Will you buy an Apple Watch?

[TheForce]

Lloyd- I heard there is a golf swing analyzer app for the watch. You should go to the app store and look it over.

Anyway, on that tablet you disabled. Look into it. Two years ago, I tried to disable an ipad3 cellular to dump the $10 and online it only put the tablet on a dormant status which reduced to $5 a month. I had to call them on the phone and get down on my knees and beg to have it permanently removed.

You play golf every day? Last I heard that rich man's game was $100 to tee off. Skipping one day to receive and set up your watch will be a zero sum for the first year!

 

[lparsons21]

Lloyd- I heard there is a golf swing analyzer app for the watch. You should go to the app store and look it over.

Anyway, on that tablet you disabled. Look into it. Two years ago, I tried to disable an ipad3 cellular to dump the $10 and online it only put the tablet on a dormant status which reduced to $5 a month. I had to call them on the phone and get down on my knees and beg to have it permanently removed.

You play golf every day? Last I heard that rich man's game was $100 to tee off. Skipping one day to receive and set up your watch will be a zero sum for the first year!

Thanks, I'll watch out for that.

The cost of golf for daily fees would eat me up, so I'm a 'member' at a local family owned course. As a senior it is $600/yr to play all the golf I want, and they also have an additional 'cart membership' for $800. So for $1400/year I can play every day with a cart. I can't walk the course any more as my hip is shot, so riding is what I have to do. In a little over a year, after I turn 75, the club membership drops to $425. Very affordable.

Of course that doesn't count the cost of clubs and balls. Balls aren't an expense these days as one of the guys I play with has eagle eyes and gets plenty from the pond. And with the way I play, oft times it is just balls I put there!! In the past, I played even in the dead of winter, but as I've aged not so much then. Just don't tolerate the cold as well as I used to. I remember playing one "Arctic Scramble" on January 1st, it was 19 degrees and windy when we started. Scores were, well, interesting to say the least!

 

[Foxbat]

My Dad tried to get me addicted (er, "enthused") to Golf so I don't totally embarrass myself on a course, but I gave up the League at work when the "rightsizing" hit and you didn't want to be "that guy" who could take off early in the day to smack a little white sphere around outdoors. A good day golfing for me is coming home with the same number of golf balls I started with.

So getting a Series 3 ?Watch might make me a better golfer? Hmmm... I'm not sure the aluminum case would hold up to my mistreatment of watches past. My favorite Seiko had a titanium finish and there were spots where my banging into door knobs had chipped off the finish. And the ceramic 42mm case is $1,349, plus whatever bands you add to be fashionable, which I hardly ever am.

 

[TheForce]

I agree about the aluminum model. That's why I have stainless steel. A little more money but it's worth it for the look and durability. My other watch is a Tissot Titanium T touch. I wear that one when snorkeling. It has held up well.

Here's a question for the techie people here who like to ponder the future-

When I bought the first Apple watch on the release day, I had hoped it would get me 5 years of use. But just like my home theater projector, they become obsolete with new tech in 2 years. Will the watch3 become obsolete in 2 years from now? If so, what do you see Apple could offer to do that?

1. A solar recharging option that is so efficient you never need to charge it up from the mag charger.
2. A built in HD camera for facetime.
3. Full voice command to launch and control apps.
4. Half the thickness of the 3.

Add your ideas to the list. Any of the 4 above might get me to buy the upgrade in 2 years but not sooner.

 

[ewindowman]

Picked up a pair of AirPods today from the Apple Store. Ordering the watch tonight. Just the convenience of not carrying my phone around is worth it. I can walk my dogs and not have a phone in my pocket with a wire going to the earbuds. Plus it will be very useful at work.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

My Dad tried to get me addicted (er, "enthused") to Golf so I don't totally embarrass myself on a course, but I gave up the League at work when the "rightsizing" hit and you didn't want to be "that guy" who could take off early in the day to smack a little white sphere around outdoors. A good day golfing for me is coming home with the same number of golf balls I started with.

So getting a Series 3 ?Watch might make me a better golfer? Hmmm... I'm not sure the aluminum case would hold up to my mistreatment of watches past. My favorite Seiko had a titanium finish and there were spots where my banging into door knobs had chipped off the finish. And the ceramic 42mm case is $1,349, plus whatever bands you add to be fashionable, which I hardly ever am.

