Recently I had to get a new phone because I was stupid and got my other one wet. Wet like I went swimming with it. I had been using a galaxy note 2. It was a fine phone even with the note 5 out so I really didn’t have plans on upgrading. But with a replacement now much needed for work use I had to do a bit of research. It turns out to have been an easier decision than I would have thought. Once I looked deeper at the note 5 I saw that it only had a max of 64gb. Yes i’ve heard the argument that 64 should be enough and that things can be stored in the cloud. That’s all fine if you’re constantly hooked to the internet and you have a lot of cloud space to store on. Travel somewhere without wifi or good cell coverage and you’re screwed. Samsung also chose to go the apple route and not only make the battery non-replaceable but they also took out the slot for the microsd card. The battery thing I could deal with but only putting 64gb with no option to upgrade was a kick in the nads.
As I’m already partly in the apple ecosystem the temptation to continue further was pulling me in. It wasn’t an easy switch and it still isn’t. There are features in android that I very much miss. I miss being able to schedule SMS messages. I miss being able to dial a phone number by someone’s name. I miss how much I could customize without having to jailbreak first. I miss having the back button. Now I have to find on the screen where the app author chose to give me my out. I miss having it easier to set an app preference such as using google maps to open instead being forced to use apple maps which still isn’t as good. Yeah for jailbreaking, come on 9.2!! As well being able to automagically choose chrome instead of safari. But I’m digressing.
To help me with my endeavor to get back into shape I had previously bought a fit bit. The Charge HR version specifically. Now I’m not using this to track my every motion and making weekly spreadsheets. I barely ever even check the stats the device is generating. I mainly like it for three things. First, it has a clock on it. I mean it sits like a watch and all, the thing should tell me what time it is which it does with a wrist flick. Two, it helps remind me better than anything else I’ve tried in making better food choices and to exercise. The third thing is call notifications. I didn’t realize how much I’d like the ability of seeing on my wrist who was calling before having to take out my phone from my pocket or finding it in the room. Once I made the iPhone leap I decided to kick things up another notch.
The apple watch.
It seemed like such a good, almost a great idea. It has call notification. Even text notification. It has maps, and apps for the airline and hotel I use most often. It has a passbook that can used if set up ahead of time even if the phone isn’t around. But.
Trying to use it for my specific productivity needs just wasn’t cutting it. I wanted to be able to see my calendar and todos much better than what was allowed. I found it was taking me more swipes and more time on the watch to find the information than to just pick up the phone and touchid in for the information. The watch became a hindrance more than it was helpful. That’s not to say it was all bad. Being able to reply to text messages from the watch was great. I wish the voice diction on the phone was as good as the watch.
In all, from time of purchase to time of return I had it for 48 hours and 20 minutes. As a first gen product and glowing reviews from some people I personally know, it seemed like it was going to be just another addition for me into the ecosystem I was finding myself drawn into. But maybe because it is first gen that it just wasn’t ready for me. I’m sure for some people and what they want to use it for it fits them well. Not being able to be as productive for me was the deal breaker. The hotel I stay at doesn’t have keyless entry doors. I also don’t really want to use the q code on the watch to board the plane. I also don’t use apple pay nor do I like having to take the watch off my wrist to charge it as frequently as I was seeing the battery go down. For the 12 hours before I returned it I took it off and just put it back in the box. And as that arbitrary time went by I realized that I had even forgotten that it was there for me to return. Guess it wasn’t as special for me as I thought it would be. Maybe when gen 2 comes out and more people actually have them will I give it another look. I admit that if the 2do program had a better set of watch preferences for me to customize I might have concluded it was ‘good enough’. Not the way I like to do things but sometimes we deal with what we’ve got at that moment and hope it just gets better. On a picky note, the sport band sucked on my hairy arms. Having to tuck the band in against my skin was a literal pain.
-SFA
p.s. Happy New Year