It is really too early to tell how I will like the exercising and fitness tracking functions of the Apple Watch. I will, however, say that I have been excited by the potential of these systems to help people stay more active and serve as a reminder or incentive to engage in less calorically unhealthy conduct. The three rings system that Apple designed does look promising. The idea is that each ring is like a progress bar, and you want to fill it up each day. The rings represent standing (as opposed to sitting), activity (mostly walking), and exercise (brisk activity). You can set up certain goals for yourself and the sensors in the Apple Watch (as well as your phone) will track your movement and heart rate. Its really hard to say how accurate it all is in terms of indicating the precise number of calories that you are burning, but even so, you’ll know for sure when you need to be more active, as well as how to gauge a healthy day’s worth of activity.
Apple Watch day one certainly led to some audible “wow” moments, even though I’d already had experience with the Apple Watch in the past. Using the functions for myself on my watch allows for a new experience, and I think others will likewise take a lot of joy the first time they make a call on their watch, use the remote camera app, and discover the map tools. With that said, I still haven’t really been able to use the special Apple-Watch-to-Apple-Watch communication features such as the animated emojis, sketch texts, or heart beat texts, which I am looking forward to doing.
I am also eager to see more interesting and innovate apps become available, and I am excited for when Apple eventually updates the OS with enhancements, such as I mentioned above about at least being able to fully read e-mails on your wrist and delete them if necessary. Beyond that, it would be cool to draft simple e-mails on your wrist using Siri’s voice dictation.
The Apple Watch is an attractive item, but I’ve quickly realized how important it is that people feel unique in their ability to wear it, so that they don’t feel they have the same thing everyone else does. Apple is totally correct in offering a range of colors and straps, but I think they need even more (which they will have). Assuming that everyone shares the same core Apple Watch user experience, those same people will at least want to have as many ways as possible of making that experience visually unique to them in the form of unique colors, straps, materials, and potentially cases.
My end of the day feelings for the Apple Watch are unlike those I have had thus far for any other smartwatch. For one thing, I am actually looking forward to wearing it tomorrow. I will still wear a mechanical watch as well, but I think that smartwatches are useful, and I want to benefit from their functionality. Not everyone is going to feel that way, as there is still a lot of hostility toward the Apple Watch from both the tech industry and the traditional watch lover crowd (but in some instances, for different reasons). That hostility mostly focuses on the concept that the “the Apple Watch is not a watch” (a totally irrelevant discussion in my opinion), or that “the Apple watch doesn’t solve a problem I have” (which means people are preventing themselves from seeing the Apple Watch as an opportunity builder, versus a mere problem fixer).
On a larger level, what I feel Apple has really done with the Apple Watch is create an amazing platform. It is a platform that has yet to mature and become refined, but Apple has really helped solidify the smartwatch as a platform for productivity, communication, and information. The Apple Watch will continue to get better, and so will its competition. With that said, the Apple Watch is pretty darn good right out of the bag. Just think about how Apple was able to evolve the iPhone after just a few years since its initial launch in 2007… and then consider how they will likely do the same thing with the Apple Watch, starting now in 2015. apple.com
READ NEXT: Apple Watch Review Part 2