I’ve had the aluminum for two years and not a scratch on it. And I’m rough on watches.

I’ll get another when I upgrade.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I decided to stop the back-and-forth debate about whether to go for the cellular watch, and pre-ordered the GPS-only one. I don't need to be phone-free, and don't need to spend an additional $120/year on my phone data plan. So, the silver/aluminum is ordered. Basically the same thing I have now. But hopefully a LOT faster!

The watch series 1 will go up on the classifieds next week probably, thinking its worth about $100.

 

[lparsons21]

Well my new watch is on the UPS truck today, so that is a big plus for the day. But it can be so irritating to wait! If I went to play golf they would show up while I was there but since I'm at home they probably won't show up until late in the day as more usual. And it is a signature required thing, so I need to be here. Could have done the 'presign' thing, but I'm a little uncomfortable with that.

 

[lparsons21]

My Dad tried to get me addicted (er, "enthused") to Golf so I don't totally embarrass myself on a course, but I gave up the League at work when the "rightsizing" hit and you didn't want to be "that guy" who could take off early in the day to smack a little white sphere around outdoors. A good day golfing for me is coming home with the same number of golf balls I started with.

We play a variation of golf most often, we call it 'flog'! The rules are slightly different in order to speed play. For instance if you hit a ball into the water and can retrieve it, or if you have another of the same brand and number in your pocket, we don't take a penalty. And of course if a drive off the tee is duffed we call it a 'practice shot'. Really improves things...

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Mine is available for pickup at Best Buy, so I'll head over before 10am. I have a 10:30 meeting, so if there is a line, I'll just come back and get it later. My iPhone is "out for delivery" - I've instructed my wife TO BE HOME!

 

[lakebum431]

Well my new watch is on the UPS truck today, so that is a big plus for the day. But it can be so irritating to wait! If I went to play golf they would show up while I was there but since I'm at home they probably won't show up until late in the day as more usual. And it is a signature required thing, so I need to be here. Could have done the 'presign' thing, but I'm a little uncomfortable with that.

That is a perk of living in a small town. Both the UPS and Fed Ex guys will leave signature required items for me no questions asked.

 

[lparsons21]

That is a perk of living in a small town. Both the UPS and Fed Ex guys will leave signature required items for me no questions asked.

I live in a small town too, but while I could use the presign method, I just don’t want to. They’ve both misdelivered in the past.

 

[lakebum431]

I live in a small town too, but while I could use the presign method, I just don’t want to. They’ve both misdelivered in the past.

I don't even have to do the pre-sign thing. They just know to leave everything. I have talked to them both several times and both seem to be great guys.

 

[TheForce]

I'm getting ready to leave for the Apple madhouse. On any given day the store is packed. Today may be worse. But I have my appointment for picking up the watch. I got an email saying it was ready. I have reliable UPS and Fedex but decided to do the store pickup because when I ordered it gave an ETA of next Friday 29th or store pickup today.

I already uploaded wOS4 on my first gen watch and it runs fine. I thought Woody from toy story was supposed to talk. He doesn't. I couldn't find Buz lightyear either. But other stuff seems to work great.

 

[harshness]

A solar recharging option that is so efficient you never need to charge it up from the mag charger.

I've had some Casio solar watches and there's not nearly enough power there to run a smart watch. Solar could probably power just the display but I'm guessing that the guts of the watch require a lot more power. A test I saw suggested that a watch-sized display consumes about 10mA at 3.3v.

A fully exposed solar cell will produce up to .6W/square inch assuming full and direct sunlight. I imagine that hiding the cells behind even a "see-through" OLED display is going have a significant negative impact on power production.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Picked up my watch, was first in line at customer service. Took 3 minutes, and then noticed they tagged the wrong watch (a 38mm gold). Took 5 more minutes to get the proper one, and then done. Of course, I am in a meeting now and haven't even opened it.

 

[TheForce]

Back from Apple. Wasn't as bad as I expected although there were quite a few walking out with iphone 8's. I was escorted to the pickup table where three employees greeted me each one had their little task in the process.

