Hello.

For a long time I have considered smart watches to be a gimmick but since they have become more accessible and common now for some time, I was wondering what the people who own and use them think of them?

So what has your experience been of them?

One thing I am curious about is how functional these (especially the Android ones) are without being connected to a phone via bluetooth since bluetooth drains battery?

  • AgreeableLandscape
    4·
    4 years ago

    It also doesn’t have biometric sensors that siphon off information about your body and send it to some corporation. I’d say that’s a pretty big feature (or, lack of an anti-feature?).

    • DessalinesA
      6·
      4 years ago

      We’re very lucky some companies are still willing to still make non spying consumer electronics. Seems like TVs, thermostats, refrigerators, ovens, coffee makers, all have “smart” spying now.

      • AgreeableLandscape
        5·
        4 years ago

        I absolutely hate that there are no more consumer-level “dumb” TVs. (Edit: apparently there are, see the reply to this comment) Is not having a company know exactly what I’m watching even if it’s playing from an attached set top box or PC really too much to ask? (You probably know this already, but yes, they can do that. I’m think they don’t actually send off screenshots but rather diffuse pixel values from all over the screen? But still.)

        I mean there are dumb ones, but they’re commercial models and actually more expensive at the same resolution and refresh rate. Guess it’s because they’re designed for 24/7 operation but that’s honestly pointless for a home entertainment setup specifically.

        I’ve been trying to convince my family to take our living room TV off Wi-Fi and just get a cheap set top box for YouTube and Netflix for a while now. Yes it still tracks you, but at least I can have some peace of mind that what we do on the attached PC, which has a lot of our family’s personal files, isn’t being spied on by the freaking TV of all things.

          • 0x1C3B00DA
            4·
            4 years ago

            The TV as a specific device is a relic, but a PC or smartphone is not suitable for family viewing. There are still some differences between tvs and monitors, but hopefully we can eventually just get rid of the two separate categories in favor of a single display category.

          • AgreeableLandscape
            3·
            4 years ago

            Huh. I stand correct then. But yeah, I agree on your second part, I do most of my media consumption from my phone or computer. My parents watch (mostly Chinese shows on YouTube) on TV though, and I don’t think they’ve ever gotten used to media consumption on a computer, let alone a phone.