Apple Watch is taking over my wrist

Apple Watch is taking over my wrist

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Discussion

Fallingup

1,546 posts

98 months

Tuesday 18th October 2022
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Never understood why anyone needs to know how many steps they take. If they need excercise then go excercise. Surely they know within themselves whether they have put enough effort into it or not. If someone needs a bit of technology to tell them this then there's something wrong. Just a load of marketing rubbish in my opinion.

AstonZagato

12,704 posts

210 months

Tuesday 18th October 2022
quotequote all
Fallingup said:
Never understood why anyone needs to know how many steps they take. If they need excercise then go excercise. Surely they know within themselves whether they have put enough effort into it or not. If someone needs a bit of technology to tell them this then there's something wrong. Just a load of marketing rubbish in my opinion.
I used to be an top level athlete at university level, so regard myself as relatively self-motivated to exercise and self aware of my fitness level. I still find that a reminder from the watch prompts me to do some exercise - complete the day, week, month. It is sometimes easy to con yourself that you've been active (skiing is surprisingly low energy). Also one collects the data over time - and that is interesting in its own right: PBs, peak heart rate, VO2 Max, etc.

Furthermore, it interfaces well with the Apple Fitness app (paid training sessions) which again are a good incentive to get out and exercise.

NDA

21,577 posts

225 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
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AstonZagato said:
I used to be an top level athlete at university level, so regard myself as relatively self-motivated to exercise and self aware of my fitness level. I still find that a reminder from the watch prompts me to do some exercise - complete the day, week, month. It is sometimes easy to con yourself that you've been active (skiing is surprisingly low energy). Also one collects the data over time - and that is interesting in its own right: PBs, peak heart rate, VO2 Max, etc.

Furthermore, it interfaces well with the Apple Fitness app (paid training sessions) which again are a good incentive to get out and exercise.
If it has an alarm for lunch, I'm in.

troc

3,762 posts

175 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
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Fallingup said:
Never understood why anyone needs to know how many steps they take. If they need excercise then go excercise. Surely they know within themselves whether they have put enough effort into it or not. If someone needs a bit of technology to tell them this then there's something wrong. Just a load of marketing rubbish in my opinion.
Don’t underestimate the power of a nagging smartwatch/phone or other device for making you more likely to follow a training regime - especially if it’s a run outside and the weather sucks.


LimaDelta

6,522 posts

218 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
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Fallingup said:
Never understood why anyone needs to know how many steps they take. If they need excercise then go excercise. Surely they know within themselves whether they have put enough effort into it or not. If someone needs a bit of technology to tell them this then there's something wrong. Just a load of marketing rubbish in my opinion.
Gamifying fitness works. Especially if you and your spouse/colleagues/friends are using the same platform. Also, it's not just about the steps, there are so many useful metrics that these kind of devices offer, from the couch-to-5k types, right through to high-performing athletes. I find training load particularly useful. After a training session, it will tell me how long it will take my body to recover based on the intensity of the session. They are also useful if you need to train at a particular heart rate zone, so rather than just guessing, you actually know. I use Polar, not Apple though. No touch, no complications, no notifications, just fitness focussed.

Have you ever tried one? I'm guessing not, and you are probably not the fitness 'type'.

Fallingup

1,546 posts

98 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
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Amazing how people managed to live before these things were invented. It's simply a way of making money out of peoples fears. Health/ guilt and the fear of death is something that preys just a little too much on a lot of peoples minds and companies have simply found a way of capitalising on that.

Edited by Fallingup on Wednesday 19th October 10:42

AstonZagato

12,704 posts

210 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
quotequote all
Fallingup said:
Amazing how people managed to live before these things were invented. It's simply a way of making money out of peoples fears.
Amazing how people managed to live without cars/phones/medicine. I'm not sure what fear there is that drives the purchase of an Apple watch. I'm certainly not afraid when I leave it at home.

I own and wear many watches. The Apple one is amongst the cheapest, so probably not the best way of making money out of me. I find the convenience (especially around ApplePay and the Tube) compelling.

LimaDelta

6,522 posts

218 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
quotequote all
Fallingup said:
Amazing how people managed to live before these things were invented. It's simply a way of making money out of peoples fears. Health/ guilt and the fear of death is something that preys just a little too much on a lot of peoples minds and companies have simply found a way of capitalising on that.
Of course people managed just fine without them, just like cars, computers, modern medicine, air travel, supermarkets, etc. etc. However, what they can do offer is more focused management of goals, without having to rely on a personal trainer, or entire lab full of equipment, which was once the preserve of top-level professional athletes. They allow people to train smarter and more efficiently, at a very affordable price. Not sure why you would be threatened by that? Technology provides solutions, and of course marketing plays a part, just as it does with pretty much every aspect of our lives.

MesoForm

8,883 posts

275 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
quotequote all
LimaDelta said:
Gamifying fitness works. Especially if you and your spouse/colleagues/friends are using the same platform. Also, it's not just about the steps, there are so many useful metrics that these kind of devices offer, from the couch-to-5k types, right through to high-performing athletes. I find training load particularly useful. After a training session, it will tell me how long it will take my body to recover based on the intensity of the session. They are also useful if you need to train at a particular heart rate zone, so rather than just guessing, you actually know. I use Polar, not Apple though. No touch, no complications, no notifications, just fitness focussed.

Have you ever tried one? I'm guessing not, and you are probably not the fitness 'type'.
Kinda related to this - I used to wear my fitness watch (Garmin Vivoactive 3) from when I got up to when I went to bed and it would measure my heart rate, steps, etc. during the day as well as getting notifications from my phone. I found I felt too 'connected' all the time and when it buzzed there was almost a Pavlovian response to stop what I was doing and see what the notification was.
When I upgraded it I deliberately went for the larger Forerunner 255 and now I only use that to measure runs, swims, walks, bike rides and I only wear it for those activities, choosing to wear a mechanical watch (normally nothing fancy, Seiko 5 with a canvas strap) at all other times.

