Showing posts with label SmartWatches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SmartWatches. Show all posts
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Smart watch leaves him feeling ticked-off
 |
After trying a so-called "smartwatch" for a month, all I can say is that this
technology isn't yet ready for prime-time and needs to go back for some
serious remedial education.
|
These wrist-mounted, mini computers aim to combine the functionality of an old-fashioned watch with a modern smartphone, yet still requires you to carry a cell phone for most of its functions to work.
People lined up around the block when Apple released their version of the device last year, and many who got them claimed that you won’t understand how great they are until you actually started using one.
Well, I recently got the chance to get one – a hand-me-down Samsung Galaxy Gear from my boss – and after about a month of living with it, I can honestly say, my initial opinion remains unchanged.
As much as I love gadgets, I just didn’t find this device so useful.
Without it tethered to my phone via Bluetooth, all it could really do was tell time and count my steps. And while I really did like the pedometer feature, which showed me I average between 5,000 to 6,000 steps per day and walk about 2.5 miles, I found its primary function – telling time – rather inconvenient.
To save battery life, the Gear, turns off the display, so every time I wanted to see what time it was, I either had to twist my wrist back and forth rather vigorously to reactive it, or press the function button on the side of the watch. On my regular old fashioned analogue watch, all I have to do is slightly turn my wrist and glance down and I can see the time.
While I understand why the Gear, like most other smart watches, turns off its high-resolution LCD screen to save on its relatively short battery life, I don’t get how this is any better or innovative than what I used to have to do almost 40 years ago, when I got my first “Star Wars” digital watch back in 1977 or 78!
 |
Without the Gear Manger or some other similar App on
your smartphone, there's little any current smartwatch can by itself. |
But is this seconds-saving convenience worth the hundreds of dollars these smartwatches going for?
Not for me.
I still find them way too limited. The small faces make it virtually impossible to reply to a text message or enter text in any app with such a tiny on-screen keyboard. I also found typing numbers in on my “big-key” calculator app or the remote phone dialer difficult because the keys were so small.
Speaking of cumbersome, it seems that most apps that would extend the watch’s usefulness also need to be installed on the phone so instead of having to install an app once, I’ve got to install it two twice. Often that procedure involves downloading an app from the Google Play Store installing on my phone, then generating an install package called and APK and having to use a third-party program to upload it to the watch where it takes a few more steps to install.
So until the smart watch can be completely freed from a phone to be fully functional and its battery life no longer requires you to turn on and off its screen to tell time, I think I’ll go back to using my old- fashion wrist watch until these “smart” devices graduate from remedial school.
Smart watch leaves him feeling ticked-off
|
After trying a so-called "smartwatch" for a month, all I can say is
that this technology isn't yet ready for prime-time and needs to go back for some serious remedial education. |
These wrist-mounted, mini computers aim to combine the functionality of an old-fashioned watch with a modern smartphone, yet still requires you to carry a cell phone for most of its functions to work.
People lined up around the block when Apple released their version of the device last year, and many who got them claimed that you won’t understand how great they are until you actually started using one.
Well, I recently got the chance to get one – a hand-me-down Samsung Galaxy Gear from my boss – and after about a month of living with it, I can honestly say, my initial opinion remains unchanged.
As much as I love gadgets, I just didn’t find this device so useful.
Without it tethered to my phone via Bluetooth, all it could really do was tell time and count my steps. And while I really did like the pedometer feature, which showed me I average between 5,000 to 6,000 steps per day and walk about 2.5 miles, I found its primary function – telling time – rather inconvenient.
To save battery life, the Gear, turns off the display, so every time I wanted to see what time it was, I either had to twist my wrist back and forth rather vigorously to reactive it, or press the function button on the side of the watch. On my regular old fashioned analogue watch, all I have to do is slightly turn my wrist and glance down and I can see the time.
While I understand why the Gear, like most other smartwatches, turns off its high-resolution LCD screen to save on its relatively short battery life, I don’t get how this is any better or innovative than what I used to have to do almost 40 years ago, when I got my first “Star Wars” digital watch back in 1977 or 78!
|
Without the Gear Manger or some other similar App on
your smartphone, there's little any current smartwatch can by itself. |
But is this seconds-saving convenience worth the hundreds of dollars these smartwatches going for?
Not for me.
I still find them way too limited. The small faces make it virtually impossible to reply to a text message or type on the tiny on-screen keyboard. I also found it difficult to punch in numbers in on my “big-key” calculator app or the remote phone dialer difficult because the keys were so small.
Speaking of cumbersome, it seems that most apps that would extend the watch’s usefulness also need to be installed on the phone so instead of having to install an app once, I’ve got to install it two twice. Often that procedure involves downloading an app from the Google Play Store installing on my phone, then generating an install package called an APK and having to use a third-party program to upload it to the watch where I have to follow another procedure to get it up and running.
So until the smart watch can be completely freed from a phone to be fully functional and its battery life no longer requires you to turn on and off its screen to tell time, I think I’ll go back to using my old-fashion wrist watch and send these “smart” devices back to school for some remedial education.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Watch this…
 |
| Without a cell phone the new iWatch is no smarter than a Casio calculator watch from the 1980s. |
“They’re new and innovative and cool!” I gush, but he cuts me off.
“They are wristwatches. We’ve had wristwatches for at least a century.”
“But those are analogue!” I protest.
The elder geek frowns. “Think again, Inspector Gadget,” he says holding up his arm showing me his Casio watch with built-in calculator. “That’s good-old 1980s DIGITAL technology, right there. It tells me the time, has a built-in alarm, a timer and helps me figure out the tip when I go out to eat. What more do you need in a watch?”
 |
When we can make two-way video calls on a
smart
watch without it needing to be tethered
to a cell phone
then maybe Dick and I will
finally upgrade!
|
The elder geek just frowned. “Does it look like I need a fitness tracker?” he asked. “I get all the exercise I need getting up from my computer and walking to the kitchen for a snack.”
“Yeah, well you got me there….” I admit, looking at his pasty figure that would make the Pillsbury Doughboy jealous. “But what about being able to read your texts and e-mails without having to check your phone?”
“How is staring at my wrist anymore convenient or efficient than pulling my phone from its waist holster and glancing down at it?”
“It’s less obvious you’re checking your mail or texts in social situations.”
“So, smart watches give you more of license to be rude. Great. Just what society needs. Another reason to be anti-social. I’ll pass.”
“But what about all the apps you can run on them? Like GPS, weather reports and calendar reminders?”
“You mean I can ditch my phone and just run these from a smart watch?”
“Well, no. No exactly.”
“What do you mean, not exactly?”
“You still need your phone. Smart watches just read data from your phone and use the phone’s wireless or cellular connection to attach to the Internet.”
“So how is that innovative? Without a cell phone you Smart Watch isn’t so smart is it? It’s no better than my trusty 30-year-old Casio.”
“Well, no…. but…but…”
 |
Dick Tracy's watch is STILL more innovative than
today's so-called crop of smart watches! |
“But what really ticks me off about calling these so-called Smart Watches innovative is that NONE of them can do the one thing we’ve all been waiting for since the Dick Tracy comics appeared in the 1930s. Make video calls!
“So until the time comes when these watches can replace my cell phone AND make video calls by themselves, I’ll stick with my trusty old Casio.”
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