Do you consider smartwatches watches?

I know this sounds stupid but I had many people telling me that they are watches, some saying they are computers etc. So I was hoping to get a proper WC opinion.
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Sure. And phones are pocket watches.

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I bought an Apple watch a few years. Wore it for about two weeks, I simply didnt bond with it. So, now my wife skipped her cracking old titanium Tissot... and now has two Apple watches...😖😵💫🤨

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Yes, they tell time. That's the definition of a watch.

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My Garmin only ever sees time on my wrist if I'm out running or if it's a gym day...all the smart notifications have been turned off as they were too annoying 😒

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lets be honest here, the true function of a watch should NOT be to track your every movement (or turn me and my bodily functions into the product).

They’re a watch, yes, just with a lot more bells and whistles. Your phone does a lot more than make calls, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a phone.

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They can tell the time. They reside on your wrist. Sounds like a watch (with a lot of complications).

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If it counts time it's a clock or watch.

Cheers!

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Do you consider a smartphone a phone?

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Here's my opinion: Watches are tools, and that includes smart watches. Get the right tool for the job. If I want something on my wrist that I like to look at and doesn't drive me crazy with sixteen gagillion notifications an hour, I'm going to wear one of my mechanical watches. However, I'm also an avid cyclist and I like to snowboard too. I will absolutely wear my AppleWatch for those activities because of its fitness tracking and GPS features. The AppleWatch is the right tool for the job on those occasions. I'm also an attorney and when I'm in court, I often will wear the AppleWatch because it allows me to receive and send text messages discretely. But outside of those situations, I'm a mechanical watch guy all the way (also G-shock for working around the house or yard).

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I agree with Lucas, watches are tools at the end of the day. For most enthusiasts, watches are a mixture of a tool and aesthetic jewelry. As technology progress, some "jewelry" will get more tools and some tools will get more aesthetic. Maybe that explains the popularity of the GMT function over the past couple of years.

The GMT was originally made for pilots and is probably the most popular complication for the pilot and traveler. However, look up "pilot's watch" and the primary difference is the style of the indices. Just recently, Garmin came out with smartwatches specifically made for pilots. The most recent is the Garmin D2 Mach 1. Nice titanium case and bracelet with a battery that will last up to 21 days (though just 24 hours with the moving map running constantly). As a tool watch enthusiast and active pilot, I had to buy it. This is after swearing off the Apple Watch because it will "never" replace my Breitling Aerospace. But the Mach 1's moving map GPS, barometric altimeter, oxygen level sensor, horizontal situation indicator, and my local airport's weather constantly showing on the watch face was too much to resist.

I wear the Garmin when I go to the gym, walk, and fly most of the time--though not all the time. The Garmin is co-existing with my other watches and I even bought my first automatic watches (Seiko SSK003 GMT and Islander Republic ISL-140) after I had the Garmin for almost a year.

In the end, the Garmin smartwatch just became part of my regular rotation. To me, that's probably the best possible outcome.

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Yes.

And I consider my phone to be a camera.

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Depends on what you mean by a SmartWatch...

Here is a SmartWatch by Frederique Constant and it is clearly a "watch"...

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Counts my steps, monitors my sleep patterns and connects to my iPhone.

Here is another SmartWatch that connects to my iPhone...

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This one is also very much a watch. 😉

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It’s a iPhone on your wrist. Need a phone, but no real affection for it. Swap it for a new one every 4 years or so? Same for smartwatches

I love the mechanical conversion of my movement into mechanical timekeeping. My watches have more personal meaning for me in ways a phone, or watch-like phone never will

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Smartwatches are watches in the same way that Smartphones are phones.

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Of course they fit the definition of a watch and of course they aren’t a watch.

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They are just an extension of your phone that also tell the time.....but usually they are set to show all the notification data first and keep your eyes and mind on the notifications not the time......

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They are definitely watches! Everyone who loves mechanical watches, myself for example, will never stop loving them, and smartwatches are just another tool or another option for other people. I think people who say they are not watches are just expressing resentment that they have become more popular for a new consumer these days. I think it's silly, because it's just another watch option. Automatic ones will always have more prestige, style and romanticism!

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Wearable tech.

Obsolete when the new OS / version / software that no longer works with that hardware comes out.

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jason_recliner

If they aren't watches, what are they?

wearable tech

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its not universal but its an interesting little quirk that you can more often than not get a sense of whether something thinks a smartwatch is a watch or not by how they write the word:

People that say "no" tend to write - smartwatch - one word denoting its a new type of object with perhaps some watch characteristics.

People that say "yes" tend to write - smart watch - two words denoting its a specific type of watch.

