OT, smart watches.... huh?

[chipmaker4130]

Here you go, oxford: My phone gets charged once a week, I'm never frantic for an outlet. My life is not in my phone. I pay $45/mo for two lines of unlimited talk and text. The phone costs $35 at Target. Really good reasons.

[J Tiers]

Jerry I hope you feel better now, and I hope you have a nice day.

I noticed the WHY and it was poor reasons at best.

Correct there are some “huge” smart phones, they aren’t all though. According to apple mine is 5.44” x 2.64” x .280”. I would bet not much is any larger than your flip phones or other non smart phones in volume.

It is daily pocket carried, all day every day. Never destroyed one in my pocket (or in general). They are not as “fragile” as you make it out to be.

Yes there is a chance of breaking if you drop it. Same thing happens with precision measurement tools but your are careful with them so you don’t drop them. Do the same thing with the phone. Sometimes **** happens. I’ve dropped a 1” mic and a 6” dial caliper and ruined them, it was an accident and I moved on, same if a phone screen gets cracked.

If your reasons about not having one make you feel better about it then so be it.

Just remember that it is YOUR opinion about the "poor reasons"..

You are a great example of exactly what I mentioned. Overlaying your opinions and biases and seeking to invalidate the other person's thought. Not with facts, but with "alternate opinions", and a "bet", without a fact.

YOU think they are "poor reasons", as if YOUR opinion was some sort of absolute standard that all should accept. Of course the reality is that there is no such "absolute standard". And YOUR opinions are not likely to influence folks whose experience shows that THEIR "opinions" are correct for THEM.

"Just don't drop it"....LOL.... nobody runs around trying to drop their phone. But it happens. My flip has hit the concrete a number of times, but it is fine. Dropping, knocking it off a table, etc, is gonna happen, even to you. If not yet, then good for you... so far.... And the protective cases generally double the thickness of the 'phone as well as obstructing getting it into or out of your pocket.

"Volume" of a smart 'phone? What's that got to do with it? In my case it is much more "surface area". Or, you could call it "target area".... The area that must not be bumped or hit.. Generally equal to the screen area, and the screen IS fragile.... that's why everyone and his dog advertise screen replacement. It's sure not for hotrodding the phone with a better screen.......

The thickness is only important in that it shows the extreme weakness of the case. (although thinner is easier to get into a pocket)

You have listed a size that is very small. So small that folks I know who have one like that say, and have shown me, that it is not very useful. "better than nothing"? Debateable, but perhaps for some that is OK.

Yet that size is still double the surface area of the flip phone, and all that area with no protection.

The flip phone has collided (in my pocket) with corners of tables, etc, etc, and nothing worse than a mark on the case. A screen would have been shattered.

I've said for years that if there was a phone that folded in half (it could have been done almost seamlessly with a 2-piece screen) I'd be fine with that. And now there are such things, with, as a bonus, a screen which seems not to be likely to break.

So far reports of users I have talked to seem positive. It's not "small", still at least double the surface area of the flip, but with a hard shell that is reported to stand dropping without damage.

Only problem is that so far, the prices make an Apple 'phone look cheap. And they are still big 'phones.

[oxford]

Jerry I speak from actual use and experience with mine, as far as pocket carry, being fragile, how weak the case is or isn’t, how useful the size is, collisions into things while being in my pocket.

ACTUAL experience which yes is my opinion. How much of your opinion is ACTUAL experience with a smart phone?

[Tcat]

I don't think of myself as a Luddite, retro grouch maybe. I have a flip phone through T- Mobile for many years; would love to have a smart phone. My prepaid plan is about $100 a year for 1000 minutes. The bottom line is that I'm too cheap to pay what seems to be about $50 a month for a smart phone. The cost of the phone is not the problem it's the monthly payment. Tcat

[challenger]

I don't think of myself as a Luddite, retro grouch maybe. I have a flip phone through T- Mobile for many years; would love to have a smart phone. My prepaid plan is about $100 a year for 1000 minutes. The bottom line is that I'm too cheap to pay what seems to be about $50 a month for a smart phone. The cost of the phone is not the problem it's the monthly payment. Tcat

$50.00/mo is too much for a device that can easily make life a ton easier? Wow! You are really cheap. It's all good though and none of my business what you do.
Some may find it odd but I wish these things were never invented. The smart phone is being used mainly to make people less smart IMO. In addition they make people poor parents and socially wacko as they gather and stare at their phones. Weird.

