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> You're going to carry your phone with you anyway

The ability to not carry my phone is the only reason I'd be tempted to try a wearable device again (I had a gen 1 Apple Watch and sold it within a month). I'm not really interested in using it as an "always on" watch, but if I go for a run or take the kids to the park I'd love to be able to leave my phone at home and rely solely on my watch to stay connected. I wouldn't be using it for browsing or meaningful work, but to be able to receive calls, text messages and scan emails without carrying my phone would be great (cracked screens make the playground an expensive activity!).

People don't always carry their phones with them (if they're in athletic or formal wear that doesn't have convenient pockets). In those cases, they'll settle for whatever reduced internet-connected experience they can get, even if the ergonomics don't really make the full phone experience available.

Just like how yes, if you have your laptop on you, you'd almost always prefer to use that over your phone, but your phone can be with you in many more scenarios.

I think this is a very good point, thank you. I didn't intend to comment this but now I am reminded of the initial iPad release in which I believe a criticism was raised that there "was no use case for this device".

Sure, but those times (athletic and formal wear) are less than 10% of your life for 90% of all people. Probably less than 5% of your life for 50%+ of all people.

A product that sacrifices general utility in pursuit of a 5%-10% use case is a niche product. Nothing wrong with that, but Apple isn't looking to add a new niche product.

Now, obviously, if you could throw cell connectivity onto a watch for very little cost and very few compromises to the rest of the watch, then sure, you would. But in the real world, cellular connectivity for a watch would be an enormous additional cost both monetarily and to anything else you wanted the watch to do. It doesn't make sense for a product that's trying for mass appeal.

Devil's advocate:

The idea that a personal computer is a good idea is just insane, for this reason:

You're going to be connected to a mainframe anyway.

Even if your personal computer did have enough storage and power you're still going to want connect to the mainframe to access reports and data.

So if you're going to have a connection to a mainframe anyway, why bother with all that local computing power?

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I'm not saying it's a good idea in the current ecosystem but there are advantages to the watch having it's own network connectivity, and in fact I believe the current watch does connect directly to your wifi access point using credentials shared by the phone when possible.

The main issue with watch cellular access at the moment, is cost of paying for a phone contract for a watch, when at least at the moment, you will probably want a phone too.

I believe that misses the point entirely. Forgetting the fact that I never even saw a mainframe until the late 90s, back in the PC day you were still using the same keyboard + monitor for both.

I like the mainframe PC analogy but I think in this case we are running up against ergonomics. People's hands are not shrinking and our eyes aren't getting any better. More interface may get offloaded to audio/voice, but we are such visual creatures. Until we are beaming data directly into our eyes, I don't think we will abandon the palm-sized display-- maybe foldable one like paper, or a tattoo, or my shirt sleave, but something.

Except it was never the case in any country that ~70% of people had access to a mainframe at work, let alone home. If a much smaller percentage of people had smartphones and putting cellular on a watch was cheaper/more convenient enough to get the rest of the population on board, then your comparison would make some sense.

You really should have s/mainframe/cloud/

I think the idea is to combine glasses projecting an image to your eyes with body sensors for gesturing (watch?) and you won't need a screen anymore.

Yet google glass wasn't popular, partly because of camera-privacy, partly because it couldn't block light, only add it (though Magic Leap has apparently solved this latter problem.)

Tim Cook also pooh-poohed headsup displays as a barrier between people, instead of connecting them. But, since earplugs and people checking their phones already disconnect people, this seems like diversionary bs to me. Apple is surely working on this, as they work on many things.

Small displays are the problem, bigger phones are popular despite their awkwardness. Headsup displays solve both: large display, out of the way.

Not sure about input; gesturing to yourself is going to look even crazier than talking to yourself.

> Not sure about input; gesturing to yourself is going to look even crazier than talking to yourself.

In the early seventies I used to carry my Philips portable cassette player and headphones everywhere, people thought I was crazy until Akio Morita had the same idea and got Sony to create the Walkman. Now people wear headphones in the street and hardly anyone thinks about it at all.

My point is that what you think is crazy now might well be normal in ten years time, or perhaps even tomorrow.

Tim Cook also poo-pooed headsup displays

That sounds painful.

(The word you are looking for is pooh-poohed.)

thanks, it didn't seem quite right

How is that a word? Are we pre-schoolers now? Good lord.

To me, the contact lens type HUD in the Black Mirror episode "The Entire History of You" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entire_History_of_You) feels like the ideal solution as it's discreet.

Wonder if it's technically possible...

As someone who wore glasses for many years before moving to contacts, I have no desire to wear glasses to replace a pocketable display.

Body sensors have the same problem as talking to your phone I think.

Not if you're exercising, which is a big use case for the Apple Watch and other wearables.

What kind of exercise? A modern smartphone is pretty light and easy to carry in all but the most extreme forms of activity. One of my friends takes her iPhone surfing.

Running? I wear loose-fitting athletic shorts; a phone swinging around in my pocket is really annoying. I'd have to get an armband.

Arm bands are cheap, much less than a smart watch.

I've had a very hard time finding an armband that fits around my arm, and fits an iPhone 6. They seem to all be designed for women.

Well you've found a new startup business opportunity: smartphone armbands for people with big arms. :-)

I for one am strongly in the smartphone-fatigue niche, and I think my camp will get bigger over time. I eagerly await an Apple Watch with cellular connectivity so I can be aware and undistracted.

Think about the watch for connectivity the AirPods for sound transmission and a wearable pair of glasses for the screen

Until multi-sensory AR becomes a functional reality. A set of glasses and a watch would fit smoothly into many/most peoples' lives. Add a set of indiscreet wireless earphones (and gloves?) and you're set.

It's handwavy Sci-Fi right now, but...