Should it be considered a tool watch in this digital age?
When seamaster or submariner first came out, wan't it just a tool for divers?
Maybe years from now when people are all wearing hologram watches, are we gonna look back and miss apple watches?
I personally never owned an apple watch. Just a random thought.

 

Yeah, I see your point, but there was always a person associated with getting these together, so on some level it seems less sterile.

 

Very good point. Tool watches have evolved a lot with technology.

I go diving several times a year and rarely see anyone wearing mechanical dive watches anymore. Most people now use dive computers, which I guess can also be considered "tool watches."

 

I see it as a watch by which where Apple integrates its functions with the mobile device: bluetooth, volume control, fitbit, etc. It just so happens to be manifested in the physical form of a watch - it ticks all the boxes of being a wristwatch: strap, worn on wrist, time functionality. But it is so much more than a watch. I won't call it a bona fide tool watch, it is more of a personal device worn as a watch.

 

I don’t get the iwatch craze... had one of the original LG smart watches and sure, I could read texts and emails, but the phone it’s connected to did the same thing.

The heart rate piece was neat but a gshock can do that for less.

 

Yes! One would have to be a tool to...

 

Apple wants their watch to be all things to all people.

Fashion accessory.
Fitness monitor.
Extension of an iPhone.
And of course, a watch.

They're looking to grab a piece of multiple markets, and to do it with their typical Apple panache. Or at least what they consider panache. Apple has a huge advantage over almost any other company out there, "The Cult of Macintosh." It's such a phenomenon that it's studied at the Wharton Business School. This rabid/loyal fanbase makes evaluating an Apple product difficult with standard metrics. How did Apple ever sell even a single PowerBook when they were twice the price of a PC and offered half the performance? Love 'em or hate 'em, these Apple watches are going to push the entire smartwatch forward.

I had a fist generation Apple Watch. It was quite a nifty piece of kit, but after a time the novelty of it wore off and it was more intrusive than anything else. If I want to be constantly connected I carry my iPhone. When I leave my iPhone behind it's because I don't want the intrusion. I suppose there is middle ground for some folks, wanting the connectivity but without carrying a phone. That's not me though.

 

There is an interesting recent Hodinkee “Radio” discussion on this topic. You can listen to
Episode 12: Apple And The Future Of Watchmaking here:

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/hodinkee-radio-episode-twelve-apple-watch-series-4

 

Power to the people!

 

Whelp, having just bought one (40mm Series 4 LTE)...

This thing is ridiculously useful as a city-life tool watch:
+ wake up and view your sleep quality for the previous night
+ quick glance at the weather, air quality, UV index, upcoming calendar events, etc etc to start the day
+ head out for a GPS-tracked run with HR monitor and the latest podcast on bluetooth headphones
+ get back, view activity progress and control music around the house
+ head into work with Citymapper showing any transport issues etc
+ use the Tube and buy coffee via Apple Pay from the wrist
+ read important emails and messages before you get to the office
+ unlock your Macbook automatically, and lookup passwords from the wrist
+ plan your evening around a quick glance at sunrise/sunset times, quickly set a timer for your laundry, find that bar/restaurant using the map on wrist

To be clear, a real watch plus iPhone does all this and more, and an Apple Watch is also _not_ many things: it's not an heirloom or store of value, it looks pretty bad with a suit, it makes a pretty nerdy fashion statement, it's useless on a rough hike in the hills or at the beach, it's fairly useless on holiday without cell reception, I certainly wouldn't take it diving or trust my life to it.

I can see me now selling off several watches that won't get any more wrist time.

 

I use mine for running, thats it. Something about having a non-tech watch on makes me feel different, everyone and their mother seems to be wearing apple watches these days, they are not conversation pieces. Also there is no way anyone could ever get me to wear 2 watches, 1 on each wrist.

 

What my Speedmaster does, and doesn't tell me:

+ It doesn't tell me about my sleep quality, which invariably sucks.
+ It reminds me to open up the window, stick my nose out, and decide what to wear for the day
+ It rolls its eyes if I forget where I'm running, or how to check my radial pulse for a heart rate
+ If I want to hear music, it tells me to get off my ass, and use the radio knobs
+ It reminds me the last time we were in a car with GPS, we took more turns than Stormy Daniels
+ It gently reminds me that millions of people used Mr. Coffee without issue, rather than spend on a cup out what is the equivalent of a college education in certain third-world countries
+ It tells me to live in the moment, and check social media later
+ And finally, it it tells me the sun will rise and fall only incrementally different than the day before; that it's good memory training to try and remember when my laundry is ready; and to take out a map if I want to go some place, just like explorers did hundreds of years ago, when they were trying to find continents, instead of sushi.