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Comment by ekianjo | Hacker News Reader

> The Apple Watch has become a staple for many, allowing them to be more active throughout the day, and saving many from life-threatening situations throughout the years of its existence

Is this a PR piece?

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I recently got an apple watch, it has absolutely become an essential part of my life. I didn't expect it to. The activity thing rings absolutely true. I actually went to the gym this morning for the first time in years, and the watch is actually a major part of that.

I will try to do some additional walking if my watch tells me I’m close to meeting my goal. I should still exercise more but a small improvement is good as long as I have a sedentary desk job.

How is that "allowing them to be more active throughout the day" ? You were already in a position to be more active if you wanted to. It's not like the watch increased your productivity 10 fold and suddenly freed up an additional 3 hours of your day to go exercise. The wording is questionable.

Do you have an Apple Watch? It’s remarkably effective in getting people to exercise who were otherwise not likely to do so.

I believe the issue is with the word "allowing" which is less correct than "motivating" in this context.

There are various anecdotes around about Apple Watches exposing undiagnosed heart conditions, though I don't know of any available statistics on the subject.

> though I don't know of any available statistics on the subject

Here is a good place to start: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/03/apple-heart-s...

I recently gave my two year old, series 2 Apple Watch to an Apple-Skeptical friend that begrudgingly owned an iPhone, though still exclusively uses Google services over built-in apps. After just a week, she raved about how she loved the watch and that it motivated her to exercise with greater regularity. She abandoned her Garmin watch. For some people, it apparently scratches an itch.

The watches have suggested people go to hospital due to arrhythmia, with life-saving results more than once. The new Apple heart beat sensor supposedly allows this (so you won't find the same functionality on Fitbit etc.).

Pity you require an iPhone to even turn them on.

The word "years" suggests they aren't just talking about the new arrhythmia feature.

Yeah, Apple aren't known for being entirely honest about the scope of their innovations. Suffice the say, that's Apple parlance for "a handful of times the past year."

It's likely they saved lives with previous models too. I work at Fitbit (don't speak for Fitbit) and we often see stories of people who say their Fitbit saved their life because it helped them notice some heart condition or other.

Nitpick: you can “turn them on” without an iPhone.

Feel free to explain how, because all the research I've done suggests that an Apple Watch is completely unusable without an iPhone to set it up.

You can turn it on, but it’s unusable (hence this being a nitpick).

No, but it restates a lot of the marketing that Apple uses. Note that Apple Watch has saved lives through its detection of heart conditions and Emergency SOS.

It's actually a fact if you talk to people who use the watch.

Nope, it's not.

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