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

151–160 of 181 posts

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#151

Post by rifung »

newswriter9 wrote: post #12

I don't get it. Decades of science fiction depicting Heads-up-Display glasses and wrist-strapped laptops, with people wishing and wishing we lived in such a world. Now here we are and society isn't going in for it. Bluetooth head sets, smartwatches, Google Glass, none of it is sticking. Even though smart phones are becoming cumbersome due to size and inability to use hands-free or even one-handed well. Are we ever go…

I wouldn't really equate Google Glass with Heads up Display glasses as most people imagine them. I'm not sure if you've used it, but it sounded super cool until I tried it. You don't see the image on Glass on the lenses themselves but on a little transparent rock that's attached to the glasses.. it was a pretty underwhelming experience to me

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#152

Post by pcurve »

jotux wrote: post #70
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…

Have you seen the Mondaine Helvetica? https://www.mondaine.com/watches/mondaine-helvetica/helvetic... Traditional look, smart features, and 2-year battery life.

that watch is gorgeous... I'm drooling. But I can't get over the $950 price tag for a quartz watch.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#153

Post by cyberferret »

lowbloodsugar wrote: post #144
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 t…

Not sure about you, but I would have the skills to actually use a Ferrari 458 Spider as a golf cart without tearing up the fairways or using too much fuel. It would be cool.

Strange analogies aside - the point of my post is that the Apple Watch uses too much of my time and energy to 'baby' it and make sure it is operationally ready. Yes, I love unlocking my Mac with it, getting the time and reading notifications on it, so big bonus there. I did used to have Fitbit device for a long while there and enjoyed the fact that I only had to plan and think about charging it every 2 or 3 weeks, rather than every 1.3 days.

Even if it was an even 24 hours recharge cycle for the Watch, it would be a darn sight more convenient, as I could get into routine of charging it at a set time every day, but the fact that it (a) runs out of charge at different times of the day and (b) takes a long time to fully charge up means that it just takes up too much of my conscious thought to manage it, and I would far rather spend that time and energy elsewhere on things I consider more important. Heck, I have enough trouble keeping my cats fed and happy - I don't need something else constantly bullying me as well.

Similar with your Ferrari analogy above. Rules permitting, it would make an awesome golf cart and I would do so without hesitation. My main problem would be 'babying' it again and worrying about other golfers denting it with errant shots or thrown clubs (you'd have to play golf with me one day to see how prevalent that is among the guys I play with!) :)

First world problems, I know, but I think it is a big factor as to why most of the first world seems to shun the smart watches.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#154

Post by credit_guy »

nemothekid wrote: post #61
dublinben wrote: post #48

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.

For the non-native English speakers, or for the native but non-US speakers, this was a very interesting misspelling. A lot of native US speakers pronounce the two words absolutelly in the same way. The British pronounciation is a bit different, as I suspect to be the case in many other English speaking countries. Even in the US not everyone pronounces the 't' in "parity" the same as the 'd' in "parody", I would estimate it's about fifty-fifdy.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#155

Post by sdrothrock »

pcurve wrote: post #150
sdrothrock wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Agreed -- same worries for the vibration. But for something like light notifications alone...

I'd have to get one and try it out first, though; it seems like a reasonable compromise.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#156

Post by canada_dry »

When I was in Shenzhen recently I noted that smart watch shops were everywhere, with literally hundreds of different models to choose from... but very few people were actually wearing one! I believe this will be (er, has) become the CB radio fad of this generation.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#157

Post by baby »

greglindahl wrote: post #118
jmcdiesel wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I didn't think I would like charging a watch every day, but I have the watch charger next to my phone charger, and I charge my phone every night, so... it works for me.

But then, I hate having to charge my phone every night... When are we going to have a major advance in battery life?

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#158

Post by bertiewhykovich »

paganel wrote: post #38
newswriter9 wrote: post #12

I don't get it. Decades of science fiction depicting Heads-up-Display glasses and wrist-strapped laptops, with people wishing and wishing we lived in such a world. Now here we are and society isn't going in for it. Bluetooth head sets, smartwatches, Google Glass, none of it is sticking. Even though smart phones are becoming cumbersome due to size and inability to use hands-free or even one-handed well. Are we ever go…

> Are we ever going to see a cyberpunk future? We didn't get to see a steampunk future starting with the early 1900s even though books like Jules Verne's were quite popular at the time (and quite some time after that), so I don't think we're going to see a cyberpunk future anytime soon, if ever. The best that we can do is to re-watch shows like "Akira" and think about what could have been.

I hate to tell you this, dude, but "Akira" might not be a palatable future.

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#159

Post by coldtea »

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?

>If we're assuming the existence of non-sucky smart glasses or contact lenses [1], why exactly would anyone use a smart watch?

For the same reasons we use smartwatches with our phones today. It's more plausible they'd fit a great cpu, cellular phone, gps, etc on a watch size, than they'd fit it in a decent glass frame.

So the watch could handle most things, plus there are interactions that can't be done with glasses (like measuring one's heart rate, or similar).

Re: Smartwatch sales are tanking

#160

Post by coldtea »

dozzie wrote: post #132
tedunangst wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

No(t only). People wear traditional watches to bed because they have waterproof watches and couldn't be bothered with taking them off, and don't set their strap/bracelet too tight.

>People wear traditional watches to bed because they have waterproof watches and couldn't be bothered with taking them off

What does the watch being waterproof have to do with wearing it in bed?

Post reply on HN