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from the watch-that-is-essential-to-breathing... dept.
You would probably say the same if you were Eric Migicovsky, who runs smartwatch maker Pebble, whose business model involves selling people computers to wear on their bodies.
Even so, Migicovsky's confidence in the wider trend fuelling that business is notable, at a time when despite Apple and Google's moves into the smartwatch market, there is still widespread scepticism about what exactly these devices are for.
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So, what are smartwatches for? Migicovsky compares the current state of the market with smartphones in 2007, in the early days of iPhone and Android.
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For smartwatches in 2015, those core use cases appear to be activity-tracking and notifications – 90% of Pebble owners use notifications every day, according to Migicovsky – with watch-face customisation also scoring highly in Pebble's case.
On paper the case for something like Google Glass becoming indispensible seems stronger. Is Pebble right?
Original Submission
(Score: 3, Informative) by davester666 on Friday July 17 2015, @06:27AM
Really? A "good chance to get rolled" by pulling your phone out of your pocket.
First, I hope you also go out and buy lottery tickets, because it's only slightly more likely that you will be robbed in this fashion.
Second, if you live in an area where you are more likely to be rolled for flashing your phone, you are also going to be rolled for your watch. Or your wallet.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Friday July 17 2015, @06:30AM
oops, quote was wrong "good way to get rolled", not "good chance".
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2015, @07:57AM
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Friday July 17 2015, @02:57PM
It's a lot easier to have your phone snatched out of your hands because you couldn't resist looking at the latest notifications than it is to have a properly fastened watch ripped off your wrist or your pockets picked.
I'm not sure I agree with that, based upon an anecdote from my personal history.
I had a properly fastened watch stolen from my wrist as I walked down the street in a mid-sized Brazilian city I visited as a tourist. A street urchin simply jammed his finger between my wrist and the watch body (leaving quite a scratch, as the watch wasn't very loose) and pulled, shearing the watchband pin. Zero points for subtlety, but quite effective. For a thief willing to replace that sheared pin there's a lot of value in a smartwatch. Also, clever pickpockets are fully capable of removing a Rolex from your wrist without your notice; I'd say that if you're targeted that way your wallet and watch are about evenly at risk.
As a personal security note for those who have this happen to them, don't be stupid like me: I actually chased the kid down and got the watch back. Considering that it was a Timex Ironman watch that I could replace easily the risk of chasing a random kid down unfamiliar city streets was pretty dicey. If he'd had a group of thugs watching his back I might have run into an ambush and lost all the travelers' checks in my wallet for the low price of a club to the head or shiv in the ribs. Especially considering that the watch body got damaged in the process and wouldn't hold a pin properly afterwards, I really should have just let the kid have it.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2015, @03:40PM