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Post by dapellegrini on Apr 22, 2022 17:20:37 GMT -8
I am not sure if this is odd or not, but I credit the Apple Watch for stirring my adult interest in watches. A gateway drug of sorts. Am I the only one? Perhaps a generational thing?
From around 2005 to 2015 I was pretty happy using my cellphone/smartphone (mainly Blackberrys and then iPhones) as a time keeper. Watches for me were another frivolous object, and I had a lot of other priorities, from house to family to career. When the Apple Watch dropped it captured my imagination in a way that perhaps calculator watches did in my childhood (perhaps why I have a few of those now too). Something frivolous and unneeded, but so cool, I couldn't ignore.
Fast forward 7 years. I've owned several apple watches now, and gifted as many to other family members. I use one every day while exercising and when traveling (also bring a mechanical when on business). I now also own perhaps 40 other watches, many mechanical, many quartz/digital, some vintage, some modern - many Swiss, many Japanese, some German. I credit the Apple Watch for pulling me back into the wrist watch universe, after outgrowing my childhood Swatches.
Am I on an island of one (again) on this? It seems on watch forums the Apple Watch is not well loved... Not only do I think they are awesome, I credit them for triggering the enthusiasm that has brought me to this point. It is most certainly my favorite "made in China" watch.
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Apr 23, 2022 7:43:41 GMT -8
dapellegrini - Then there is finally one good thing about an Apple watch afterall - It brought you to appreciate the fine art of the mechanical and electric watches of our past. Now that's awesome!
Please forgive what I am about to say, it's no attack on anyone. My opinion is only mine and no one else need take it on or validate/ argue against it.
I'm afraid I'm on the opposite spectrum for these family of wrist-ware. I am impressed by the engineering of the system, but that is where it ends for me. I struggle with how physically transparent those devices are - they are not seen as watches by their wearers so much as they are looked through into the ever encroaching virtual digital world. To me they stand for over-lording technology that feasts on Human weaknesses of addictive informational voyeurism. It's not close enough on the phone in the pocket, bring it even nearer. Make it even more intrusive. Nothing stokes my ire more than someone constantly looking at one of those while I'm trying to have a face to face human interaction with them. It's hard to blame them - it's vibrating and buzzing away on their wrist - so distracting. I know my Bellmatic stops me in my tracks for a moment when it rings out with a buzzing ancient mechanical analog to the DC servomotor unbalanced weight flinging around inside the e-watch. Still I just want it to stop intruding on real life, this persons and my reality. Leave the doorbell cam, instagram post, group text, and facebook thumbs up to a time when you're alone. Please. Let's just be Human and polite together.
I'm such a dinosaur aren't I?
Inboost
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Post by dapellegrini on Apr 23, 2022 8:59:07 GMT -8
Love it! If we were all the same, the world would be a boring place. I agree with the sentiment about constant annoyance / interruptions of our modern world and devices, and loath people sitting together at a table looking at their phones instead of interacting. On the spectrum of privacy bias, I find myself somewhere in the middle - my kids have no privacy awareness or even interest, I have some, but don't let it rule my life or define my environment. Heck, I post up pictures of my watch collection online to share with a bunch of people I don't really know. For me, the Apple Watch is an amazing device with massive upsides, not unlike a smart phone vs an old school cellular phone. I am happy to surrender some privacy for the benefits I get (likely no more than I already give up using an iPhone). They have recently implemented a "Focus" feature - which has largely reconciled the concern of interruptions - if you care to use it. When I am exercising or working or driving, I will not be interrupted unless you are on my list of favorite contacts - or you try and reach me several times in quick succession. IMO genius. The more curious thing for me is how this device really did bring me to appreciate mechanical watches, and I often wonder what kind of a minority I find myself in. Probably a silly place to be asking for feedback, especially as it seems almost everyone here has a vintage-heavy interest and/or bias. I have a close friend and fellow watch enthusiast that is also adamantly opposed to the Apple Watch (even just for exercise etc) - but then went out and bought a G-Shock GA2100 to do those duties (timing runs etc). I don't believe his concern is privacy - perhaps more that he just hates anything new tech, at least while it is "new". I think he still gets his Netflix DVDs in the mail (seriously)
