago for a few months and I couldn't do it again since I lost the habit. It just feels unnatural. I understand that it can be laughed at, because I wear glasses. An extremely lightweight notification device inside my glasses would be the right form factor for me.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#123
post #42

The biggest issue for me with the "smartwatch" is that they don't have feature parody with dumb watches. I've had many watches in the past and the battery lasts for years. I can also turn my wrist and see the time instantly. Who would have thought? What I get now is some piece of crap that needs to be charged every night. So I basically have no features while I'm sleeping. I can't just wake up in the middle of the ni…

They should include a small digital watch under the glass UNATTACHED to the OS, so it has the features of a watch, and additional features while powered

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#124
post #75
post #42

The biggest issue for me with the "smartwatch" is that they don't have feature parody with dumb watches. I've had many watches in the past and the battery lasts for years. I can also turn my wrist and see the time instantly. Who would have thought? What I get now is some piece of crap that needs to be charged every night. So I basically have no features while I'm sleeping. I can't just wake up in the middle of the ni…

> The biggest issue for me with the "smartwatch" is that they don't have feature parody with dumb watches. I've had many watches in the past and the battery lasts for years. I can also turn my wrist and see the time instantly. Who would have thought? The same happens with e.g. paper vs computer. With paper the "battery" lasts forever. But you tradeoff some things to get other stuff. > What I get now is some piece of…

That's why I love e-ink. I've charged my Kindle about four times this year, if you don't count the couple minutes here and there when I plug in to move new books on. Although you probably ought to, since that's usually enough to top the battery off.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#125
post #4
post #2

had one and returned it. They don't provide much value beyond real-time notifications & a fancy pedometer.

Have an apple watch. Notifications are useful but charging it every day is such a huge inconvenience that i don't bother with it.

When I'm getting ready for bed I remove my watch and pop it on the charging dock on my bedside. In the morning when I wake up I put it back on. Do you sleep with your watch or why is it such a pain to charge it at night like your phone?

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#126
post #42

The biggest issue for me with the "smartwatch" is that they don't have feature parody with dumb watches. I've had many watches in the past and the battery lasts for years. I can also turn my wrist and see the time instantly. Who would have thought? What I get now is some piece of crap that needs to be charged every night. So I basically have no features while I'm sleeping. I can't just wake up in the middle of the ni…

> Let me know when battery life is within a couple of orders of magnitude of real watches, then maybe I'll revisit.

Check out Vector Watch. It's more like a traditional watch that is also smart (it tells you when you got a phone call, an email, a meeting etc), the battery lasts for more than 30 days and it's always on.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#127
post #42

The biggest issue for me with the "smartwatch" is that they don't have feature parody with dumb watches. I've had many watches in the past and the battery lasts for years. I can also turn my wrist and see the time instantly. Who would have thought? What I get now is some piece of crap that needs to be charged every night. So I basically have no features while I'm sleeping. I can't just wake up in the middle of the ni…

They are called smart watches, because mr smart has to watch them all the time. Leave it alone for too long? No time for you.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Well, you probably have your phone next to you, your alarm clock next to the bed, and several other clocks nearby in the bedroom." So I should supplement my smart watch with other devices in order to know what time it is? Makes $ense.

Do people wear dumb watches to bed just so they know what time it is when they wake up in the middle of the night? I take my watch off to sleep.

Yeah, I do. I don't set an alarm, I just get up when I wake up. Sometimes I wake up at 4:00 instead of 7:00, the watch tells me to go back to sleep. No way would I use a phone for that - I set it on silent in case a group chat blows up in the middle of the night, but if I saw the notifications I'd have to check them. At 4am. Ugh.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say that most smartwatches are indeed a parody of real watches. They certainly do not have feature parity with their traditional competitors.

I saw that typo too. I assumed auto-correct boned him, and opted to skip the english lesson.

> [I] opted to skip the english lesson.

Good, because of the pot and kettle thing.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#130
post #42

The biggest issue for me with the "smartwatch" is that they don't have feature parody with dumb watches. I've had many watches in the past and the battery lasts for years. I can also turn my wrist and see the time instantly. Who would have thought? What I get now is some piece of crap that needs to be charged every night. So I basically have no features while I'm sleeping. I can't just wake up in the middle of the ni…

For you I'd suggest checking out what Pebble has been doing. Battery life is about 7-10 days on some models, and has an 'always on' display.

Can you make payments with the Pebble? Turn on the computer when you come in proximity?
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