this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Apple quickly pivoted it to a health tracking device. newer model have even medical grade ECG, blood oxygen level, fall and crash detection, etc. plus the usual activity tracking (steps, calories, workouts)
That's pretty cool. Is that actually useful for most people?
I think so, yeah. For example if I crash my motorbike it will ask if I'm OK and call emergency services, providing them with my location, name, next of kin, etc if I don't respond.
So far, I've hit the "I'm OK" button the few times that feature has activated, but one day I might not be so lucky.
Mostly though, I like being able to see the accurate time (without needing to adjust it occasionally), the weather forecast, my next calendar schedule, a "traffic is normal" message while getting ready for work in the morning*, and read notifications without taking my phone out of my pocket.
(* if there's a car accident on my commute, my watch tells me to leave for work early, and which route is best to avoid the worst of the traffic)
The newer watches also have better screens, faster processors, more RAM, etc etc... and also lithium batteries don't last forever. So I seriously doubt anyone is actually using an eight year old watch unless they've had the battery replaced at least a couple times. They're not really designed to be taken apart so the cost to replace the battery isn't much cheaper than just upgrading to the new/better model.
Are there any good non-Apple equivalents for health tracking? Something that does pulse-ox for example, but isn't stuck in the walled garden.
non-apple, yes. not stuck in a waller garden, I dont think so (garmin, and samsung make some alternatives)