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The Apple Watch

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Re: The Apple Watch

#61
Designing a 2015 smartwatch to fit the expectations of dumb-watches feels more and more to me like designing a 2007 smartphone to fit the expectations of the blackberry crowd (physical keyboard, removable battery).

The digital crown looks like one such mistake. Swipe-to-scroll is so natural, particularly at this point, that moving back to an indirect method of scrolling seems just wrong. And doing so on a device that's already touch, and already using swipe-to-scroll, feels twice and wrong and unnecessarily confusing.

I understand the intent and the goal, but the inconsistent use of the crown -- if it's so great, why can I still swipe to scroll at all? -- is a tell. It would have been better to simply detect swipe-to-scroll along the right edge of the bezel (if not along the right side of the frame itself) to effect "scrolling without obscuring".

Four-ways-to-click (crown-click vs tap vs force tap vs tap-and-hold) is an eyebrow-raise-er all its own.

Also: displays should be wider. At fifty- to one-hundred-percent wider the display would be far better for notifications and would make the selection of A/B buttons more clear and precise.

The next time you get a notification on your phone, rest your phone on your wrist, so the notification is displayed roughly where a smartwatch would sit. Ask yourself whether that notification would still "work", if it were crammed into an Apple Watch-sized screen. Some certainly do. More can be made to work alright, if font size were reduced. IME, most simply don't work.

There just isn't enough room to get enough meaningful information onto a screen that size, in a comfortable font size, for me to make good decisions about what can be ignored and what should be addressed.

You can mitigate this problem if you can ignore all messages of a given type (e.g. don't even bother getting email alerts on your wrist). But even if you could do this, it would be better if you didn't have to. A screen that enables better decisions would make for a more useful object.

Re: The Apple Watch

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two high school kids each with a $400 watch. It may be poignant[1], but it won't be common. [1]It could also be eye-roll-worthy bourgeois douchebaggery depending on your socio-economic perspective.

How many high school kids have iPhones? Isn't it millions? I would not be surprised that huge numbers will have a $400 (or more) Apple Watch. Now if that happens, it might be a sad commentary on the allocation of resources in our society - globally. But if the Apple Watch is successful, I would be surprised if it isn't common (>20% adoption) in thousands of USA high schools and lots of other high schools around the g…

How many high school kids have iPhones? Isn't it millions?

Yes, but cellphones are different - family plans, paid for by parents, will often get a free iPhone 5C or whatever.

Re: The Apple Watch

#63
post #22

It actually kind of saddens me to read his summary of how touch will be "awesome". A teenager is afraid to talk to a girl he likes so he sends her what amounts to a text on his watch? It feels like humans keep building more and more barriers to ACTUAL communication. I can't help but think at some point it will have serious negative effects on the human race. Part of growing up and maturing is learning to deal with di…

Honestly, I think this social interaction talk is overblown. I was an original Pebble backer, and I've stopped using it because it's actually a greater physical barrier than a phone when you're sat talking to someone. Notifications are even more obtrusive, not less.

Re: The Apple Watch

#64
I am quite excited about upgrading my watch experience and the next generation of connected devices, however, the biggest surprise for me is that Apple doesn't offer more gesture recognition.

I always imagined the primary interface for shortcuts would be gestures such as waving away your arm to dismiss a message or flicking the wrist multiple times (if you try it right now, you can easily flick your wrist 3-4 times per second). It would make interaction that much easier and wrist flicking could even become a thing. One flick for health, two for time, etc. depending on the context.

Another thing that could be mildly annoying for a lot of people is that it can only ever be operated by engaging both hands. Phone by contrast can easily be operated with one hand using the thumb.

EDIT: If the watch has enough sensors, I am sure it could detect users not only flicking the wrist via rotation but also bending your hand down/up (which tends to pull/push the tendons on your wrist) though the watch would need to be worn snugly.