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Apr 23, 2022 10:46:10 GMT -8
You know, thinking about it while out to lunch this afternoon and looking around a bit, I see some smart watches that attempt to look like an analog watch. They are round, and they have different case colors and many times even metal chassis. Of course the Apple crowd has a plethora of watchbands to choose from, something that explodes in variety yet in the end they all must fit one thing. Watch enthusiasts relish bracelet choices, perhaps those Apple watch users with customized watchbands aren't so far off the mark as I think they are? I'd be remiss in not seeing there is an upside. Especially considering my oldest Son has never worn a watch, and much of his generation seems to be that way. The new tech has put some focus back on wrist gear, and perhaps dapellegrini you're not the only one drawn back to the roots of wrist mounted timekeeping machines. I have to imagine that the current generation of watch manufacturers must have had a collective concern when the Apple iWatch broke on to the scene. Was it the death of telememo and calculator watches not to mention plain and simple timekeeping machines? Would analog dials be replaced with faux animations of the same? I bet they felt not unlike how mechanical watchmakers must have felt when quartz rolled into their lives. But maybe there is now a stirring when before when the phone just came out of the pocket there was none. The e-watch wearer liking that analog screen presentation but recognizes it has no depth might just go buy a 'fun' watch to wear when the notifications start to feel heavy instead of sensational. It still seems there is room for them all, which like you dapellegrini I have gratitude for. I do find myself getting a bit riled up on the privacy thing, but my tin foil hat is pretty small and I don't wear it too often. I'd agree in that this is outside the realm of the discussion though as the phone it's self carries just as much weight if not more.
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Post by dapellegrini on Apr 23, 2022 14:31:58 GMT -8
I am sure our phones are listening in on us. I was out at lunch with an employee a while back - and chatting with him about a new "super-automatic" coffee machine I was considering. He doesn't drink coffee, or have any interest in it - but told me the next day he started seeing ads for the machine we talked about show up while browsing the internet. FWIW he is a Samsung/Google phone fanatic. I suspect Apple does the same. There are ad-tech companies that use your phone's microphone to try and figure out what you are watching on TV, to determine which ads you saw, and using your phone - attribute that view to your demographics (age, gender, social status etc).
Anyhow, Apple seems the new king of the $200-300 do-it-all "watch" - or "wrist computer". I'm not sure what the range looks like anymore, but when it was new (2015) - they had a few very expensive versions over $15,000 USD as I recall - same module, just in a gold case with perhaps a designer bracelet. Obviously a silly proposition for a limited audience.
Being born around the same time Elvis checked out - I was too young to have any kind of personal take on the quartz crisis. I do wonder if watch enthusiasts loathed the new quartz watches the way many loath the Apple Watch today.
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Fergus
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Post by Fergus on Apr 24, 2022 0:31:34 GMT -8
On the topic of listening phones my most interesting experience was a few years ago while driving back home from Winchester. 'er indoors was having an away day and with me at the time. We passed a very nice town house which was for sale and I said to her I wonder what the asking price is for that pile. The very same evening, while phone interneting, up popped an estate agents ad for that very house...£1.5M. I gave no road detail or any other details of it so they must have picked up the phones position and put 2 and 2 together.
Least we forget that in many/most criminal cases it's the accused phone that gives all away be it what they have or have not transmitted themselves.
Even 20 years ago someone who I worked with was sacked because when they said they were on company business, claiming expenses, they were in fact in a well known theme park in Florida with their family.
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trilo
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Post by trilo on Apr 24, 2022 2:52:34 GMT -8
My grit with smart watches is that they go obsolote even quicker than smartphones and end up in waste site.
Doesn't matter what your take is on climate change etc. more abstract global problems, but it's a fact that the amount of shit which will never be recycled is just too damn high.
Then we can start talking about smart watches when someone comes up with one of them in 2067 which is made back 10-20's.
P.S. Watches are not too nature friendly either, as they have been churned out in billions and most modern watches run with a toxic button cell. But you get my point.
