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Comment by cxr | Hacker News Reader

Different people have different lives. I myself can't imagine the type of life where at any given moment during the day I'm in a position to "immediately pull out my phone" when I want to create a record of something. I'm not a Pebble customer, past or present, and I have owned exactly zero smartwatches. Excluding portrayals of futuristic wrist-mounted computers I saw during childhood that seemed cool just because they seemed cool, this is the only worthwhile thing I've ever seen anyone actually propose a smartwatch could be good for. The fact that smartwatches could be (and are) widely embraced but that this seems like pure novelty to someone strikes me as very strange.

It sounds, though, like it doesn't solve a problem you have. I guess the only recourse you have about its existence is to not buy it.

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> I guess the only recourse you have about its existence is to not buy it.

I don’t get it. I don’t need to have any “recourse”, I’m just discussing the practicality of the design.

I was explaining that I do empathize with the target market they’re trying to reach: People who want to take notes quickly during the day. Yet even I’m having a hard time seeing this as an upgrade in my life as opposed to an added complication in that workflow.

Maybe if someone had a lot of fleeting thoughts and was also highly forgetful?

I'm not a watch person, and the only reason I occasionally wear one is because it's a Garmin and I'm recording an outdoor activity with it. But while cycling, when the phone in my backpack makes a notification noise, it is kind of handy to just be able to look at the watch to see what kind of notification it is - the kind hardly worth looking at or the kind worth stopping and pulling out the phone to reply to. This particular gadget doesn't have a microphone and any app interaction on it involves a multi-button dance. But if there was a single button audio recording app, I can totally see myself using it. Especially as you get older (I'm guessing - can't interview younger me) fleeting thoughts can be awfully fleeting.

There is another way to go about it - ignoring the phone completely while enjoying biking or jogging. Or leaving it at home. Unless I am on a call duty, all my notifications can wait.

My notification volume is relatively low, but there is one kind of notification, involving a certain significant other (we have high-needs kids) that requires action. So if the phone rings or there is a text message, for example, seeing at a glance (no button presses) what number it is from definitely allows stop/continue decision. I wish I did have a life where I can leave the electronic leash at home, or at least on mute.

Understood.

On iOS, and probably on Android though I haven't checked, you can choose to only be notified of messages from certain contacts (in iOS it's in Focus Modes). This may help.

My original Pebble purchase decision was made thinking "This will be great, I can use it while commuting to see who's calling or messaging my phone, so I can decide whether to pull over to respond or not!" I had a 35-40 minute each commute where I rode a motorcycle every day back then.

Turns out, the number of times I pulled over to return a call or message was precisely never. There was nothing so important that I could do anything about it by the side of the road, or that couldn't wait half an hour till I got to work/home.

> if there was a single button audio recording app

Would the watch require 1 or 2 hands to record audio?

The ring seems easier to use while biking. Or driving.

Can't you just say "Hey siri, add a note"? I add reminders, send texts, etc. that way.

Yeah, there's lots of places you can't speak out loud bc it's disruptive to others though. Personally I set a lot of Siri reminders, but it's weird and uncomfortable to talk loudly at your phone in public spaces so I can only use it at home or outdoors. If the ring can follow through on the promise of being able to whisper to it, that's fairly valuable imo

You can whisper to Siri on your phone or your watch too - that’s not a ring exclusive.

Definitely, but Siri is terrible at understanding quiet speech and you have to hold your phone/watch right up to your mouth. A ring is definitely a much nicer form factor for that.

There is the small matter of a 3-4dB price difference between this ring gadget and your "Hey Siri" capable watch.

It's easy to use a Pebble while driving. Not like you can't take one hand off the wheel briefly to hit a button.

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