Ok, Ok, I can hear it now…. why is an Android guy blogging about an Apple watch?
(Closely, followed by ‘Of course he does not like it – hes a Google fanboi’).
Just hear me out.
First up you need to know this….. I am selling my Google Android Ware watch (a Moto360).
So, yeah, I am dumping the little green droid from my wrist….. I tried, I really tried…. I waited, I tested, I tweaked, I prodded, I read forums and really tried to make it work…. But after 4ish months, I can’t live with it.
Why? For the exact same reason(s) the Apple watch is DOA (Dead On Arrival) for most people (once they get it on their wrist).
1. Most of the time, the watch screen is off.
Black.
Pitch. Black.
You glance at your watch to, uh, see the time, and its off. Nada. Nothing. Pitch. Black.
You need to lift the watch to your face so the electronics can get the wake up signal and turn on the power hungry screen.
Most times that does not work. The motion sense thing does not do its thing and you look like a twit staring at a black watch face.
Also, put a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other, now, tell me what time it is.
Pitch. Black.
2. Touch screen.
They don’t work when wet.
Sweat is wet.
Water is wet.
I’m talking one single drop. It really takes very little to render the little touch screen totally worthless.
Since touch is the primary way of getting stuff done (even with a fancy digital crown), its a frustrating experience.
Not to mention that fingers are not always squeaky clean.
The watch face always seems to be smeared with something or other……
So thats why the Apple watch is just not going to fly for most people.
Yes, they are going to sell millions of them, but I suspect that there will be millions in the top draw of bedrooms and kitchens in 4 to 8 months from now.
There are other problems with the Android version, that Apple might get right, but those two reasons are so fundamental, so baked in, so critical to everything that follows that it does not matter what neat functions they get right, if the screen is off, its dead.
Not that it matters, but in case you are wondering, I am going to give Pebble another go.
Eink (ePaper) display that is always on.
4 buttons for interface control.
(Time will tell if they get the other bits right).
