“What’s fascinating to me is that all this attention is devoted to a device whose purpose is defined by attention — in fact, the Apple Watch is explicitly designed to reduce the attention you pay to your devices, which I think could lead to our attentions being directed away from devices,” Jeff Carlson writes for The Seattle Times. “One of the watch’s signature features is going to be the ability to receive notifications, passed along from your iPhone. Reminders, social media alerts, and related short bursts of information will appear for you to act on (or ignore) without reaching for your iPhone.”
“You might think this is trading one screen for another, but in this case the watch’s smaller screen becomes an advantage: you won’t get distracted by other things. How many of us have meant to do one small thing on the iPhone and then ended up checking email and catching up on Facebook or Twitter?” Carlson writes. “A quick flick of the wrist seems less intrusive to me than engaging the phone.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes.
As we wrote back on January 31st: All phones are cumbersome to the same degree. They have to be pulled out, woken up, and poked at. Apple created… a world of iPhone/iPhone knockoff addicts. Apple will change the world again with Apple Watch, replacing iPhone zombies and iPhones on and under dining tables and everywhere else (you know, the stuff the older set complain about: “People nowadays, always looking at their gizmos, nobody can even have a conversation”) with quick glances of the wrist – like in the days of yore.
As we wrote on January 30th: With iPhone, Apple changed the fabric of our everyday lives: All around the world today, you see people constantly pulling phones from pockets and staring at them. With Apple Watch, Apple will change behavior worldwide once again. A quick glance at your Watch and you’re off. No more smartphone zombies. Watch and see.
As we wrote just yesterday: Just like the tens of millions who said they didn’t want or need an iPhone, who are now on their fifth iPhone, so it’ll go with Apple Watch.
Related articles:
You don’t want an Apple Watch? Let’s talk about that – March 27, 2015
Apple’s latest TV ad shows the world what Apple Watch can do – March 26, 2015
Why I am buying the Apple Watch before I even see it – March 24, 2015
Apple Watch, the world’s first real smart watch, will be a massive hit – September 9, 2014
For the notifications alone, due to the nature of my daily activities, it will be well worth the price to me.
My finger is already hovering over the grayed-out “buy” button.
Unrelated but, what is it with u fuking people. Shed an opinion, if it’s negative your a troll. What Apple is perfect. Far from it. Sorry to break your hearts fanboys. Seriously, apple isn’t what it use to be when jobs was around. Ditching software, updates that never fix a problems them stem since releases of new iOS. Maybe they should sit back and ounce again perfect things instead of acting like its great. Ios 7 was good iOS 8 is glitch monster. Truly frustrated and rethinking future Apple purchases.
Typed on your Dell big beige box.
What great grammar and spelling you have! Did you drop out of the 2nd grade? None of us are dumb enough to think that Apple is perfect. All software has glitches. Exactly what was Apple when Jobs was there, and what has it changed into with him gone? I really don’t see much of a difference, except minor ones that are expected since there’s a new CEO in charge. No one here cares if you buy anymore Apple products (if you ever have).
Constipation sucks, I know. Go to a Chinese buffet and eat lots and lots of their spicy stuff—fix ya right up in no time.
Gee. When we do not agree with you we are fanboys??? I wonder who is the troll here. ????
Hate Apple all you want. Just do not waste out space here by bitching about Apple. Most of us here use Apple equipment so we know better.
I don’t recall using the word hate. I own myself iPod mini, iPhone 4.5.6, iPad 3 and air, iMac 27″. I think support apple well enough and do have a say in the noticeable differences between such. Suck it FANBOY !!!!
Almost forgot. 2 apple tv’s, 2 airport extremes and iPod nano. I think that says it all FANBOY
Sick of pundits saying the Watch will make you use your phone less and it’ll be less distracting. It won’t. It’s notification hell on wheels. The whole concept of the Apple Watch is within the framework of notifications. It assumes that people want to be notified of FaceBook, Twitter, Emails, etc.
It’s going to be constantly bugging you with its silent vibrate nudges, flickering screen, etc. And when you realize that it sucks for input, you’ll whip out your smartphone. Try talking to your watch in an office or outside with its crappy speakerphone, or inputing text into that little thing (Wifi passwords anyone?)…
And then, over time, when you realize that you can simply look at your phone less, and then completely bypass the Apple Watch and just use your smartphone because it’s much better for input, you’ll be using the Apple Watch as a doorstop.
When you realize that a watch with one day battery life requires constant charging every single day to be of any use (we can use our MacBook Pros and even iPhones and iPads plugged in, we can’t use the Apple Watch like that). You’ll be using the Apple Watch as a doorstop.
When you realize the screen is washed out in the sun, requiring you to crank the brightness of the screen further dumping battery life, you’ll be using the Apple Watch as a doorstop.
