Hacker News Reader

Comment by piffey | Hacker News Reader

This is exactly why I purchased the Apple Watch. I leave my phone at home more often than not. The Watch does just basic comms and I've removed notifications of everything else. It's the essential communication/navigation device that I need and all I really want. For anything else I'd much rather open my laptop. Hoping one day it can be a standalone device.

View on HN

Hoping one day it can be a standalone device

With all the watchOS 6 stuff that makes it more independent (App Store on watch, iPhone-less apps, etc), I was thinking this might be the year. Oh well, bet it happens next year.

I’m optimistic too; remember the iPod and iPhone required a computer to get them set up initially too.

I don't think it will ever happen if I'm honest. Would take away from iPhone sales.

I think this depends on whether other manufacturers go that route. Apple would rather have their own Watch cannibalize iPhone sales than some Android Wear gadget.

It looks like their long term strategy, i.e. put smartphone functionality into a watch, put tablet functionality into a phone, put laptop functionality into a tablet.

One could argue that the iPad is intended to do the same thing to the MacBook line. Obviously the iPhone is a bigger driver of Apple's business, which changes the circumstances somewhat.

Worth to note that you can't setup new Apple Watch without iPhone. Even version with virtual sim.

Isn't that like going back 10 years, when phone were small and will do all the basic stuff? (Of course they weren't "wearable")

Looking at the trend, I wonder if a time will come when the good old "Nokia" phones will be the new "hip".

Check out the Palm companion. I believe we have already started heading in that direction, and couldn't be more excited.

Can you look for restaurants and order uber with it?

You can specifically only order an Uber X, so, it wasn't worth it for me. I tried building my own app to do it, bit at the end of the day the cellular reception just wasn't good enough for daily use.

I'm currently using a palm companion, and seeing if I can use it for most of my daily tasks.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com