William Gibson and the Trademarking of Cyberspace

Re:William Gibson and the Trademarking of Cyberspace by Animats on Monday October 19, 2026 @02:41AM (#50149111)

Amusingly, what military types today usually wear is a Casio G-Shock. It's hard to break. It's unbothered by water, mud, etc. It doesn't transmit anything, which most "smart watches" do. (Wearing anything that transmits in a modern combat zone is waving a sign that says "kill me now") Solar power keeps it going without attention. There's a minimal light if you push a button. Right tool for the job. Not a status symbol.

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Re:William Gibson and the Trademarking of Cyberspace by lloeki on Monday October 19, 2026 @02:57AM (#50149208)

Around here large amount of military personnel is wearing Garmin. I see a lot with Fenix 7X, Instinct 2X, and Enduro 3.

But hey if they ever qualify as "smart watch" they're definitely more on the utilitarian side than on the "wrist-sized phone" one.

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Re:William Gibson and the Trademarking of Cyberspace by Animats on Monday October 19, 2026 @02:59AM (#50149221)

Time moves on.

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Re:William Gibson and the Trademarking of Cyberspace by iammjm on Monday October 19, 2026 @04:46AM (#50149953)

I think Garmin Instinct is the ultimate "tactical" watch: rugged, solar-powered, e-ink screen providing 4 weeks of battery, smartphone connectivity, notifications, lets you track your pulse, sleep, movement. has compass, GPS, alarm, timer, and even maps

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Re:William Gibson and the Trademarking of Cyberspace by lloeki on Tuesday October 20, 2026 @03:16AM (#50162442)

Instinct does not have maps, only breadcrumb. Third party like dwmaps need a phone and coverage. Hence often the move to Enduro and Fenix.

Also it's not e-ink but MIP, and that one being solar can go on basically indefinitely.

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Re:William Gibson and the Trademarking of Cyberspace by throw0101c on Monday October 19, 2026 @09:52AM (#50152515)

> Amusingly, what military types today usually wear is a Casio G-Shock.

Regardless of watch, most straps are attached at two points forming by single loop: one above the face and one below. If either of the attachment points break then the loop is broken and your watch falls off.

A "NATO strap" is a single look in itself and attaches to the watch in two independent places, so if either fail the loop stays intact and your watch 'just' flops around instead of falling to the ground.

There is also the "ZULU strap" which is a kind of variant that accomplishes the same goal:

* https://momentumwatch.com/blogs/momentum-blog/about-nato-and...

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