Poll: Do you want a smart watch? • Hacker News Board

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#31

Post by majorlazer3 » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:43 PM UTC

Why smartwatches are great: They increase your phone's battery life

Since I bought my pebble and got used to checking that for the time and text messages I have increased my phone's battery life at least 50%.

The major drain on a phone's battery life is screen (backlight) and OS, and when we pull our phones out with the backlight on full we drain a _ton_ of battery life.

I love the Pebble because it's a developer-centric reinvention of the idea of a "watch". Everyone is invited to re-imagine what a watch is. And it has a 7 day battery life.

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#32

Post by bane » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:44 PM UTC

There's lots of reasons why I stopped wearing a watch (mostly due to comfort) and I have almost no desire to return to wearing one. Even before smartphones replaced watches for most people, I usually didn't wear one or sported an old fashioned pocket watch because it was more comfortable.

The burden of pulling my phone out of my pocket is not so great that the tradeoff of using an expensive, clumsy, short battery-life wearable device that does some subset of what my phone already does (and requires me to have my phone on me anyway) doesn't seem worth it.

I honestly can't think of a single use-case where I'd prefer to use one over my smartphone. It seems to me that the use-cases being presented for it are either vanity fashion use-case, or cases where even the slightest bit of self-control overwhelms the use-case (I NEED TO SEE THAT EMAIL THAT JUST CAME IN RIGHT NOW AND CAN'T WAIT THE 2 EXTRA SECONDS TO PULL MY PHONE FROM MY POCKET)

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#33

Post by Alupis » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:44 PM UTC

ad_hominem wrote: post #12

If they made a smart watch that could do time/calendar, phone calls, text messages, emails, and turn-by-turn navigation - all without requiring tethering to a smartphone - I would buy one and probably not even have a smartphone. I know I'm an anomaly, but I only use my phone to remain contactable and for GPS navigation until I get back to my desktop. A smartphone that didn't have to tether would suit me well, but the…

do you really want to pay for a second phone line from your carrier just for your watch?

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#34

Post by bill_bkr » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:44 PM UTC

fein wrote: post #11

How about "I have no idea what I want"? Is there a killer feature that a smartwatch would have over my phone which I'm unaware of aside from form factor? I'd like there to be a reason to buy one, because I like shiny tech things, but I'm not sure I even have a use case.

Same here. So far I don't see any killer feature that would make me want a smartwatch.

Somehow I get a feeling that doing anything more complex than reading a simple message (be it an email, SMS, notification, whatever) would just be slower than if I would take the smartphone out of the pocket and do it the proper way.

I might feel different though if I were into running/cycling/whatever.

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#35

Post by dragonwriter » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:45 PM UTC

sobkas wrote: post #29

I would like to know why I even should have a dumb watch before answering question about smart one.

> I would like to know why I even should have a dumb watch before answering question about smart one.

I think the main benefit is that a wrist-worn device takes less time to check the time than pulling out a phone, for the times where you aren't sitting in front of a computer with a clock in some corner of the screen.

For a smart-watch, the main benefit seems to be the same, but generalized to other kinds of quick things that can be checked -- texts and similar notifications.

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#36

Post by mzf » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:45 PM UTC

mullingitover wrote: post #15

I almost wonder if Apple already did the market research on smart watches and realized nobody really wants one, and then they did a head fake and convinced all their competitors that they were going into development on this product with all their might. Competitors tie up engineering talent and resources producing a device to compete with something that Apple has zero plans of actually manufacturing. It would be an e…

Yeah, but remeber all these jokes before iPad came out. Who the hell needs this gigantic iPhone..

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#37

Post by moron4hire » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:46 PM UTC

I want a smartwatch, but not the ones that are out right now. I want it to be able to supplement input for a VR headset. Having a 9-DOF motion and orientation sensor, as well as a camera and touch screen (even if you won't be able to see it, the key feature would be that it's tied to your arm), would help a lot with that. But I'd also like it to last more than a handful of hours with constant use.

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#38

Post by hnal943 » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:46 PM UTC

I own a smart watch and it's awesome. Especially with kids, the ability to take calls and see notifications without taking my phone out of my pocket is invaluable. Often I don't have my hands free so having a screen always available on my wrist is super helpful.

In terms of battery life, I charge my watch while I shower and that's enough to keep it going.

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#39

Post by dragonwriter » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:46 PM UTC

Alupis wrote: post #33

ad_hominem wrote: post #12

If they made a smart watch that could do time/calendar, phone calls, text messages, emails, and turn-by-turn navigation - all without requiring tethering to a smartphone - I would buy one and probably not even have a smartphone. I know I'm an anomaly, but I only use my phone to remain contactable and for GPS navigation until I get back to my desktop. A smartphone that didn't have to tether would suit me well, but the…

do you really want to pay for a second phone line from your carrier just for your watch?

He said he wouldn't have a separate smartphone, so it would be the first phone line. He seems to prefer a smartphone-in-watch-form-factor.

Re: Poll: Do you want a smart watch?

#40

Post by mhurron » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 5:47 PM UTC

sobkas wrote: post #29

I would like to know why I even should have a dumb watch before answering question about smart one.

I have an analog wrist watch, it tells time at a glance.

I don't have to pull it out of my pocket

I don't have to turn on the screen

All I have to do is remember to put it on before I leave the house.

I don't care if you should have one, but it's all I want.

Oh, and the battery doesn't need to be cared about much more than once every several years or so.