I
ordered my Apple Watch on the first day one could: April 10, 2015.
Unfortunately, I didn't rise in
My
first impression was that it was beautiful and much easier to set up
than I'd expected. Maybe you read the article by the New York Times
reporter who claimed that it took him four full days to start to get the
hang of it. That's probably because he tried to test virtually every
major function and app ASAP. That's not how the rest of us will get
started. It's easy and intuitive if you go one function at a time.
The
main thing I like about the watch is that it's always with me, even
when my phone isn't. That first day I was doing an online registration
for one of my vehicles and needed the current mileage from my car's
odometer. I left my iPhone sitting on my desk and walked out to the
garage. Of course, that's when an important call came in (doesn't it
always). Normally, I would have missed it and a game of voicemail tag
would have continued. But not this time. I was still within Bluetooth
range of my iPhone (reportedly up to 300 feet) and my wrist started
ringing. Magic.
Which
reminds me about a few things that you need to know. First, the Apple
Watch also includes WiFi which can greatly extend the range. But that
emphasizes a key point. The vast majority of Apple Watch functions rely
on the iPhone. You can't even set it up without first pairing. So if you
own a Samsung Android smartphone, you'll have to get the Samsung Gear 2
smartwatch instead. I hear that it's pretty cool too.
Back
to the Apple Watch and my favorite features so far. That's always the
second question I get from someone seeing it for the first time (the
first being "Can I see it?"). Mostly, it comes down to using it as an
iPhone remote control.
For
example, two weeks ago I was riding in a shuttle from Monte Verdi to
Montezuma in Costa Rica while listening to Jimmy Buffett songs in
shuffle mode (I just had to work that in). FYI, I have exactly 50
Buffett albums containing 589 songs, albeit with lots of duplicates. The
iPhone was in my pocket. Whenever a repeat came on, no problem. Just
use the Apple Watch to skip to the next one. What album was that song
from? Just check the song name and album title on the Apple Watch. Need
to change the audio volume ... You get the idea.
When
I run I use the Nike+ app. In the past I had to hold the phone in my
hand in order to see my stats in progress (or depend on the more limited
audio readouts). Now I can put the phone in my armband and glance at
the watch instead. AND I can see my heart rate too, although not in the
same app. For whatever reason (likely privacy), Apple does not allow
third-party apps like Nike+ to access health data.
Flying
from Pittsburgh to Denver a week ago I used a boarding pass on my Apple
Watch. And in Denver I paid for my venti Americano at Starbucks using
it instead of the iPhone (or even the more primitive credit card which
can too easily be hacked). Pretty much anything in your Passbook app can
be used on your Apple Watch.
Still, the Apple Watch doesn't have all the desired apps yet. Most notably it doesn't yet track your sleep and doesn't
include my favorite social GPS app, Waze. That said, I'm very
optimistic about the future of Apple Watch. If you haven't tried one
yet, get down to your closest Apple Store. Tell them that Dave sent you.
You can find more formal details here:
To contact Dave directly:
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