If you were to fork out $350 for a wrist type electronic device that was an extension of your smart phone, what would you most like it to do?

No, I need/want a bigger screen.

Have a battery that lasts longer than 18 hours.
Any 10€ cheapo watch bought at a train station kiosk has a battery life of several years.
And crapple wants 350$ for their hipster-bait lasting only 18 hours.

Weed out the nutjob guys from the good guys sooner.

What would I like? I’d think it was a step up if it:
– told time And
– had a stop watch function good to 10 us resolution that is electronically accessible.
– had accelerometers ala FitBit.
– had a built-in, calibrated light meter from 0.5 lux to full sun
– had a built-in db meter for acoustic energy from 40 db to 110 db
– had a camera lens
– and a programmable RF ID reader
I’d pay $350 for a tool like that.

I’d pay $400 if it came with a function generator with a frequency range from 1Hz to 10 MHz with an output voltage of 1Vp-p sine into a load of 10Mohms or greater. (Who wouldn’t. Right?)

Shit out a pair of tiffany cufflinks?

And I’d pay $50 more if the band was segmented and housed hardened tools such as: screwdriver bits, P-38 tool, razor blade, wire cutter, and 4 cm of 38 ga nichrome wire.

And have a 4.5 digit volt meter that reads to 19.999 volts – free with function generator.

I cannot stand watches – I haven’t worn one in 40 years. They bind on my arm.

THerefore there is no function that an Apple (or Samsung, or any other) watch could provide that would make me want to start wearing one.

@elbanditoroso Same here. I have been very happy that we’ve moved away from wearing things on our arms. I can’t imagine what the new watches can possibly offer that our smart phones don’t already have. So far, every suggestion I’ve heard is already available as an app.

@janbb Can you be more specific? I get the feeling that you’re on the right track.

@kritiper Well, I’m thinking about a little alarm or perhaps voice that would say, “Nutjob! Nutjob! Even though this guy looks and sounds lovely, he is mentally ill and impovershed and will hurt you in the end. Step away from the man!”

Wouldn’t that be really useful? By the way, it needn’t be gender-specific.

@janbb Well, I guess you’re NOT on the right track after all! Thanks anyway.

@kritiper Now you have some ‘splaining to do.

@janbb You have a smart phone, or phone of some sort on you, right?

@kritiper Yup.

@janbb What do you use it for?

I don’t need a long interrogation. Please just tell me why my facetious remark was on the right track and then not.

@janbb Be patient, we’re getting there! What do you use your phone for?

Wait! Wait! I hear an alarm going off nearby!

@janbb WONDERFULL!!! Now I’ll give you an additional nudge in, what I hope is, the right direction. When your phone rings, what are the first two things you do before answering? Heck, there might be three things you do before saying “Hello?”

I’d love the equivalent of caller ID for real life. Or, simply, a marauder’s map.

Oh, for heaven’s sake, @kritiper, do get to the point!

And to answer your question, I’d want it to walk the dogs on cold mornings.

For me the most appealing feature of the iWatch is the gamification of the health app. Having something that nags me to be more active would be pretty valuable to me (I think).

In an ideal world, the watch would be very smart about the context of my physical surroundings, daily schedule, time of the day, location in my home, proximity to other devices and other clues and respect my life, that would be amazing. For example, if I went to a movie theatre, it wouldn’t notify me of anything except for something very serious (e.g. your mom was in a car accident), pretty much everything else should be ignored in that location. A really clever watch would understand the context of where I was (at the office, in a meeting, in the middle of a phone call, exercising, on a walk with the dog, reading an article on the web on my computer, screwing around on the computer with a game, on Fluther or looking at stupid YouTube videos, being productive on the computer such as writing code or marketing stuff for my job, reading on my iPad, on a dinner date with my girlfriend, etc.) without me constantly having to update my status. If there was a watch that could figure this out about me and use that information to intelligently filter what is and isn’t important to bug me about that would be worth a lot to me.

It would have to completely respect my privacy and not sell my information 3rd parties. It would have to be comfortable and stylish and get a great battery life.

@canidmajor Well, I suppose the wrist device could hold the leash of one dog and the phone could hold the leash of the other…
But not in a practical, real-life instance!

I’d like it to be really waterproof so I could swim in it and it could a. time me and b. count laps.

It would be good if it could calculate calorie counts of food from photographs.

Maybe if it could give me a shock (a slight shock) when I procrastinate too long.

An alert to remind me to get up and walk around when I’ve been stationary for too long.

Can it look nice too? I don’t want a watch that looks like something McGyver would wear.

Can it record telephone calls and interviews for me.

Can it send emails, so when I’m on the go and remember I need to tell someone something I can just communicate via my watch.

Being able to take notes to create a to-do list with a reminder would be good too.

Scan barcodes to check prices, nutritional information, calculate best value.

I think the major selling point, for me anyway, would be caller ID. To be able to see who the heck is calling with a glance at my wrist without taking the darn phone out of my pocket. (And possibly dropping and breaking it.)

If I’m going to wear something on my wrist, it better look like a piece of jewelry and not a black rubber smart phone-like device. Otherwise, I’ll stick with my smart phone being out on the desk or in my handbag, and so be it.

I wouldn’t spend a cent. I have no desire to wear something on my wrist that’s basically just an extension of the phone I carry in my pocket. Since I retired, I don’t wear a watch at all.

I have a friend with an iWatch who looks at the thing every time he moves his arm. So annoying to dine with him. I hope he doesn’t do that while he’s driving.

$350.00! Seems so quaint now.

Two things I mentioned? Look and see who’s calling (via the watch) and then you push a button to activate the phone so you can speak to who’s calling. Three things? You might swear…