BoRED S2upid

19,702 posts

240 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
quotequote all
troc said:
Fallingup said:
Never understood why anyone needs to know how many steps they take. If they need excercise then go excercise. Surely they know within themselves whether they have put enough effort into it or not. If someone needs a bit of technology to tell them this then there's something wrong. Just a load of marketing rubbish in my opinion.
Don’t underestimate the power of a nagging smartwatch/phone or other device for making you more likely to follow a training regime - especially if it’s a run outside and the weather sucks.
Definitely this. Far too easy to think you’ve done enough exercise when in fact you’ve been sat on your arse for 10 hours. A little nudge from the watch to tell you to move is handy. It also gets quite addictive.

Like you OP all other watches are in draws.

MarkGArgyle

349 posts

154 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
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Having been a double wrister for 5yrs now with a fairly small Fitbit charge hr I still struggle with it, more so since WFH when my real watches don’t see the light of day for sometimes weeks. I especially like the sleep and heart rate tracking but like to hear the liberty that others have got here.

Anyway, I would like to be a double watcher,I.e. same wrist, 2 watches/fitness band. There used to be something called a jawbone that just did sleep and steps, didn’t have a lcd screen let alone notifications; does anything like this exist today (I didn’t find it yet)?

gregs656

10,886 posts

181 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
Fallingup said:
Never understood why anyone needs to know how many steps they take. If they need excercise then go excercise. Surely they know within themselves whether they have put enough effort into it or not. If someone needs a bit of technology to tell them this then there's something wrong. Just a load of marketing rubbish in my opinion.
Walk down the average high street and tell me with a straight face that British people know if they are doing enough exercise or not.

Fallingup

1,546 posts

98 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
gregs656 said:
Walk down the average high street and tell me with a straight face that British people know if they are doing enough exercise or not.
You are assuming that they are idiots. I'm sure it's much more complicated than that.

gregs656

10,886 posts

181 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
Fallingup said:
gregs656 said:
Walk down the average high street and tell me with a straight face that British people know if they are doing enough exercise or not.
You are assuming that they are idiots. I'm sure it's much more complicated than that.
I am saying people clearly don't know if they are getting enough exercise. The evidence is all around us.

BoRED S2upid

19,702 posts

240 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
MarkGArgyle said:
Having been a double wrister for 5yrs now with a fairly small Fitbit charge hr I still struggle with it, more so since WFH when my real watches don’t see the light of day for sometimes weeks. I especially like the sleep and heart rate tracking but like to hear the liberty that others have got here.

Anyway, I would like to be a double watcher,I.e. same wrist, 2 watches/fitness band. There used to be something called a jawbone that just did sleep and steps, didn’t have a lcd screen let alone notifications; does anything like this exist today (I didn’t find it yet)?
There’s a mens ring you can wear that monitors the basics Prince Harry wears one as he can’t be seen to wear a Apple Watch. No need for 2 watches. No screen obviously it bluetooths the data to your phone.

James6112

4,366 posts

28 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
Still using my Apple Watch 5 with e sim
A great bit of kit. Apple Pay, the health stuff. Heart/vo2 max/sleep. Stream Spotify to earphones when running, contactable in an emergency. Does it all.

AstonZagato

12,704 posts

210 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
BoRED S2upid said:
MarkGArgyle said:
Having been a double wrister for 5yrs now with a fairly small Fitbit charge hr I still struggle with it, more so since WFH when my real watches don’t see the light of day for sometimes weeks. I especially like the sleep and heart rate tracking but like to hear the liberty that others have got here.

Anyway, I would like to be a double watcher,I.e. same wrist, 2 watches/fitness band. There used to be something called a jawbone that just did sleep and steps, didn’t have a lcd screen let alone notifications; does anything like this exist today (I didn’t find it yet)?
There’s a mens ring you can wear that monitors the basics Prince Harry wears one as he can’t be seen to wear a Apple Watch. No need for 2 watches. No screen obviously it bluetooths the data to your phone.
Oura

Trouble with that is that is is a subscription model.

BoRED S2upid

19,702 posts

240 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
AstonZagato said:
BoRED S2upid said:
MarkGArgyle said:
Having been a double wrister for 5yrs now with a fairly small Fitbit charge hr I still struggle with it, more so since WFH when my real watches don’t see the light of day for sometimes weeks. I especially like the sleep and heart rate tracking but like to hear the liberty that others have got here.

Anyway, I would like to be a double watcher,I.e. same wrist, 2 watches/fitness band. There used to be something called a jawbone that just did sleep and steps, didn’t have a lcd screen let alone notifications; does anything like this exist today (I didn’t find it yet)?
There’s a mens ring you can wear that monitors the basics Prince Harry wears one as he can’t be seen to wear a Apple Watch. No need for 2 watches. No screen obviously it bluetooths the data to your phone.
Oura

Trouble with that is that is is a subscription model.
Bit like strava thought no? Still works without the subscription just not as much data analysis. Still do the basics with just the ring.

MarkGArgyle

349 posts

154 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
BoRED S2upid said:
Bit like strava thought no? Still works without the subscription just not as much data analysis. Still do the basics with just the ring.
Thanks both will have a look at that

gregs656

10,886 posts

181 months

Thursday 20th October 2022
quotequote all
BoRED S2upid said:
Still do the basics with just the ring.
Like Jeffery Dahmer.