{"id":8631,"date":"2015-09-19T06:24:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-19T06:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/?p=8631"},"modified":"2018-03-29T08:17:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T08:17:29","slug":"apple-watch-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/apple-watch-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on the Apple Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a few weeks of deliberation, I bought an Apple Watch a month ago, which I have been wearing daily since then. The model which I got is the aluminum body\u00a042mm Sport watch, with a black band. Some people have asked me about it, and\u00a0these are my thoughts on the subject.<\/p>\n

Why buy this?<\/h2>\n

The biggest reason is for fitness.<\/p>\n

About 18 months ago\u00a0I got a Jawbone UP24, a fitness tracker that you wear on your wrist like a watch. I got it shortly after the Apple Watch unveiling,\u00a0to decide whether\u00a0fitness tracking would be worth my time.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t only something that I stuck with for the duration that I used the Jawbone: it became a major impetus for being more active every day. When I started tracking cycling distances and\u00a0steps\u00a0per day, I noticed changes in my behavior. I took Uber less and cycled more. I walked up stairs instead of taking the elevator. Why? Because it became fun, like a game: achieve daily goals and beat my own records. This is the kind of behavior that fitness tracking devices are designed to elicit. And for me, it works.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

Suddenly and\u00a0without warning, the Jawbone died. Immediately\u00a0I went back to my old ways: taking Uber and elevators, oblivious of my goals set in the Jawbone app which I no longer opened. Although I no longer had a working device,\u00a0I learned something\u00a0useful: fitness tracking is worth my time. This is what motivated me to get the watch.<\/p>\n

Fitness & Apple Watch<\/h2>\n

The Apple Watch is a fantastic fitness tracker. It records heartrate, active calories burned, steps, and much more. Working along with Apple’s Health app, it also shows steps climbed. It’s been interesting to observe how many steps I climb per day not taking elevators. Around 15 flights of stairs per day, since I live on the 6th floor and work on the 3rd.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/p>\n

I use the Watch to track when I cycle anything further than 2km or so. Most of my bicycle trips are\u00a0short jaunts, where the Apple Watch isn’t relevant. But it’s great to be able to see speed, distance, and heart rate by simply lifting my wrist while cycling.<\/p>\n

Siri & Timers<\/h2>\n

Aside from fitness tracking and telling the time, Siri and timers are the most useful aspects of the watch. When I get home I immediately take my phone out of my pocket and put it on the table. The ringer is off, vibration is off, and if the phone receives a notification, call, or message, I’m alerted by the watch.<\/p>\n

I set a lot of timers. With the watch and Siri, it takes about 3 seconds to set a timer or alarm. Lift my wrist and say “Set a timer for X minutes” and it’s done. The ability to do this in ~3 seconds makes using timers a lot more practical. Some things I set timers for:<\/p>\n