[dropcap size=small]T[/dropcap] he world’s most valuable company released the details of its long-awaited Apple Watch at an event in Cupertino, California. The watch is a fitness tracker, ballyhooed new wrist-worn computer, payment system, and technological novelty wrapped in a sleek case with a not so friendly user-interface.
The company with this watch might have set the hearts of Apple Fanboys aflutter. But was it enough to retain the company’s reputation as a leader in the design?
From concerns over pricing, through worries that it has no real-world utility, to startle at the short battery life, a large dollop of the world is off-message. And we’re not ranting about a few fandroids in their mom’s basements.
So now it is time to inquire yourself; am I going to buy the Apple Watch? Let us help you out with a bunch of reasons for NOT to buy one.
1. Battery
The battery will last for 18 hours according to Apple, but even lean, if you are using it all the time. Having your expensive watch run out midway through a night could prove very annoying if you are heading home after a tiresome day. In addition, most people already charge their phone every night, so to charge a second device is extra hassle.
2. No GPS or Cellular Connectivity
You will need to pair this watch with an iPhone to access location tracking and internet services. It is quite possibly a deal breaker for most athletes who want to use the Apple Watch — perhaps the Apple Watch Sport — to replace another fitness band.
3. An Overly Complex UI
On first use, the device felt a little confusing and oafish. Sometimes it enacts to do one thing; at other times, just the opposite. Also, the display doesn’t use the homespun pinch-to-zoom gesture used on the iPhone and it looks like the interplay between swiping, tapping, and turning the crown will take some getting used to.
4. Money
There’s a difference between ‘a lot of money’ and ‘expensive’. Surveying at the features, I don’t think anyone can seriously quibble that this watch is expensive. But $349 is a lot of money to a lot of people.
5. Irritating Purposeless Tapping
Tim Cook divulges that if Apple Watch owners sit still for too long, the Watch will “tap them on the wrist” to remind them to get up and move. Suppose, if you’re working hard and are on a deadline, this (useless) feature is liable to drive you up the wall; even if you disable it, which is pretty much annoying and disturbing.
6. Third party apps suck
Even the most basic app is laggy, and the new apps are taking too long to install, and they then work sporadically. Sometimes they load and sometimes they don’t. All third party apps have been dumbed down, because of limitations in the API and GUI toolkit.
7. You can’t use it one handed
The Verge’s Nilay Patel reviewed that :
You simply can’t one-hand the Apple Watch…because it’s a tiny screen with a tiny control wheel strapped to your wrist, you have to use both hands to use it, and you have to actually look at it to make sure you’re hitting the right parts of the screen.
8. Activating the display can be tricky
The Apple Watch activates its screen only when it thinks you’re looking at it. Once in a blue moon, a subtle twist of your wrist will do, but sometimes it takes extra effort. Sometimes, you have to swing your wrist in an exaggerated upward motion to bring back the display to life. Many times, even if you do the arm-swing motion, screen doesn’t turn on. Occasionally it turns on, then off. Sometimes you tap it and nothing happens.
9. A slave of iPhone
The Apple Watch isn’t going to replace your iPhone, mainly because the watch relies on it to function. To me it seems like, Apple Watch is an honest-to-god iPhone on your wrist. Nevertheless, it’s an iPhone that obligates another iPhone in your pocket.
Do we really need another gadget or “accessory” at a high price which works only if you have the phone in your pocket? Why not pull out the phone you already have? To me, it’s like a product looking for a purpose. Rest is your choice.
