Here's a a double feature about game console history: two YouTube videos that were released in the past few days. While the videos are unconnected, both are great quality little documentaries and I think when watched together offer an interesting contrast between the two worlds that existed at the time.

The Untold History of the Nintendo Entertainment System (45 min) by The Video Game History Foundation documents how the NES was launched in the US 40 years ago. While I was familiar with the main story, many of the details were totally new to me, including the prototypes and the initial ideas of what the NES might have been, and could well have been had the market and initial test audiences reacted differently.

The Hunt for the Lost Communist Console (18 min) by fern looks at the BSS-01, a video game console manufactured in East Germany in 1979. It was the only game console released in the country and I think somewhat similar to the Soviet console Turnir, as both used the same AY-3-8500 chipset imported from the West and offered a collection of Pong clones.

A family member of mine recently got a cheap smart watch online. They weren't planning to use it with a phone app for privacy/security reasons. They thought using it without a phone would be fine, since they just wanted it for the time and for the health features like steps, blood pressure, blood oxygen, sleep tracking, etc. and didn't need to see their texts or other notifications on the watch.

Unfortunately, when we tested the watch, we found that basically all of the features required connecting to a shady no-name company's app. You couldn't even set the time! You can't set the time on a watch without an app!

Also, the watch was a bit bulky for their wrist, and they would prefer a slimmer one.

People of Tildes, do you know of any smart watches that allow you to use the health tracking features without ever connecting to a smartphone? If so, are there any that are slimmer instead of being bulky?