Re: The Apple Watch

#65

If I had to choose between a dumb watch that never needs recharging (like my Citizen Eco-Drive) and a "smart" watch that doesn't even last a full day, I'd choose the dumb watch. Who the hell think that a watch that can't even function a day is an acceptable product? This just blows my mind. And yet, I'm pretty sure they are going to sell millions of them. I wouldn't want one if it was free.

Moto 360 owner here. I take it off at night and put it down just like I would a real watch. "Down" in this case is onto a small Qi mat. I don't sleep or bathe with watches. Its a total non-issue. I take my phone out and put it on its Qi mat and the watch right next to it. My phone doesn't last more than a day either. No idea how the Apple one works, but the Moto guys figured it out pretty quickly. Just use the Qi sta…

My use case is the exact same. Take the 360 off at night, I don't want to sleep in a watch anyhow. On the occasions I do, it survives a night (but complains of low battery in the morning) in case I need to use it for a silent alarm in the early hours.

I agree that the toxic NIH syndrome at Apple harms their users - why not use Qi? Because then they can't charge $30 ($50?) for a replacement / secondary charging cable.

Re: The Apple Watch

#66
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is charging electronics such a problem? Do people wear watches while sleeping? Why is setting it on the charger on my nightstand actually a problem? This seems like an absurd nitpicky thing to complain about.

I compare the awful mentality of "why do I have to charge X so many Y times?!" to the same result of modern cell phones. It wasn't that long ago that your cell phone could last days or more on a single charge. Now many people have the routine of just charging their phones at night. The world didn't end, things just progressed.

It can last days if you turn everything off and use it as a dumb phone, but who wants to do that.

Re: The Apple Watch

#67
post #61

Designing a 2015 smartwatch to fit the expectations of dumb-watches feels more and more to me like designing a 2007 smartphone to fit the expectations of the blackberry crowd (physical keyboard, removable battery). The digital crown looks like one such mistake. Swipe-to-scroll is so natural, particularly at this point, that moving back to an indirect method of scrolling seems just wrong . And doing so on a device tha…

I like the idea of the digital crown, because the screen's too small to swipe to scroll without obscuring almost everything.

Re: The Apple Watch

#68
post #61

Designing a 2015 smartwatch to fit the expectations of dumb-watches feels more and more to me like designing a 2007 smartphone to fit the expectations of the blackberry crowd (physical keyboard, removable battery). The digital crown looks like one such mistake. Swipe-to-scroll is so natural, particularly at this point, that moving back to an indirect method of scrolling seems just wrong . And doing so on a device tha…

"No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame." --Rob Malda, on the iPod at its release in 2001

Re: The Apple Watch

#69
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many high school kids have iPhones? Isn't it millions? I would not be surprised that huge numbers will have a $400 (or more) Apple Watch. Now if that happens, it might be a sad commentary on the allocation of resources in our society - globally. But if the Apple Watch is successful, I would be surprised if it isn't common (>20% adoption) in thousands of USA high schools and lots of other high schools around the g…

How many high school kids have iPhones? Isn't it millions? Yes, but cellphones are different - family plans, paid for by parents, will often get a free iPhone 5C or whatever.

You're still paying for the phone when it's "free".

Re: The Apple Watch

#70
post #38

> Apple Watch’s screen remains off until you tap the screen (...) or it detects (...) that you’ve moved your wrist into a “tell the time” position. That's really the one of the biggest problems I can imagine. Pity that the "show the time at least somehow" wasn't engineered as a special feature, something like "e-ink for somehow time" and the OLED (if that's what they're using) for the full color. I know that nobody m…

They did [1]. The color version is not yet available (first unit should be shipped in May), but the black and white ones were here since 2012. They actually got a wave of preorders right after Apple Watch was shown in March.

Based on the back and white version, it indeed is not as nice looking, but I like that it comes as a watch that has smart functionality rather the other way around. And it lasts for 7 days.

Can't comment much on the Pebble Time, but the color display actually looks quite nice, it is always on and still last for a week on a single charge.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU5zFGkP2Uw

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