I went back to my automatics when I found myself checking notifications and such too much. I had this fed up moment with my cell phone a few years ago where I felt like I was being programmed like a Pavlovian dog and I put the thing on silent permanently with a few custom settings for important people like my wife and parents etc. When I received a smartwatch (Samsung) I found myself slipping into the same habits and swapped back to my automatic watch. Full disclosure I also just love automatic watches, I find them fascinating and beautiful, but the ultimate driver was not wanting my cell phone/computer on my wrist.
About two years ago I decided that it was time to get a smart watch. I’m a developer, I’m a geek, I love my smart phone — a smart watch is the perfect accessory, right?
Well, actually it’s not. After spending quite a lot of time looking at the different options out there, I realised that a smart watch is a dumb purchase: it’s another computer with a 3-year lifespan, but a price tag like a luxury watch.
So I ended up buying some automatic watches instead. They’re less expensive and sharper-looking.
After looking at the watches shown off in this article: I made the right call. I’m fairly certain that in a decade we’re going to look back on smart watches the way we do digital watches: as an odd fad that noöne will be able to explain later on.
I was dabbling in smart watches for quite some time - jumping between Huawei and Samsung watches mainly. They are very cool, but after a while I switched back to my vintage seiko automatics and Oris mechanicals for two main reasons:
1. The current crop of smart watches felt bulky. I know the newer apple watches are quite slim but they don't suit my tech ecosystem, but the android/etc offerings just feel 'big'. I know this will improve as time goes on of course.
(I do have a gshock which I love, but that's another matter)
2. (And this is the main point,) the smart watches made me feel like it was increasing my anxiety. Even though you can disconnect the watch from notifications, having various alerts and things happening all the time with haptic feedback was making me look at the watch more often, fidget with it, and use it as that kind of social escape thing that you do with phones. Once you disable the 'smart' features, it becomes nothing more than a gimmick, and when using the features it seemed to equally help my productivity the same amount that it hindered it.
I don't want to knock anyone who uses a smart watch though, because I do think they're cool. They just so far haven't worked for me.
One of my happiest purchases of the last few years was a smartwatch. It has a different vibration pattern for every type of notification, meaning I can set my phone to silent permanently and still know what's going on.
It's kind of empowering to receive a message and know if I even need to look at my wrist or not (let alone actually bring out my phone). Makes me feel like a cyborg.
I stopped wearing a watch shortly after I started carrying a mobile phone (~1994) as the phone could tell me the time and date, and I had to keep it charged anyway. I didn't see the point of carry a redundant item such as a wristwatch. Even now I see 'smart' watches as nothing more than gimmicks.
I wear an automatic watch most of the time when I'm outside. I like mechanical things and I don't have to worry about the batteries or water.
It looks less rude to be checking your watch for the time than checking your phone for the time. Nobody knows if you're really checking at your email, videos or playing games, etc.
My watch mostly replaced my phone. It’s a game changer. I thought they were fairly superfluous and unnecessary and expected they’d actually phase it out within 5 years.
I used to be a habitual watch wearer (since middle school at least) but I've always had a habit of taking off my watch when at home or when using a computer. At some point after having a cell phone for several years I made the decision to stop wearing a watch, I haven't regretted it yet.
Now the only time I wear a watch is when I go hiking or camping and truly need one.
I use an automatic watch because I don't want to have to charge it every 2 days (or even change the batteries), and all I need is the time and date. I also don't want to have to debug my watch every time an update or app breaks it, it's just one less thing to worry about.
It’s funny because for me a smart watch is the perfect compromise - you still get a bunch of the useful features of a smartphone like navigation, timers, a calculator, music, Apple Pay, etc but with none of the really damaging web-based attention black holes.
I often go out with only my watch, and it feels so freeing to have only the good side of technology accessible.
I am very strict with the notification settings, otherwise the constant buzzing on the wrist would be worse than a phone.
I actually canceled my cell watch. I love my watch, but I felt anxious if I got a notification I couldn’t act on, like replying to people effectively. Then again I almost never use my phone while I’m out so I don’t really feel any negative association with my phone.
1) I like being able to know time and date at a quick glance -- the ease of this is light years ahead of any smartphone.
2) It never runs out of juice since it doesn't have a battery.
3) It looks good (IMO).
4) I irrationally like the fact that my moving about gives life to a tiny beating mechanism. For that reason my watch has a power reserve meter.
Have zero interest in smartwatches though. I have enough crap to keep charged as is.
Funny, that's why I stopped wearing regular watches. I don't think I'll ever be able to go for a smartwatch. But then again, it might become accepted behaviour just like glancing at your phone during a conversation appears to have become.
having a smart watch eliminated even that for me. they’re pretty fantastic triage devices (deciding what to ignore rather than making sure you’re instantly aware). i barely ever check my notifications any more. i see friends at cafes pull out their phones every few minutes and get distracted by facebook, but i’m quite content to have it just sitting on the table because i know it’s not doing anything
This is my experience going from watch, to smartphone, to smartwatch:
The phone replaced my watch because it completed the same task while also completing many more. Why bother with a watch (for me, at least, just another thing to remember) when the phone works just as well?
A phone is not a perfect replacement, however. I constantly have to pull it out of my pocket, input a code to unlock it for various tasks, etc.
My Android watch has replaced the action of pulling my phone out of my pocket and unlocking it for basic tasks. It tells me the time, lets me dismiss phone calls, can pause and play my music, take notes, remind me of things, and display texts--and I no longer have to fish around in my pocket for a phone that takes seconds to unlock and navigate through.
As the smartphone replaced a repetitive task (remembering to wear my watch), the smartwatch replaces another repetitive task (wrestling with a phone stuck in my pocket).
FWIW, if there’s one thing I love about wearing a non-smart watch is that it keeps me from doing all the other things my phone incites me to do (check messages etc) when all I want to know is the time. A bit like you use your MP3 player to, well, play MP3’s.
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