Apple Watch Backcountry Applications

[Nick]

You've all probably heard that Apple announced an 'Apple Watch' today that goes along with iPhones. My first impression on any 'smart watch' was that it sounds ridiculous and I would never want one. I don't like having things on my wrist/fingers and my phone does just fine. But I watched their little intro and now I can't help but think that an Apple Watch with an app like GPS Gaia could be pretty awesome for backcountry use. I've already pretty much shifted all GPS use to my phone, but having a topo map on my wrist with a bunch of other stats could be really nice. The health and tracking functions could be useful as well.

Obviously battery life is going to be an issue. I'm already in the mode of carrying a battery pack though, so recharging at night wouldn't bother me. What do you guys think? Is this the future of backcountry navigation or just another screen we should turn off?

http://www.apple.com/watch/

 

[Upgrayedd]

I use gaia with my 5s and I can't imagine using a screen that's less than half that size. Maybe if gaia designed the watch portion to follow pre-loaded trails or something like that to keep you on track, not sure how that would all work. Personally I have no desire for one, mainly stemming from my cheapness, hatred of watches in general and the overall lack of appeal to me personally. I'll hold out for the iBrain chip that I can access with a thought and that only costs my first born child and half a years pay.

 

[Dan_85]

I'm calling it right now - Apple Watch (and most/all other smart watches) are gonna flop within a couple years. Seems like a huge, unnecessary gimmick to me. I just don't see what incredible benefits it offers over a smartphone to make it a huge commercial success. I mean is it really such a huge inconvenience to carry your iPhone/Android that you need to shrink it down to fit on your wrist?!

 

[Upgrayedd]

I'm calling it right now - Apple Watch (and most/all other smart watches) are gonna flop within a couple years. Seems like a huge, unnecessary gimmick to me. I just don't see what incredible benefits it offers over a smartphone to make it a huge commercial success. I mean is it really such a huge inconvenience to carry your iPhone/Android that you need to shrink it down to fit on your wrist?!

Dan it's worse than that! The watch literally needs a smartphone to be on your person just to function! Leave to apple to design a device that 100% requires the use of another Apple product just to work. HA! It's super gimicky in it's current form and true to Apple it will be gimicky for the first two iterations.

 

[Dave]

Dan it's worse than that! The watch literally needs a smartphone to be on your person just to function! Leave to apple to design a device that 100% requires the use of another Apple product just to work. HA! It's super gimicky in it's current form and true to Apple it will be gimicky for the first two iterations.

There are technical limitations for any device using the watch form-factor. The Apple Watch needs an iOS device because cramming all of the radios and sensors necessary for full functionality into the watch would both make it hugely unwearable and kill the meager battery. Using bluetooth and NFC to hand off appropriate functions to the smartphone (which most of us already carry anyway) is a perfectly reasonable compromise.

As to the gimmicky-ness, consider the original iPhone. People balked at it. Seven years later, millions had sold and it was the pillar of Apple's business. Existing smart watches are pretty much all garbage. The Apple Watch may or may not flop (I'll put my two cents in and say NOT) but to write it off completely without ever actually seeing it used in practice seems a bit premature.

To the OT, I'm not sure how it would fit in an outdoor use-case scenario. Beside the obvious health tracking, maybe Gaia or someone else could design a watch app that provided haptic feedback as you approached a waypoint.

 

[Nick]

The same was said about the iPad. There were already tablets on the market that weren't really taking off, but then here comes apple with that silly named thing and then boom; now they are everywhere. Before the watch announcement I thought it would be a joke, but now I think it will take off and succeed. As far as outdoors, I think a small snippet of map could still be helpful on the wrist. I wouldn't try to use it to see a whole area, but a lot of times when I'm navigating off-trail, I'm just following a general course that usually would be pretty easy to just see a small chunk of the map. Who knows though. I am interested to see what people come up with though.

 

[andyjaggy]

I would say it's a joke and is going to flop, but I also said the same thing about the ipad, which now brings in the largest portion of revenue for the company I work for, though it is noticeably starting to wear off a bit.

The hardest thing I think it has going for it is we are already pretty saturated with our gadgets. I don't see a whole lot of people willing to spend the money to have yet another expensive gadget to mess around with. I think most people will be more than happy with their phone, which they already have to carry to use the iwatch anyway. Plus watches have been out of style for a long time.

So I think it will be a flop, but am prepared to be proved wrong.

 

[Upgrayedd]

The iPhone and iPad both serve functions that make the devices "worth" the investment to a wide variety of people. The functionality of the watch is a fraction of current ios devices and the fact that it requires and iPhone just to function further decreases it's appeal. The only tangible function that I see the watch having that a phone doesn't is the heart rate monitoring, which for some people will be a big draw.

Other than that it's gimicky, expensive (not necessarily overpriced given the tech in it) and will primarily be adopted by teenagers that want to dick off with them in class (something they already do way too much with their phones). I anticipate a lot of phallic and pornographic symbols being sent from watch to watch by teenagers... shoot, I wouldn't be above doing that to my wife if we both had the watches although she would find it less entertaining than I would.

I'm sure that it will take off and people will buy it, mainly because the fanbois eat up everything new Apple rolls out, Americans love to consume and love their digital gadgets. It's a smart bet for Apple despite having zero appeal to me.

 

[Nick]

Okay okay, so maybe the watch won't catch on. But the WristPad™ is a sure hit.

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[SirDonB]

I was considering getting this watch http://www.verizonwireless.com/accessories/casio-g-shock-watch/ but price alone kept me away and it does not do half of what I have read here so far and I was thinking that even that was getting a little out of hand for a watch.

The idea of this watch makes me think we will all be heading towards wrist communicators like Buzz Lightyear...

 

[Dave]

EDITED BY ASHERGREY: Keeping the peace. Let's all be friends. Arguing over tech is stupid.