{"id":8220,"date":"2015-05-06T12:30:44","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T16:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=8220"},"modified":"2015-05-06T12:30:44","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T16:30:44","slug":"review-the-absolutely-optional-apple-watch-and-watch-os-1-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/05\/06\/review-the-absolutely-optional-apple-watch-and-watch-os-1-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The absolutely optional Apple Watch and Watch OS 1.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’re wondering whether to buy an Apple Watch, consider your computing life as a hierarchy of needs:<\/p>\n

At the bottom sits your must have device\u2014a computer, tablet, or phone\u2014capable of independently accessing the Internet and storing useful quantities of data. And one step above that is Internet access itself. You need a device to use it, but your device can\u2019t do much without it.<\/p>\n

Every tier similarly builds upon the one below it. Next comes useful apps\u2014browsers, productivity software, whatever you need to work and play\u2014and these all extend your device\u2019s functionality in basic, useful ways. Services for work (Dropbox, Office 365) and entertainment (Spotify, Netflix) follow. The line between software and services is increasingly blurry (especially if we\u2019re talking about software-as-a-service) but most of them feel more optional. Everyone needs a browser. Not everyone needs Dropbox and Netflix and Facebook.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Andrew Cunningham Tech Hierarchy of Needs. Note the Mickey Mouse watch face at the very, very top.<\/p>\n

Finally, we get to the top of most users’ needs\u2014accessories. This encompasses anything that wouldn\u2019t work (or would be drastically less capable) without everything toward the bottom of the pyramid: standalone cameras, iPods, printers, scanners, input devices, and\u2014yes\u2014watches.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, the Apple Watch is a thoroughly optional accessory. Even if you think you want it, wait if there\u2019s a shadow of a doubt in your mind\u2014if not for the inevitable hardware revision, then at least for the OS and the surrounding app ecosystem to firm up. A $349-or-more pricetag is still a lot of money to spend on a question mark.<\/p>\n

But after spending a week with an Ars-purchased 42mm space gray model (and spending a substantial amount of time with Android Wear), I can tell you that unnecessary things can still be useful. If you buy or like using your Apple Watch, you\u2019re not an idiot who is wasting both your money and your precious time on this earth.<\/p>\n

So the Apple Watch isn\u2019t something you need, but does it make things \u201cquick\u201d and \u201cconvenient,\u201d as Apple\u2019s own marketing suggests? As the heir apparent to the smartwatch throne, does it live up to its advance billing? And as a version 1.0 product, what still needs to be fixed\u2014and how?<\/p>\n

Read More: Review: The absolutely optional Apple Watch and Watch OS 1.0 | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re wondering whether to buy an Apple Watch, consider your computing life as a hierarchy of needs: At the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[87],"class_list":["post-8220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apple","category-technology","tag-apple-watch"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-28A","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7022,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/12\/04\/roku-tops-media-streaming-device-charts-chromecast-overtakes-apple-tv\/","url_meta":{"origin":8220,"position":0},"title":"Roku tops media streaming device charts, Chromecast overtakes Apple TV","author":"NCCT","date":"December 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The advent of convenient on-demand streaming services has dramatically altered the way we watch video content and pose a genuine threat to the traditional TV model. Hit shows like The Walking Dead are accessible within seconds and individual episodes or an entire series can be watched when it suits you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techspot.com\/images2\/news\/header\/YouTube-Screen-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techspot.com\/images2\/news\/header\/YouTube-Screen-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techspot.com\/images2\/news\/header\/YouTube-Screen-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techspot.com\/images2\/news\/header\/YouTube-Screen-2-1024x576.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9103,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2017\/02\/05\/this-week-in-tech-600-bloviating-blowhards\/","url_meta":{"origin":8220,"position":1},"title":"This Week in Tech 600: Bloviating Blowhards","author":"NCCT","date":"February 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=20voSmUERBk Apple may launch an alternate reality device this year, FCC clears its investigations into Zero Rating and opening cable boxes, Oculus Rift loses $500 million suit, Google must turn over foreign emails, Snap IPO, Tesla's new tunnel. --Robert Scoble is staking his career on his claim that Apple will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/20voSmUERBk\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6054,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/07\/23\/security-expert-details-multiple-undocumented-services-running-on-all-ios-devices\/","url_meta":{"origin":8220,"position":2},"title":"Security expert details multiple undocumented services running on all iOS devices","author":"NCCT","date":"July 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"During a recent hacker conference, forensic scientist and iPhone jailbreaking expert Jonathan Zdziarski outlined a number of undocumented high-value forensic services running on every iOS device. He also found suspicious design omissions in iOS that make data collection easier according to a report from ZDNet. Zdziarski notes that while Apple\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7085,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/12\/12\/apple-ios-8-1-2-fixes-an-issue-with-disappearing-ringtones\/","url_meta":{"origin":8220,"position":3},"title":"Apple iOS 8.1.2 fixes an issue with disappearing ringtones","author":"NCCT","date":"December 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Apple\u2019s fifth patch for iOS 8 is now live. iOS 8.1.2 is said to address an issue in which ringtones purchased through iTunes were unexpectedly disappearing from devices. The update is also said to include various bug fixes although Apple didn\u2019t outline what specifically those were. The company\u2019s security update\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6466,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/09\/24\/apple-releases-icloud-drive-for-windows-mac-users-have-to-wait-until-yosemite-is-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":8220,"position":4},"title":"Apple releases iCloud Drive for Windows, Mac users have to wait until Yosemite is out","author":"NCCT","date":"September 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Apple started rolling a revamped version of iCloud this week with the arrival of iOS 8. Dubbed iCloud Drive, the cloud storage service is now more akin to Dropbox and Google Drive in that you can actually access and store stuff through a file system. But while iPhone users who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9243,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2017\/10\/02\/this-week-in-tech-634-an-apple-watch-walks-into-a-bar\/","url_meta":{"origin":8220,"position":5},"title":"This Week in Tech 634: An Apple Watch Walks Into a Bar","author":"NCCT","date":"October 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/48Z-wCiwaZo Is the iPhone X killing iPhone 8 sales? How do you turn on the FM chip in the iPhone 8? (You can't.) How do you turn off the Bluetooth in the Apple Watch (You can , but it's harder than you think.) How do you turn off Wi-Fi and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/48Z-wCiwaZo\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}