Apple Watch: My History

The Apple Watch currently on my wrist is my second Apple Watch. It’s a Watch 3 GPS 42mm. The model has recently been replaced in the Apple device lineup with the new Apple Watch 4.

My first Apple Watch was the $600 Apple Watch (the original) with the stainless steel sides and sapphire crystal screen. It was plagued with a slow processor, screen raise issues, slow Siri, a confusing operating system. But it was something revolutionary.

Before I purchased this in on April 24th, 2015 (release day), I had worn a Fitbit Surge for a few months. The Fitbit was my first wristwatch! At 33 years old I wore a wristwatch for the first time. Now I have a hard time thinking about what I would do without one.

I’ve been an iPhone user since the 3G (about 10 years ago). The Apple Watch was sold as a complementary device for the iPhone. They weren’t kidding. I saw the release announcement and drooled.

A Brief Foray to the World of Android

I wore my 1st generation Apple Watch until fall of 2016. For a short time, I switched from the iPhone 6 to a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. I didn’t last a year with it. But, I had grown used to the constant notifications and quick access to information on my Apple Watch. The Galaxy wasn’t compatible!

Erica received my hand-me-down Apple Watch and quickly learned to enjoy it (she still wears one) but has since broken the screen on that original Watch.

I decided to purchase a refurbished Moto 360 Sport for a $99 special on Woot.com. I really liked it. The screen wasn’t beautiful. The battery life was decent. The white silicone was a style that fit me. After 6 months wearing it, on Vacation in Cozumel, I took this sporty waterproof watch for a swim in the pool. Except…

It wasn’t Waterproof. Dead device.

Then I graduated to a $420 Samsung Galaxy S3 Frontier watch. The style was great. Metal parts and not the plastic I had experienced with the Moto. Great activity tracking. But the Bluetooth chip had an error that constantly had me reconnecting it. As great a device as it was, it was no Apple Watch.

My Triumphant Return

In September of 2017 as the iPhone 8,8 Plus and X were being released, I sold my Galaxy S7 and purchased a refurbished iPhone 7 Plus. The Galaxy watch was sold as well. I received only $200 for the device that had cost $420 6 months before. $36 a month in devaluation.

Of course, my iPhone purchase wouldn’t be complete without its important companion. I purchased the new Apple Watch 3 42mm GPS. It has an aluminum body and gorilla glass face. Lesser materials than the original Watch. But the cost was only $380.

As I mentioned before, Erica had broken the screen on the original Watch and we replaced it with a Watch Series 1. Since then, I buy insurance on the watches.

The insurance on my new Watch 3 was $70. Total out of pocket was $450.

Apple Watch: The Features I Love

I don’t use the watch for everything it can do. I’m not going to go into the full gamut of features, because I don’t use most of them. You can find reviews on DigitalTrends and The Verge which go into all the nitty-gritty details much better than I ever will.

What I Love

Quick Glance Notifications

Find my Phone

Reminders and Call Features

Music Control

Activity Tracking

Exercise Tracking

Quick Glance Notifications

One of my absolute favorite features of the Apple Watch is it’s quick glance notification widgets which Apple calls Complications.

My home screen to the left includes a fast exercise button, my digital clock (analog sucks), quick glance information for my Activity Tracking (active calories, minutes of exercise and hours standing), watch battery life, temperature (through weather underground) and the date. Also, note the red music button at the top. This is a new feature for 2018 and it only appears if you are playing music. You can press it to quickly launch the now playing music controls.

I can push on any of these items and it will bring up the appropriate app to get further information. The watch face is completely customizable and each of the Complications can be moved around or replaced with other functions. There are other faces which support Complications in different styles. The new Apple Watch 4 has a new face which makes use of the larger screen size and fits in EVEN MORE COMPLICATIONS.

There is even a complication for YNAB.

Find My Phone

This is a simple one. A quick swipe from the bottom of the watch pulls up a settings menu and a push of the phone button makes your phone play a loud unique chirping sound. I can hear it from almost anywhere in our house.

It’s a great feature and I use it every other day. It’s also one less thing I need to put a tile on.

Reminders and Call Features

At home, I integrate with Gmail and Google Calendars. At work, we use Exchange. Both calendars work flawlessly with Apple Watch and import automatically from your iPhone. If I’m sent a calendar invitation I can accept or decline it quickly from my watch. Meeting reminders pop up which can be snoozed or deleted.

Alarms will buzz your wrist. This could be helpful for todo list alarms like taking pills. If you sleep with your Apple Watch on (and you can), this can supplement your phone’s alarm.

It should be noted that the haptic feedback on this Watch is amazing. It can make it feel like someone is tapping on your arm. I use the Watch in silent mode always, but each notification has a different feedback feel and you can quickly tell if you have a new text message or a new Ring doorbell notification without looking at your wrist.

Call Features. One of the simplest best features is the ability to hit a quick button and decline calls with a quick wrist raise and a single tap. No need to fish your phone out of your pocket. It’s great.