When you realize that Apps are so limited on the Apple Watch that the device becomes such a narrowly defined tool with little practical applications in real life, you’ll be using the Apple Watch as a doorstop.
When you realize that its a category of device that’s not needed over and above desktops, laptops, and smartphones, you’ll be using it as a doorstop. That’s right, take a look at tablets… laptops aren’t going anywhere and iPad sales are dumped. This is NOT just because people are upgrading less. It’s because laptops have evolved to thinner and lighter specs and are much more functional.
I could go on.
Watch. Wait. And See.™
Yeah? No.
“I could go on.”
Please do.
Fascinating.
Oops! I forgot the /s. Doh!
It wouldn’t make a very good doorstop either, being so small, and also being so desirable that Chinese people would steal it and your door would slam shut.
It hasn’t even shipped yet, and you’re already pissing all over it. Some of the things you mentioned are totally irrelevant because Apple is not touting those things as functions of the Watch. You should learn to read product specs and features before you bash the product. Oh… and by the way, Watch isn’t heavy enough to use as a door stop. #dumbas
There are wide differences between people’s communications in daily life.
Some only use phones for calling and the time. Others do text almost exclusively & some laboriously type emails on phones. Most of those people don’t carry a laptop. Some don’t keep schedules and don’t engage in “work.”
People who use Apple Watch will do it for their specific work and personal reasons.
My guess is, like iPhones, Apple Watch users will initially load up on ‘apps,’ but I’ll bet most apps get tossed out after a trial, much like iPhones.
This makes me think about how much the Apple Watch will be a distraction while driving. We all know how much of a distraction a smart phone can be, what about a smart watch that’s too smart? What will be the ramifications of this?
I would think a quick glance would be much less distracting than using a phone or choosing a station on the radio. We glance at a billion different things while driving: speedometer, rear view mirror, side mirrors, front window, left, right, speedometer, forward again, clock, forward again. Glancing at a watch that taps you on the wrist to determine if you need to stop and take care of something or choosing to ignore it seems a lot better than dragging the phone out to make that determination.
If you are the type who prefers to shut your phone completely off, not just silence it, whenever you get in a car, then I would agree the Watch is a waste for you. I assume you also don’t use GPS because it distracts you, and your radio is silenced for the same reason. Whatever you do, don’t adjust climate control because that will take your focus from driving.
I was thinking of the legal ramifications. A text or other notification would be just as distracting as a glance at a wrist as at a phone. A distraction is a distraction regardless of source.
Piss on the legal ramifications. I do what I want.
Your grammar sucks.
Well future Darwin Award winner, next time you’re texting while driving let’s hope you’re alone and hit a bridge abutment rather than a carload of people.
The problem with drivers is not distracting devices, and getting them out of the car won’t solve the problem. The problem with drivers is they don’t know how to drive! No one teaches kids in school driving. I was taught by my high school what was the correct and incorrect methods of driving; we drove a lot. My kids (just a couple of years ago) were taught by me because the school could only devote a few hours to each student to “make sure they had learned what they needed to know.” And as with every other subject, the school taught what was needed for the standardized driving test. In its turn, the State passes marginal drivers for two reasons: one is good intentioned (“I don’t want to keep them from driving”), the other is designed into the system (“let marginal students pass because the State gets no revenue from a pedestrian”). This all combines to put some pretty bad drivers on the road. Now, add into the mix that every young person is “immortal” in their own mind, middle aged people are in a hurry, and older people’s reflexes don’t respond as quickly. That is why devices “cause” accidents-because in our culture, no one can actually take responsibility for his own actions (it is the devices fault). Lawyer alert: first fatal accident where one person is wearing an Watch, Apple gets sued.
I doubt Apple will get sued, but expect a spate of new laws banning the use of smart watches, or more likely, laws requiring the disabling certain function of smart devices while in motion over a certain speed. It could inconvenience passengers but preserve lives.
By the way, I think all the promotional photos of CarPlay screens with the Messages icon prominently displayed is proof that there’s some serious stupidity going on at 1 Infinite Loop.
For the most part I am pretty excited about how the Watch will influence our behavior and deliver a better experience – now that I am attuned to it, I see tons of uses and benefits for the Watch on my wrist every day. On the other hand, I do see some situations in which the new Watch will be a problem, like, say, a movie theater. I can already see the theater companies budgeting money to create a new promo to “silence your phone and suspend your watch’s notifications display.” And I’m not looking forward to the battery life challenges but hoping its at least as good as my iPhone 5S, which, with a little of bit of coaxing, can more than last me all day.
Wow! the Apple Watch will do some things and not do other things! Wow Man! Deep!
Just another device that will create auto accidents.
Apple Watch won’t create more auto accidents. People will create more auto accidents.