So you can listen to music? And most people don't have a smart watch.
It's fairly common to see people running with a phone strapped to their arm.
Having a phone that day would have been really nice.
The author of this article apparently demands to run around with an unlocked phone. I have the same "Theft Protection" enabled and the only thing it purports to do is lock the screen. So I may never trigger it, because if I'm walking, or running, or bicycling, the screen is locked!!
If I cram earbuds into my ears and drown out the world, then I am functionally deaf; I cannot hear tires squealing, or honking horns, or victims screaming. I shan't go on about how my bone-conduction technology muddles up both music and the real world sounds.
If I'm checking my phone while I'm in motion on a sidewalk, I'm functionally wearing blinders, and not the good kinds like they put on carriage-horses. Especially at night when my glowing screen is brighter than the Full Moon! If my face is in my screen, then my mind is also not in meatspace, but my imagination is in Lothlórien, or Cair Paravel, or 40 Eridani in the 23rd century.
My mind and five senses need to be in the present and need to be in meatspace, or my feet don't belong in traffic.
Well, how would I get my phone back after I ran to the place I intended to run to otherwise?
Music, being able to tell what time it is, navigation¹, emergency calls², non-emergency calls/communication. Or, … the use case in TFA.
> If you really need to be reachable or to be able to pay for something in emergencies, that’s what smart watches are for.
… not everyone has the means to drop $400+/y³ on a watch & plan. Smart phone & plan prices are high enough already.
(¹perhaps more useful when I'm biking than running)
(²I've literally witnessed accidents while out on such a run. Having a phone is handy.)
(³we have to restrict ourselves to "the set of smart watches that are capable of making a call independent of a phone, here, too. If the watch requires the phone to make the call … well, that'd defeat the point. This is approximately the per-warranted-year price of a Samsung Galaxy Watch with LTE support.)
Oh come on, it’s not $400/yr. I pay about $5/month for mine, added on to my phone plan and sharing the same number.
And for most functions (including navigation!) you don’t even need cellular service.
I think we’re all a bit too dependent on our phones so it’s nice to have an alternative that lets you go phone-free sometimes.
But for me it’s really just about convenience. I like to run light and lugging a big heavy phone is a bulky distraction.
Not with a phone, no. Why would you take your phone with you when you run? It’s bulky and annoying.
If you really need to be reachable or to be able to pay for something in emergencies, that’s what smart watches are for.