I don't think it's the same experience as running with just a smartwatch.
There's less dread that you're going to drop and destroy an expensive heavy device if you focus on your run.
I also didn't and don't pay anything near your prices, and don't find Apple's aesthetics that great, or Android's offerings that horrible.
There's less dread that you're going to drop and destroy
an expensive heavy device if you focus on your run.
And again, 400 is a silly price to pay for small tech, but that's not a criticism of watches, it's a criticism of Apple. Did you see the teardown of Beats headphones and their cheap components? There are lots of lousy ways to conspicuously give Apple too much money without watches.
You could get a cheap smartphone and an entry level watch for a third of the price of some people's iPhones, and if you share my somewhat odd preferences, have a better experience for it.
- iPod Shuffle weighed LESS than Apple Watch, and cost 1/5th the price. I think it had comparable battery life or better?
- Flip phone cost almost nothing 15 years ago, there has been no progress in the way we make phonecalls or send text messages over the past 15 years.
Now, iPhone does MORE than a flip phone, apple watch does MORE than an ipod shuffle.
How much more? 5 times more? Because the pricetag is 5 times more.
Now, progress, is when you pay LESS for the same thing you had 15 years ago, because it is now CHEAPER to produce, test, and deliver that same product.
So to re-iterate:
- Same functionality should cost the same or LESS. It should be BETTER for the same price.
- More convenient form factor and extra !!!OPTIONAL!!! features are great and welcome, I'd be willing to pay 10-15% more for them.
- Apple products have gone UP in price, while providing absolutely no extra UTILITY. You're paying incredible prices for nice-to-haves that most people do not need (heart rate monitor, better camera, more pixels, better pixels)
The market is the final arbiter of what makes a successful product. Not your perception of what constitutes value or utility.
The thought of having a watch that is better in all dimensions and is smaller is amazing. On top of that it has cellular.
I also tried running with just my phone using Nike+ GPS back in the day and quickly went back to my Garmin watch.
I'm coming from an Android Wear based Polar M600. It was nice, but Android Wear 2.0 was a bit of a dumpster fire and kind of ruined it (random battery rundown, Music removed on every f/w update, hard to sync Music, could not shuffle Music after Android Wear 2.0 update). In the end, I could not count on more than 8hr of battery life unless I put it in airplane mode with the screen off.
Before I settled on the Garmin, my Nexus died. I was seriously considering switching to an iPhone just to be able to use an Apple Watch. But then I learned that the AW3 has a battery life of only 18 hours. So I just updated to a Pixel and got the Garmin.
It seems like using Android / iOS for a watch OS may just be the problem. I was also considering the Fitbit Ionic, which has a comparable battery life to the Garmin. There just don't seem to be any Android Wear watches with a 5+ day battery life.
The traffic directions are pretty important when you’re driving in NYC during rush hour.
A flip phone and an iPod Shuffle cost me 100$, and a 25$/mo plan, unlimited talk/text, almost 15 years ago.
Now we have a flip phone + shuffle on your wrist, for 500$, plus you almost certainly have an iPhone - 50-100$/mo plan, plus what, 200-500$ flat fee for the phone? Oh, how much are those airPods? Add 150$ to that bill.
The same functionality from 10-20 years ago, should cost less, not more, if we are to use a little common sense. It feels like Apple's fantastic feel for aesthetics and horrid android offerings, have led people to believe it's reasonable to spend roughly a thousand dollars a year if not more, to do the same things you did 15 years ago for 1/5th if not 1/10 the cost. We're getting the same functionality, in a SLIGHTLY more convenient (arguable) wrapper, and it costs way more! This is the opposite of progress.
Before anyone jumps out and tells me how useful their 'smart'-phone is, let me remind you the most used apps on there are pure empty entertainment (social media, games), with very questionable long-term costs (I predict an epidemic of neck and shoulder problems hitting the developed countries in the next 20-30 years)