You can’t deny it, or at least Apple is trying its best to make it a fact that their new watch, due to hit stores on April 24, is the “it” fashion statement. Since Paris Fashion Week last September, techies and fashionistas alike have been blogging about the seemingly versatile and good-looking digital device. Who could resist a hi-tech product that you can customize to look like a retro Mickey Mouse watch, a whimsical mini-me version of a white iPhone, or a solid gold ultra designer time piece that will retail for $17,000?
Well, me, for one. Yes, me, Linda-the-tech-lover has no intention of purchasing even one of the less expensive models. And when you hear why, fellow BA50-ers, you’ll probably agree.
- I already have a fitness device I like. My fitness tracker it isn’t even a suped-up Fitbit or Jawbone. When out for a run, I still rely on a Polar Fitness Monitor that includes a chest-strap so the wrist-watch monitor picks up my actual heart rate, not just my pulse. To count the steps I take each day while I walk around and when I run, I use Moves, a free app on my iPhone (and there’s an Android version too).
- I don’t want to have to carry two devices. That was part of the awesomeness of the smartphone. I no longer needed to carry around both a Palm Pilot that contained my calendar, contacts, and notes (or even heavier, a Franklin Covey Planner) and a flip phone. My pocketbook got lighter. In order for the Apple Watch to do all the neato things it does (like track your fitness, measure your sleep, give you access to slimmed-down versions of your favorite phone apps, connect you to a special chat with all your Apple Watch friends), you need also to be in range of your iPhone. Without the iPhone, the Apple Watch can tell time, display your photos, give you access to a limited amount of music, and enable you to use Apple Pay (provided you can find a vendor that takes Apple Pay). And that’s about it.
- I don’t want to worry about charging yet another device. They say that one charge will keep you going for a day, which seems to be 18, not 24, hours. So every morning, if I had an Apple Watch, I would have to make sure that not only is my iPhone charged to 100% (which often doesn’t get me through the day), but my watch as well.
- My iPhone offers many more features and fits into my pocket or pocketbook. You can’t make a call on your Apple Watch. You can’t read a book. You can’t see a large enough version of Google Maps. For almost everything, except reading the time, a smartphone offers much, much more than an Apple Watch. Oh, and smartphones tell you the time too. In fact, you can set your home screen so what you see when you pull it out is the time.
- I like the watches I already own. I have a couple of cute watches that I wear for fun, but my almost-everyday watch is a beautiful piece of jewelry I wear with joy. It was a gift from my mom shortly before she died, so when I glance at my wrist, I think of her.
Sometime after April 24, when the crowds in the Apple Stores have thinned a bit, I plan to go and have my 15 minutes of tryout time. Yup, seeing as I am not a celebrity, that’s all I’ll get. Who knows? Maybe something will change drastically in the next iteration of the Apple Watch, and I’ll be jumping on line to purchase one. For now, though, I look at the prices and feel like I’m saving myself a lot of money.
Anyone else up for a bit of shoe shopping with all that money we’re not throwing away on the Apple Watch?
