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Comment by kolemcrae | Hacker News Reader

We really are in an awkward place because people simply aren't seeing the value in smart watches just yet.

The technology is also just a bit behind.

People see it as geeky and not really solving any problems they have.

Personally I am a fan of the new hybrid watches that are coming out.

They look great (they look exactly like classic watches, because they are), the battery issue is gone (modern hybrids last up to 6 months or longer) and do what people really want a smart watch to do:

see if that notification is something worth taking your phone out for. (most hybrids have different symbols or vibrations or lights that show what it is and who its from).

Throw in the activity tracking and controlling your music from your wrist and you have the perfect combo.

If the marketing is done right I can see hybrids really taking off.

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One very useful application for a smartwatch could be authentication; but of course only if other hardware cooperates. Here Apple could set a great example of how things should work.

Are you referring to multi-factor authentication? This exists [1].

Or something else?

[1] https://duo.com/blog/duo-for-apple-watch

Yes, of course it exists, but thanks for the link. What matters here is execution, of course. Apple could build this themselves, and integrate it tightly with their other hardware, and provide a consistent, platform-wide API for developers. Then I can see this work.

Of course it would be better if there was an open standard, but unfortunately, with all the walled gardens lately, I don't expect that to happen anytime soon.

I'm interested in watching this develop.

As a nerdy guy, I love signaling my nerdiness with gadgets -- tablets, notebooks, cars, etc.

But watches? When I wear a watch I want something analog with a lot of gears and complexity, not a stupid cell phone OS crammed on my wrist. Have you seen folks in airports and such poking at their watch, trying to open apps? Talking to their wrist? It does not leave one with a positive impression.

I'm gonna shill here and say check the S3 (or S2 classic). The spinning bevel is really slick, and the OS feels really natural. Partly because it seems to understand there's approximately enough space on a watch to put like 4 icons ever. The voice works great, and I've had conversations with my arm at my side (but really, get a bluetooth headset - airports are too crowded to use a speakerphone).

And some of the watch faces are clever. The default chronograph one actually fakes the light reflecting around the face as your wrist moves. Complete BS, but passes the illusion nicely.

It sounds like you want one of the hybrid watches. No LCD, so they look like a traditional watch and don't have abysmal (for a watch, which I believe needs to go months between charges) battery life like the iWatch. But they connect with your phone over BlueTooth and give you vibrating alerts and the ability to control your phone using the watch buttons.

Here's one I came across today:

https://www.fossil.com/us/en/products/q-nate-hybrid-stainles...

(Disclaimer: I don't own one of these or recommend them...just pointing to one example. There are probably other vendors offering similar products)

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