My my, did I clearly gloss over how beautiful that brushed titanium finish is on the Series 5 edition models. I don't think Apple's renders on the Watch product page do it justice; but Stephen's...
My my, did I clearly gloss over how beautiful that brushed titanium finish is on the Series 5 edition models. I don't think Apple's renders on the Watch product page do it justice; but Stephen's photos here demonstrate just how gorgeous that texture is: I'm still a ceramic boy myself, and will hold out for a S6 so I can take advantage of more cumulative iterations on the Apple Watch line, but that Titanium finish is so tempting.
I do disagree with Stephen's interpretation that the S5 isn't an entirely iterative update though: it's for a large part mostly consisting of two new hardware features: the always on display, which is the flagship feature, and the addition of a compass—which has questionable utility outside of niche uses like recording a hike. I've done dayhikes and overnighters with the Apple Watch before, and it becomes a pain for anything more than a single day of hiking. If you're doing an all-day exercise, like a day of a multi-day hike, you have to take your charger and bundle a battery pack with you, which is just annoying. It's definitely a shoehorned use. So that leaves dayhikes... I guess you might use the compass then? But how often is route-finding necessary on a dayhike? I doubt it's very often.
That always on display though... that's the important update, and as he mentions, relieves you of the huge social burden of performing that glancing motion as you flick your wrist and glare at your watch display. Luckily I'm not in nearly enough meetings to worry about this too much, but it has other uses too: often when rowing, biking, or running, the display will turn off unless it senses that all too familiar wrist flick motion. That's a key series of moments when I do want to see my watch display to check my pace, see my heart rate, or check my distance covered—and performing that check is often physically hindered by the motion of your workout. So the S5 is a huge win in that category.
This further cements my opinion that phones are boring. They're a solved category of problems. The real innovation is happening on our wrists. Apple Watch is the star of the show and probably the biggest part of Apple's future.
My my, did I clearly gloss over how beautiful that brushed titanium finish is on the Series 5 edition models. I don't think Apple's renders on the Watch product page do it justice; but Stephen's photos here demonstrate just how gorgeous that texture is: I'm still a ceramic boy myself, and will hold out for a S6 so I can take advantage of more cumulative iterations on the Apple Watch line, but that Titanium finish is so tempting.
I do disagree with Stephen's interpretation that the S5 isn't an entirely iterative update though: it's for a large part mostly consisting of two new hardware features: the always on display, which is the flagship feature, and the addition of a compass—which has questionable utility outside of niche uses like recording a hike. I've done dayhikes and overnighters with the Apple Watch before, and it becomes a pain for anything more than a single day of hiking. If you're doing an all-day exercise, like a day of a multi-day hike, you have to take your charger and bundle a battery pack with you, which is just annoying. It's definitely a shoehorned use. So that leaves dayhikes... I guess you might use the compass then? But how often is route-finding necessary on a dayhike? I doubt it's very often.
That always on display though... that's the important update, and as he mentions, relieves you of the huge social burden of performing that glancing motion as you flick your wrist and glare at your watch display. Luckily I'm not in nearly enough meetings to worry about this too much, but it has other uses too: often when rowing, biking, or running, the display will turn off unless it senses that all too familiar wrist flick motion. That's a key series of moments when I do want to see my watch display to check my pace, see my heart rate, or check my distance covered—and performing that check is often physically hindered by the motion of your workout. So the S5 is a huge win in that category.
This further cements my opinion that phones are boring. They're a solved category of problems. The real innovation is happening on our wrists. Apple Watch is the star of the show and probably the biggest part of Apple's future.
I will never understand the appeal of California dials