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Myles
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Post by Myles on Apr 24, 2022 9:24:05 GMT -8
I used to wear a basic fitness tracker (Fitbit Charge HR, IIRC) on my non-watch wrist. For whatever reason, it's been sitting is a drawer for the past year or two. Maybe I'll give it a go again, assuming the battery is still up to the task.
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Myles
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Post by Myles on Apr 24, 2022 9:26:49 GMT -8
P.S. Watches are not too nature friendly either, as they have been churned out in billions and most modern watches run with a toxic button cell. But you get my point. If I'm not mistaken, the modern silver-based cells are pretty benign. It's the lithium cells that need to be treated carefully, and it goes without saying that the old mercury-based cells are bad news.
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Post by dapellegrini on Apr 24, 2022 11:15:04 GMT -8
A Smart Watch is definitely a consumable - and comes with all of that baggage. I don't think they are a threat to the future of mechanical watches - and in fact, I want to believe that there are others like me that are brought to own and appreciate mechanical watches - having our wrists first conquered by a smart watch. I also don't think we should ignore the fact that "big name" luxury watch brands are getting into the smart watch scene as well, for example: www.tagheuer.com/us/en/smartwatches/collection-connected.htmland us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/stories/tambour-horizon-light-up#watch-facesPerhaps to a lesser "smart" extent, we also see G-Shocks and other watches with Bluetooth link up to your phone... My first Apple Watch purchase was out of fascination with the thing. Subsequent purchases have been mainly for the health tracking features. It does a good job inciting you to stay active throughout the day - a clear benefit for people with desk jobs (like me). I also find it extremely convenient to head out on a hike, go for a swim etc - and leave the phone on the charger, while still tracking my distance, pace, heart rate, blood oxygen levels etc. It is also very convenient to set timers or alarms with voice commands - and if you Apple CarPlay it is nice addition to the navigation system (buzzes your wrist if you should be paying attention for the next turn etc). My main issue with it as a "Wrist watch" - is that I have other "real" watches that I would rather wear out, and the Apple Watch is too big (on me at least) to rock on the other wrist... This led me to to own a couple different FitBits, first a Flex, then later a Luxe. These are their smallest wearables and more like a bracelet. My issues are two fold (1) they do not integrate with the rest of my ecosystem (refuse to link to Apple Health for instance) and (2) I find the app lacking / uninspired. Then I discovered the Oura Ring, and am now on my second. It does step counting and sleep quality tracking much better than Apple or Fitbit, I find the app excellent, and in plays well with the rest of my health data. So here's how these fit in my life: - Apple watch while exercising, hiking, swimming, walking the dog etc - excellent for this. Also when traveling where my "other" watch might attract unwanted attention at the airport or in dodgy environments - Oura Ring all the time - unobtrusive and excellent app. Stays charged for 5 days, recharges in an hour Not as good at tracking exercise, but imports what I do from the Apple Watch. Excellent tracking of your sleep, resting heart rate, recovery from prior days activities etc. - Real wristwatch when not with the Apple Watch - which is a lot/most of the time. I think detractors have plenty of good reasons why smart watches are not for them. I'm not here to convince anyone - but I clearly love them! I have a collection of Apple Watches from early ones to the newest, along with a lot of other "old" and "aging" tech - and enjoy that kind of thing - so mine won't find themselves in a landfill as long as I am around. What my kids would do with them is another thing entirely.
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Apr 24, 2022 16:41:43 GMT -8
What my kids would do with them is another thing entirely. Isn't this the woe of every collector? My Wife hits me with that one every once and awhile, "What am I going to do with all this stuff when you're gone!?" to which I say "Don't give it away, I don't collect junk!"
Inboost
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Post by Groundhog66 on Jan 15, 2023 16:08:08 GMT -8
Considering an iWatch Ultra, anyone pull the trigger yet?
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Post by dapellegrini on Jan 15, 2023 16:11:26 GMT -8
I almost pulled the trigger more than once. I know others who have it - and it is awesome. Trouble for me is I like wearing my Apple Watch to bed - not only do I get all of the sleep data, but it does a gentle buzz thing to wake me up - which I much prefer to traditional alarms ... and the Ultra is a lot more bulky than the standard one - as a bed time decoration.
If you want an outdoors / activewear watch, I don't think you can do better.