Music Controls

Music controls are also a great feature. They work with any iPhone music service, Podcast service or Audiobook service. I use this for all 3!

Let’s say I’m going for a run and I have my phone stored away in my FlipBelt. I’m wearing my earbuds or Apple AirPods. I need to quickly advance, pause or change volume. Without a doubt, the fastest way for me is the Apple Watch. Flip your wrist up and it defaults to the now playing screen.

There are even shortcuts for loving a song or disliking it which work with Spotify and Apple Music.

Speaking of Apple Music, if you subscribe to it, and I don’t. You can download a playlist to the watch and do the same run completely phone free. Or purchase the Cellular Apple Watch and do it without the download. Spotify has promised that they are working on an integration for this. The promise hasn’t materialized in over a year.

Activity Tracking

Activity tracking, oh how I love thee. As mentioned above, Apple Watch tracks and focuses on Active Calories, Exercise and Stand Goals.

Your Active Calories tracks calories above and beyond your baseline metabolic rate. Basically, it’s your movement calories and not your sleeping and breathing calories. You choose what your goal is (mine is currently 500 per day).

Exercise is movement over a certain heart rate for a prolonged period. You can get exercise throughout your day with an impromptu lawn moving or mopping. Or you can get exercise by using the exercise app and performing a set exercise. Your goal is 30 minutes of exercise a day.

Standing is moving for at least 1 minute an hour. I’m amazed when I get caught up in a task at work and find that I haven’t moved in the entire hour! How do I know? The watch “taps” me at 10 minutes to the hour to let me know I better get with it. It’s the perfect reminder to get up and move around a bit. Apple wants you to stand at least 12 hours a day.

I love setting streaks with activity. My current move streak (days where I hit active calorie goals) is 37 in a row. My longest streak is 51.

A new feature for 2018 is friend challenges. As shown in the photo above Erica and I are competing this week. Points are given for exercise, movement, and standing. I’m currently winning! Fitbit has had a similar feature for a while and it’s about time that Apple set this up. I’d like to see group challenges with more than 2 people.

Read More: Tracking Goals in Apple Watch

Exercise Tracking

Exercise tracking lets you set workouts for many different exercises including:

Indoor and Outdoor Walking and Running

Pool Swimming and Open Water Swimming

Strength Training and Rowing

Indoor and Outdoor Cycling

Stair Stepper, Elliptical

HIIT Training and Yoga

Hiking

Each exercise will give you different data, walking (as shown in the photo) will give you elapsed time, active and total calories, heart rate (it’s pretty accurate) and mileage.

You can set the workout to be distance or time based and the notifications will change.

The Apple Watch 3 and newer are waterproof and work great in the pool.

Apple Watch: The Financial Impact

This is a financial blog, isn’t it? Instead of extolling the virtues of saving you are selling us on the virtues of a $380 watch?

Well, yes. I’m at least giving you the reason Erica and I spend money on them.

What Do Apple Watches Really Cost?

First, we have to determine the lifespan on this product. Apple believes each user will keep their watch for 3 years. I believe the Watch is likely to be replaced in 2 to 3 years. So let’s assume a purchase of a new watch every 2.5 years or 30 months.

I paid $380 for my Apple watch last year. But the new Apple Watch 4 GPS with a 44mm case (the man’s watch) costs $429 as a base price. Apple Care (a strongly considered item because of the repair costs of a broken screen) is an additional $79. If we add Texas State Sales Tax to this price we get a full purchase price of $549.91. A good quality 3-year-old Apple Watch is selling right now for $100 on Swappa and I see them regularly for this price on my neighborhood Facebook page. So let’s assume after “trade-in” that your new watch costs $449.91 every 30 months. The smaller model which Erica would use is $30 less expensive but let’s assume it’s the same price.

This equates to $15 per month each for this device. $30 total per month or $360 per year.

Future cost of this expenditure is $44,000 over 30 years! That would be $22,000 per person.

TIP: Buy last year’s model and save $100 for a still awesome device.

The Why Would I Pay That Much?

Let’s look at the thing’s that can be prevented or reduced by wearing an Apple Watch. Obesity, Heart Disease, Stroke, High Blood Pressure. The newest watches can detect blood clots and warn you before they do permanent damage! What’s that worth to you?

Let’s focus on Obesity. We use the watches to meet health goals so it’s not a stretch to assume this helps stave off Obesity.

An estimate of lifetime Obesity Costs is $92,235 per person. This is not directly correlative as it’s personal cost and societal cost. Still, the numbers are staggering.

It’s not hard to draw the conclusion that good health is less expensive than poor health.

You may be purchasing a watch anyways, this one can do much more than Movado’s, Rolex’s and Seiko’s of the world.

Let’s look at the convenience factor. The features I’ve pointed out previously are just the tipping point of what the watch can do.

Just be warned. Once you wear one it’s tough to take it off!

My Wearable Device History

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