Did I mention that I really wanted the SS plain model but when I ordered right after 3AM last week that model was listed as not available. So I ordered the black model. I thought I would ask if they had store inventory whether I could swap right away and the girl said sure no problem but they would need to check inventory first. Another guy came over and checked the inventory and said they had none in the store and no orders waiting for pickup either. He then checks online with the national availability and said none in the country until 4 weeks expected. So, I took the Black model that was slated for me. He also said that his store only had inventory on aluminum models for walk in and purchase, colors were in limited supply.

Because of the inventory check my total time in the store was about 20 minutes. As usual, the store was packed but the iphone 8 and watch desks were constantly turning.

I opened mine and have it on charger now. My Black version came with two tongue rubber straps of different lengths. I have a Black SS band that I plan to use. I think a Black SS with Gold trim would look sharp so I will be searching 3rd party bands shortly.

Before I left, I got one of the sales people to show me where Buz Lightyear was. But none of the Toy Story characters talk like the Micky Mouse or Minnie Mouse do.

Tim Cook was on the radio about an hour ago saying many stores in larger cities are selling out of the iphone 8 and the lower priced watch with cellular.



This has been a big week for me- New Apple watch and new Sony Xperia XZ Premium, plus upgrading everything to iOS11 and wOS4. Plus the big ticket item was a new sewer line put in that kept me busy most of the week. Glad that job is over now.

 

[mackie99]

Back from Apple. Wasn't as bad as I expected although there were quite a few walking out with iphone 8's. I was escorted to the pickup table where three employees greeted me each one had their little task in the process.

Did I mention that I really wanted the SS plain model but when I ordered right after 3AM last week that model was listed as not available. So I ordered the black model. I thought I would ask if they had store inventory whether I could swap right away and the girl said sure no problem but they would need to check inventory first. Another guy came over and checked the inventory and said they had none in the store and no orders waiting for pickup either. He then checks online with the national availability and said none in the country until 4 weeks expected. So, I took the Black model that was slated for me. He also said that his store only had inventory on aluminum models for walk in and purchase, colors were in limited supply.

Because of the inventory check my total time in the store was about 20 minutes. As usual, the store was packed but the iphone 8 and watch desks were constantly turning.

I opened mine and have it on charger now. My Black version came with two tongue rubber straps of different lengths. I have a Black SS band that I plan to use. I think a Black SS with Gold trim would look sharp so I will be searching 3rd party bands shortly.

Before I left, I got one of the sales people to show me where Buz Lightyear was. But none of the Toy Story characters talk like the Micky Mouse or Minnie Mouse do.

Tim Cook was on the radio about an hour ago saying many stores in larger cities are selling out of the iphone 8 and the lower priced watch with cellular.



This has been a big week for me- New Apple watch and new Sony Xperia XZ Premium, plus upgrading everything to iOS11 and wOS4. Plus the big ticket item was a new sewer line put in that kept me busy most of the week. Glad that job is over now.

Where is Buzz only? I thought all the Toy Story were all together and they rotated? Every time I look at my watch a different Toy Story character shows up.

 

[TheForce]

I've had some Casio solar watches and there's not nearly enough power there to run a smart watch. Solar could probably power just the display but I'm guessing that the guts of the watch require a lot more power. A test I saw suggested that a watch-sized display consumes about 10mA at 3.3v.

A fully exposed solar cell will produce up to .6W/square inch assuming full and direct sunlight. I imagine that hiding the cells behind even a "see-through" OLED display is going have a significant negative impact on power production.

Thanks for the update. I hadn't even looked at what the present day technology would offer. Years ago, I was presented with the first solar watch invented at the Smithsonian where I presented my work on solar flux densities of each state. That was in the mid 70's. The company donated them to give to each of the speakers at the conference. After I stopped working for the Solar Age magazine, I really hadn't kept up on the solar electric panel technology.

Had to look as I forgot the name of the company. It was Pulsar. All stainless steel. The time and date was viewed from the edge, not on top. Red LED.

 

[TheForce]

Where is Buzz only? I thought all the Toy Story were all together and they rotated? Every time I look at my watch a different Toy Story character shows up.

Go to that toystory with woody and then you press on custom. now scroll up. there is Buz Lightyear alone and toy box with all the characters.