At this point I think I am willing to wait and see if we get a 45mm Ultra 2 in a year or so. The 49mm is completely wearable but kinda huge on me.
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Post by bklake on Jan 15, 2023 19:04:31 GMT -8
Considering an iWatch Ultra, anyone pull the trigger yet? A friend at work was showing off his new Ultra. Honestly, it didn't look any bigger or bulkier than a normal iWatch. The look leaned toward a slim G-Shock.
I'm not an iPhone person. I have to use an iPad for work and avoid anything i because it reminds me of work. I like my job but my days off are MY days off.
I had a Samsung phone so I got a Galaxy watch and it tracked a lot of things like sleep and exercise. A month after getting the watch, I got a different brand of phone and all the good stuff on the watch was disabled. Only works on Samsung. I believe the iWatch has to sync with iOS to take advantage of the good stuff also. I misplaced the Galaxy watch at a hotel and it never surfaced again. I have no desire to replace it. Considering the personal data that may have been on it, I'm done with the technology. I forgot the charger a few times and it went dead on me after 3 days. I've had my 6309 for 40 years now and it still works every time I pick it up. I don't think there is a wearable made that could survive what the 6309 has been through, let alone for 40 years.
I do have a Fitbit that I wear to bed to track my sleep. I had a Garmin that did a better job of tracking sleep but the battery started going out after 2 years.
My short time with the wearable reaffirmed my love of the simplicity and usefulness of a simple mechanical watch. 3 hands and day/date are all I need. No wearable has yet to push a mechanical off my wrist.
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saldog
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Post by saldog on Jan 15, 2023 19:15:06 GMT -8
I love my Apple Watch. On my second one. I bought the first one in stainless and later gave it to my daughter. It still works fine. But I love real watches more so I don’t wear the AW except when sleeping at night once in a while to analyze my sleeplessness. I also like it when going on international trips.
I had to shut off notifications on it because it was too distracting. I don’t read emails or news or anything really other than the time, appointments, and weather.
I would love to buy the new Ultra model because it looks cool. I do appreciate them in the same way I appreciate quartz watches, but my passion for watches is based on the engineering marvel that is an accurate mechanical wristwatch. If I was being practical and wanted a tool, the AW is what I’d wear (I did wear one daily for a few years), but I don’t look down at it and feel anything inside like I do when I wear a work of art that is a vintage mechanical watch.
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Post by Groundhog66 on Jan 15, 2023 19:24:41 GMT -8
The Ultra is a nice looking piece, I prefer the Ti case and flat glass over the previous models.
The Ultra is overkill for what I'd be using it for, but as we all know, looks is a big part of why we choose the watches we wear.
Bonus, my wife wants to buy it for me for my bday.
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Post by bklake on Jan 16, 2023 5:55:06 GMT -8
The Ultra is a nice looking piece, I prefer the Ti case and flat glass over the previous models. I would want a double dome sapphire crystal. I don't see a way to do this. With no modding options, the apple watch is dead to me.
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victor
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Post by victor on Jan 16, 2023 12:29:39 GMT -8
My job for the past quarter century has been analyzing smart devices, visiting and speaking with the OEMs and essentially score-carding who's on top. Its been fascinating to track these things and see how they evolve and improve, but one major disappointment is that they've remained commodities with very limited life times (EVs are looking like going this direction - don't get me started on that rant). And lost privacy (willingly given up) is a major aspect of these devices.
But one thing I've really grown to appreciate about them, in particular smart watches, is their health benefits. Beyond activity tracker and sleep tracker, there are now blood pressure, blood oxygen sensors, and ECG. I've seen first hand with a family member that these, in particular the early warning given by ECG, can be a life saver.
So while I don't wear a smart watch, I appreciate them and believe they can have real benefits. And if they can serve to introduce folks to "real" watches, a gateway drug, so to speak, then that's all to the good.
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Post by Groundhog66 on Jan 18, 2023 15:46:08 GMT -8
I have an Ultra on the way, b-day gift from my wife. Plenty of heart/health related functions, I am going to use it as motivation to exercise more.
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Post by dapellegrini on Jan 18, 2023 16:38:25 GMT -8
Congrats! I bet you will love it.
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