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I have no issues with smart watch fans, or the product. While they do have a time function, most of the functionality isn’t focused on time. So, like previously posted on this thread, smart watches are more like a phone or wearable computer than a watch. Also, like previously mentioned, is the problem inherent with tech of planned obsolescence. So smart watches aren’t likely to have support for more than a few years before the owner gets the (increasing) pressure to buy the newest, latest, greatest. I’m already stuck on the forced upgrade cycle with phones, and have no interest in adding another such treadmill to my life.

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“Smart watches” and “smart phones” are super computers named after one of their thousands of features. But I don’t have an issue calling them a watch or a phone. And I’m considering one much later in life (20+ years from now) for health purposes.

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Marketers came up with the term and the idiot mob perpetuate it, because saying wearable tech isn't trendy enough, and it's honest.

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Smart watches are watches, smartphones are pocket watches, computers are clocks.

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JaimeMadeira

Big Ben, or at least the clock on St.Stephens is already obsolete and has been for probably half a century. Its accuracy is adjusted with a pile of old money (also obsolete since decimalisation) and it is not the de-facto clock by which others are set. That’s all been digital since roughly the sixties and seventies.

Agree, they updated it with today's technology. However, they maintain it because it is a piece of art. Which an electronic device will never remain. What would you do when your smartwatch doesn't receive the updates anymore because it is too old, do you change the inside of the watch or do you get rid of it to get a new one?

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77red96

Is a 1510 pocket watch produced in Neuenburg Germany obsolete?

Id say yes. But it's the very basis of the modern mechanical wrist watch.

Mechanical wrist watches as we enthusiast's see them today are status symbols, collectables or personal treasures. The likelihood of them being valuable in the future is high. But it's like anything, value doesn't necessarily mean it will be useful in the future.

30 years ago if you had told people landlines are finished, they would have laughed at you.

Big Ben is a landmark. A national treasure. It's not the same. When you walk through London do you think 'Oh, I must look up at Big Ben to see what time it is?' or do you look at your wrist?

Your argument is that the mechanical wrist watch will never become obsolete. I beg to differ.

Actually, it wasn't exactly what I meant. In fewer words, I was trying to say that a mechanical watch, or clock in my example can be (no, it is not always the case, there is a lot of crap out there) and remain a piece of art, what an electronic device will never be.

That is fine, I respect your opinion

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Nolanketty

Actually, it wasn't exactly what I meant. In fewer words, I was trying to say that a mechanical watch, or clock in my example can be (no, it is not always the case, there is a lot of crap out there) and remain a piece of art, what an electronic device will never be.

That is fine, I respect your opinion

I would mostly agree… but… there is a market for vintage watches already — which includes Quartz and Digital. There is a market for vintage computer products already. There is a market for vintage Apple products. There are people restoring these things to keep them running. Whilst throwaway tech does exist, it also makes the bits that aren’t thrown away more collectable. Sometimes unpredictably so.

It would not surprise me if a boxed mint example of a first-Gen Apple Watch is already trading at a premium. I know some older fitbits have gone up in price since being superseded (heavens know why really) because features have been dropped.

Humans are unpredictable, and even things that become obsolete can suddenly become desirable all over again. Look at Vinyl Records. They are objectively not as good as things which have come since (and their fans will disagree with me there vehemently, and that’s cool, you enjoy your double gatefolds, they have charm) and yet are a growing market all over again. People like them. I like the idea of an Apple Watch Ultra. I wouldn’t buy one, but I like the idea.

We on here are all wearing tech that has been superseded. None of it will last forever. Omega just made all their prior movements out of date, only a short while after they did the same thing with co-axial movements. By doing things differently.

It’s still never going to be as accurate as a Citizen One, and we will still look at our phone to set the time.

Smart watches are here now — some are even moving in the direction of being powered by our own movement.

Edit: and no, they didn’t update that clock at all, it was completely superseded. It is just a piece of design/art that also tells the time.

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Ok ok

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LucasAndacielos

Here's my opinion: Watches are tools, and that includes smart watches. Get the right tool for the job. If I want something on my wrist that I like to look at and doesn't drive me crazy with sixteen gagillion notifications an hour, I'm going to wear one of my mechanical watches. However, I'm also an avid cyclist and I like to snowboard too. I will absolutely wear my AppleWatch for those activities because of its fitness tracking and GPS features. The AppleWatch is the right tool for the job on those occasions. I'm also an attorney and when I'm in court, I often will wear the AppleWatch because it allows me to receive and send text messages discretely. But outside of those situations, I'm a mechanical watch guy all the way (also G-shock for working around the house or yard).

Exactly, if I want to go for a run or walk, or feel like the notifications would be useful I’ll wear my Apple Watch, if not I’ll be wearing a vintage mechanical