
As regular readers are aware, I am pretty much an Apple Affectionado. While I am totally irritated by Apple’s overly tight constraint on user customization of their devices (a good topic for another day), I am a big fan of the devices themselves. I’m currently writing on my georgeous 27 inch iMac and travel with my iPad Air (using the Zagg Keyboard/Case.) My trusty iPhone 6 is my constant companion (just couldn’t quite see that big 6 Plus working out for my needs).
Now that Apple has announced, and today – April 24th, 2015 – has started to deliver, the Apple Watch it seems only natural that I should have mine – right? Well, to tell the truth I don’t. As it turns out, the only way to purchase and pick one up today is to be fortunate enough to live near one of six stores in the world (yes, you read that correctly – SIX STORES!) where you can actually go in and buy one today. Where are those stores? Not close to me, unfortunately. There is one store each in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, Milan, and London. So I’m not picking up an Apple Watch today. Of course I could have pre-ordered a Watch on-line. Now I don’t know about you, but blind dates have never really been my thing. When it comes to a watch, and indeed when it comes to a rather expensive watch, I prefer to see the actual product. I didn’t pre-order. I thought I would like to “meet it in person” first before making a decision.
Meanwhile, I’ve been wondering. Will the Apple Watch be a good piece of helpful tech for the traveler? Obviously, without any direct experience with an actual watch, my ideas an opinions are limited. But the Apple Watch has limitations as well. So far, it seems that one of it’s biggest limitations is battery life. At best it appears that it will operate for about one day before needing a recharge. If this is the case, then the Apple Watch becomes another of those tech devices which needs a nightly “feeding.” This, in an of itself, is likely not a deal breaker for most. It’s more of a nuisance. And it won’t be a big deal for many (most?) travelers as well. But if you are a traveler who tends to wander a bit off the beaten path – say away from easily accessible electrical outlets – then short battery life can obviously be a problem. And also, the Apple watch requires it’s own very unique cable to facilitate recharging. That means yet another cable to manage in your already overloaded bag of electronic gear. Anther obvious potential problem is that this is a high priced Apple Watch. It’s a good looking high priced piece of limited edition Apple bling. Could be a really nice target for thieves – so use discretely? Also, it remains to be seen just how durable the Watch is. Would you really want to go hiking in the outback or river rafting in this Watch? Maybe not.
These factors seem like Apple Watch negatives for at least some travelers right off the bat. Whether or not more emerge as we get better info on the Watch remains to be seen. But of course there are likely lots of reasons that the Apple Watch might be great for the traveler as well. Time will tell. In the meantime, if you are wondering what you can actually DO with the Apple Watch you might want to check this link ( Apple Watch Native Apps ) which will show you how the “built in” Watch Apps work and what they do. And if you REALLY want lots of DETAIL you can check this link ( Apple Watch Manual ) to read the official Apple Watch User’s Guide.
I’ll be looking into this Apple Watch thing more in the future so be sure to check back. And, if by chance you already do have an Apple Watch, we’d love to hear from you regarding your experience and how you think it will work for the traveler. Thanks in advance.
Watching the Apple Watch ……………Enjoy The Adventure!
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