Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Smartwatch sales are tanking

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 181 posts

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#141

Post by toyg »

aetherson wrote: post #137
coldtea wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I.e. never? I mean, I can picture making phone calls or dictating SMS by voice with a smart watch, but people are not going to be browsing the web or taking pictures with a tiny wrist device when they already have a 5-6" inches display device on their pockets, and almost no one would ditch the latter for the former if they had to choose. People might also not have 5-6" devices in their pockets, but special glasses…

If we're assuming the existence of non-sucky smart glasses or contact lenses [1], why exactly would anyone use a smart watch? [1] Smart contact lenses are such a crock. Seriously, guys, how do you think you're going to power these things?

Bulk. It makes sense to keep glasses as light and small as possible, whereas a watch can be relatively bulky without being socially unacceptable. So you could have just enough electronics for glasses to display information and record, then have the watch store or compute the resulting data.

It could basically split smartphone features into two gadgets that are easier to carry around. For that, though, we still need quite a few leaps in miniaturization.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#142

Post by sdrothrock »

iaw wrote: post #139
choward wrote: 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…

I wear my Seiko 5 every day, I need to set the day once every other month and the time once every ~3 weeks, it winds perpetually. After the world is over, I'll still be able to tell time. I would love a smart watchband so I can get meeting alerts but I don't see a way they can make a smartwatch that beats my $100 mechanical.

I love mechanical watches too and have been looking for something that combines some smartwatch functionality with a good mechanical watch; have you seen Chronos?

https://wearchronos.com/

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#143

Post by wvenable »

xutopia wrote: post #130
dkokelley wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

No.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#144

Post by lowbloodsugar »

cyberferret wrote: post #33

As the comments in that article pointed out - the hassle far outweighs the value. After not wearing a watch for over 20 years, I've had an Apple Watch for about 3 months now (it was a free gift), and honestly, as much as the device is useful, it is a pain - especially when it comes to battery life. The charge seems to last just enough to fall flat at the most inconvenient times, i.e. when I am just about to leave the…

Someone gave me a golf cart last year. Actually they gave me a Ferrari 458 Spider. But I wanted a golf cart, so I'm using it as golf cart. Its hassle far outweighs its value. It destroys the fairway with its huge torque. And its rear wheel drive makes it really hard to control on grass. And it uses a lot of gas, so it runs out at the most inconvenient times. My friend doesn't understand, saying he drives his around town, on tarmac, and passes gas stations all the time, but he fails to realize that there aren't any gas stations on the golf course.

Your friend gave you a $300+ Apple Watch, not a $50 sleep tracker. Charge it at night and if you really do want a sleep tracker then buy a sleep tracker.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#145

Post by Animats »

iaw wrote: post #139
choward wrote: 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…

I wear my Seiko 5 every day, I need to set the day once every other month and the time once every ~3 weeks, it winds perpetually. After the world is over, I'll still be able to tell time. I would love a smart watchband so I can get meeting alerts but I don't see a way they can make a smartwatch that beats my $100 mechanical.

As timekeeping devices, the Casio G-Shock devices with solar charging and WWWV setting are hard to beat. Rugged, waterproof, etc. Prices start around $55. All they do is tell time, without requiring any attention or maintenance.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#146

Post by wvenable »

steaminghacker wrote: post #69
milesokeefe wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pebble doesn't have that problem.

can i do voice recognition on a pebble?

Yes, and not just on Android. Pebble has a microphone and voice-recognition. One of the more popular apps is effectively wrist-based Siri.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#147

Post by choward »

jmcdiesel wrote: post #71
choward wrote: 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 question is does this opinion comes from experience, or from assumption? Having an Apple Watch now for about 6 months, I can say I love it, and none of those things (and I shared the same skepticism before buying one) have proven to be issues. I don't tend to look at my watch when I sleep - so that one's easy, and when you charge the watch its in a mode that gives off a low-light time (nightstand mode, i think th…

Experience. I have a Samsung Gear Fit 2 (or something like that) watch from about 2 years ago.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#148

Post by choward »

dublinben wrote: post #48
choward wrote: 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…

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

Oops. Thanks for pointing that out.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#149

Post by nostrademons »

toyg wrote: post #140
nostrademons wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I said the same thing about smartphones when they came out - who'd want to browse the web on a tiny 4" screen when you've got a 13" laptop? And indeed, I do very little web-browsing on my smartphone; it's generally just used to answer quick questions when I absolutely need information (or, well, when I want to win an argument over dinner :-P). What made smartphones useful was people discovered new uses that you…

> What the watch gives you is hands-free information But your phone can also give you that, through earphones or headsets. Smartwatches must find new uses that a phone cannot also do as well , which is a much harder bar to clear. For example: > notifications [...] while I'm driving there Phones can do that already, and will do more and more as CarPlay etc become mainstream. > checking off items on my shopping list wh…

Bluetooth earbuds & headsets have all the downsides of smartwatches: they cost roughly the same (for headsets; earbuds are a lot cheaper), they make you look as dorky or more, they're IMHO less comfortable, and they're another accessory that can fall out and get lost. And they seem to have similar adoption numbers. The main difference is audio vs. visual: headsets are better for some uses (notably taking calls) but worse for others (interacting or reading quick notifications).

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#150

Post by pcurve »

sdrothrock wrote: post #142
iaw wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wear my Seiko 5 every day, I need to set the day once every other month and the time once every ~3 weeks, it winds perpetually. After the world is over, I'll still be able to tell time. I would love a smart watchband so I can get meeting alerts but I don't see a way they can make a smartwatch that beats my $100 mechanical.

I love mechanical watches too and have been looking for something that combines some smartwatch functionality with a good mechanical watch; have you seen Chronos? https://wearchronos.com/

that's actually very intriguing! The only thing that worries me is, I'd be concerned about tapping my mechanical watch dozens of times a day. Tapping can exert surprising amount of force to tiny movement pieces.
Post reply on HN