Just a sidetrack note, I don't understand people that are cheap with their $.

[J Tiers]

Jerry I speak from actual use and experience with mine, as far as pocket carry, being fragile, how weak the case is or isn’t, how useful the size is, collisions into things while being in my pocket.

ACTUAL experience which yes is my opinion. How much of your opinion is ACTUAL experience with a smart phone?

Ah, the "unanswerable question" which seals the argument?

As you know, I do not have one. But my wife does, I have seen most people use them, and sometimes drop them, or otherwise damage them, generally breaking the screen. And I have from time to time had similar sized items in my pocket, which were uncomfortable and never satisfactory. On one occasion I have in fact broken such a thing while it was in my pocket.

I do not require to have personal experience breaking a several hundred dollar item before I understand the possibilities. I have what seems to be rare, a capability for learning from the experiences of others.

I've seen a number of others break them in various ways. And have experience with a tablet of similar size to the larger 'phones. That slid out of an imperfectly zipped up folder, and broke IT'S screen, which I found was not repairable. (I was told I was expected to simply buy another tablet, but they were no longer available.) Meanwhile, the flip 'phone has never been damaged by a drop, and still lasts about a week on a charge.

It appears I have answered the "unanswerable question".

I am happy to let you have your opinion, and I will keep mine. I only answered originally because you (or someone) asked the "why" question. I did not expect to be harangued for my preferences.

I do however, take exception to arguments in which I am essentially told I have no right to my opinion, and should abandon it for that of some other person. I suggest that you not worry much more about my opinion. I certainly will not worry about yours

Unlike some, I am perfectly willing to change my opinion when a product comes along that satisfies my preferences. It's not the capabilities that I object to, but the inconvenience of carrying. And that is purely my perception, and my choice.

In short, I do not have a smart 'phone because I damn well choose not to, for reasons many (but not all) of which I have given.

It is the custom of many to espouse belief in personal responsibility and personal choice. Many, even most of them, abandon it when other folks choose differently than the accepted path, instead demanding sheep-like compliance. That seems highly hypocritical.

[oxford]

^^^^ Hear you loud and clear. No actual first hand experience to base your entitled opinion off of.

[J Tiers]

....................... I have what seems to be rare, a capability for learning from the experiences of others.

...........................

Apparently not your strong point..........

'nuff said

[oxford]

Apparently not your strong point..........

'nuff said

No hard feelings Jerry. Sometimes it feels good being a Gen X sitting here on their fancy smart phone playing you Boomers like a fiddle. Lol.

[tomato coupe]

The grand kids all have smart watches. They can't understand why I don't have one.

I got my first watch when I was in the sixth grade, nothing fancy, not even self winding, just a plain watch with an expansion band. So I tell the kids that's all I need, all they say is what's an expansion band? Trying to explain we go to Amazon looking for a watch with an expansion band. They're hard to find. Most watches seem to have this belt buckle type deal that takes two hands to put on.

I don't get it. What happened, why no watches that come with an expansion band?

Since your actual question seems to be about expansion bands -- yes, you can get twist-o-flex bands for Apple watches.

[barracudajoe]

Wrist watch? I've been using a pocket watch since 1973! It's kinda fun. People often ask me whats that chain for and when I show them, some of these young kids have never seen or even heard of one before!

[J Tiers]

I like my pocket watch. I only stopped carrying it because the watch and the 'phone had to be in the same pocket, and they weren't really compatible. I have a big old "egg" of an Elgin watch. Plus, the 'phone duplicated the watch, as well as not needing to be set, it sets itself and changes when I cross time zones.

Yeah, it's being lazy, partly, but since it was one or the other, the 'phone won.

[danlb]

The smart watch is a very nice accessory for your smart phone. I have had 3 of the Samsung models. One of the many things that I like about it is the way that my watch tells me if I leave the house (or anywhere else) without my cell phone. My phone also can be configured to let me know when I leave the watch at home.

There are a lot of other reasons to have one. I most frequently use it to check my blood oxygen levels when I feel woozy. It's also good for checking my heart (it does single lead EKG) when I experience palpitations.

Dan

[challenger]

Oh! Isn't that just wonderful! Now we need a watch to tell us when we're dead? 😬

[Mcgyver]

I'm not sure why some people take pride in being Luddites. .

Psychological self defense mechanism