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Comment by hfsktr | Hacker News Reader

I agree with most of the people that commented already. I have though about getting a watch (novelty/binary). Then I realize that my phone is always on me and the time is right there.

The only watches I've seen appear to be to signal status. Smart phones do that just as well too.

There are probably special occasions that a watch would be better than a phone but I can't even think of any decent ones. Best I can do is comment that watches are touching you and could include that feedback from your body...heart rate, bp etc. Pretty narrow use case if you ask me though.

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On just the subject of a watches and status/fashion.

If I’m going to a formal event I’m going to be be wearing a watch with my suit. It’s a status symbol perhaps, but I’d put it closer to a fashion. And it’s an old fashion - this is not something I see changing in my lifetime.

I would tend to think that a 'smart watch' and a suit is a misstep, more frequently than a winning style. Of course we are talking about products that for practical purposes doesn’t exist. However history has shown that taking tech into fashion is a hard go and this is not the slam dunk that Techcrunch is raving about.

From wikipedia:

In the early 1900s, the wristwatch, originally called a Wristlet, was reserved for women and considered more of a passing fad than a serious timepiece. Men, who carried pocket watches, were quoted as saying they would "sooner wear a skirt as wear a wristwatch"

Well, watch has another little feature: it is almost always on your hand. Now combine that with motion sensors and you have xbox like controller for anything you want, e.g. tablet, TV or computer. Swipe to see next page, next channel, scroll hacker news down. Actually nothing new but better than stupid wrist for motion detection because watch as you said signals status. Apple devices signals status, Apple's watch wouldn't do less. Questions is if technology is small enough to implement that.

Anyway, let's wait and see what market will offer. I remember talking with my coworker about tablets (iPad) 2 years ago wondering what useful they could be for (just checked wikipedia to see that iPad is not even 3 years old). Now tablets are almost commodity.

"I have though about getting a watch (novelty/binary)."

I had one of those a decade ago. Generally the marketing people have no idea what the difference is between binary and BCD, and binary is a little too fiddly to read comfortably at a glance (was that 4 0s in the middle or 3?) so examine the pictures carefully...

I think I thought binary because that was the label but now that I looked it up it was BCD. Still the price combined with already having the clock on the phone (and everything else that is/has a computer now) made it seem like a waste of money.

A watch is good for utility and fashion/status symbol, however I would argue that a smart phone is not remotely on the same level as a watch.

An iPhone or any phone isn't going to make statement compared to an IWC or Patek or most watches.

And really, does a $99 Apple/Samsung/Google &c. watch act as a social signal? I don't think so.

Maybe not to you or me but we might not be the right audience. A phone doesn't signal much to me (or lots of people I'm sure) but there is no shortage of people letting you know what kind of phone they have now.

There are many things that cost less than $99 that act as social signals (there are brands for just about everything).

As someone said above about tablets seeming useless. Maybe there will be a use that nobody is thinking of and it will explode.

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