[Editor's Note: This was originally posted on the Embedded Master]
I found my wristwatch the other day, and I realized I have not used it for more than ten years. I originally stopped wearing the watch (and rings) when I suffered from an acute case of tendonitis in my wrists. However, I never went back to wearing a watch on my wrist because I found another way to carry the time and date with me – the humble pocket watch – except this pocket watch also doubles as a mobile phone and offers a slew of other useful functions to boot. This got me wondering, do people still wear wristwatches? Is there a correlation between age of the person and whether they wear a wristwatch? What are the reasons that people do or do not wear wristwatches?
I think the answers to these questions may provide some useful insights to embedded developers about making assumptions. HP’s current plans to complete a prototype of a “Dick Tracy” watch within a year suggest that these questions might not be so silly and frivolous. According to the CNN article, the U.S. military plans to test the prototype with a small group of soldiers; the watch may eliminate the need for soldiers to carry cumbersome gear and backup batteries. The article mentions that the watch will use a plastic display and flexible solar panels.
It is not clear that the wristwatch prototype would be able to do anything better than a smart cell phone except that the user can wear it on their wrist instead of somewhere else on their body. Because this watch will be worn on the wrist, the size of the display is necessarily limited; otherwise the watch could become a safety hazard if it is significantly larger than the user’s wrist size. In addition to the constrained display size, there are not a lot of options for providing the user a comprehensive input capability to support the implied sophisticated integrated electronics.
I suspect developing this prototype will cost a large sum of money and engineering resources, and the fact that the money is available for this project makes me wonder if I have underestimated the purported advantage that a wristwatch from factor offers over the form factor flexibility for a cell phone/pocket watch that can be secured to the user in a myriad of ways.
So do you wear a wristwatch? Do you wear one only under certain circumstances? What are your reasons for wearing or not wearing a wristwatch?
If you would like to suggest questions for future posts, please contact me at Embedded Insights.
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So we’ve gone from pocket watches to wrist watches to cell-phone/pocket watches to cell-phone/wrist watches. Interesting cycle.
I used to wear a watch, but haven’t for years. I’m not opposed to getting another one, but the fact that it would only give redundant information that my cell phone already provides does make me wonder why I would ever spend the money on another one.
I’m wearing a wristwatch right now… and, along with some other interests, I am a limited-scope amateur watchmaker. Yup: I obtain mechanical wristwatches from various sources, repair and refurb them (new dials, hands, crystals, mainsprings, etc), and then wear them. I have also purchased movements, cases, hands, dials, and bands from different sources and “built” my own watches.
I also collect, refurb, and use fountain pens. My oldest pen? A 1924 Moore’s… and I have an Eversharp Skyline in my pocket right now.
Yes, I have a cell phone, a laptop, routers, other electronic toys… but there’s nothing like a mechanical watch. Carved from metal by lathes, stamped out by dies, and hand finished, a mechanical watch is alive: the balance “tick tick tick tick” is more akin to a heartbeat than any boring electronic display.
I nearly always wear a wristwatch (as does my 22-year old son). In fact, I recently had to replace it when the pin holding the band broke out of the case.
My biggest complaint about them is that I can rarely find a digital watch as simple as I would like; most have a plethora of dials and functions and have either rubberized or metal-expansion bands. My current watch (and I have bought the same model a number of times over the past 20 or so years) is a plain “chrome” model with a simple metal band. The primary display gives me the day, day of month and time and other displays give me an alarm and a dual-mode stopwatch. The only other feature I have ever had, and which I found useful, was a 2nd time display that I could use for a different time zone.
My son bypasses this issue by using a mechanical, analog wristwatch (something I had to give up a good 30 years ago when I found that my fine, self-winding watch wouldn’t run if I wore it in the apartment I had just moved in to).
I also have a fairly nice mechanical pocket watch, which I sometimes wear for special occasions. Unfortunately, only jeans and vests seem to have watch pockets any more.
I’ve worked with all manner of computers during my career of 20+ years thus far. I have my share of techie gadgets and now I’ve been issued a BlackBerry by my current employer. Wrong turn in London on the way back to the hotel – no problem, GPS and Google Maps to the rescue! But, I’ve never owned a digital watch. It is because of all these computers in my life that I *want* the simplicity of an analog watch on my wrist, and the Citizen I’ve been wearing for some years now integrates a solar cell in the watch face to recharge the internal battery. I’ve also had my great grandfather’s pocket watch restored to use on special occasions.
Now, a wrist radio for the military and first responders makes perfect sense. I’m certain they will find it indispensable.
Only wear a watch when I run, and that is a Timex Ironman, so really only using the stop watch functions. Some things just don’t need all those other features.
I only wear a watch when I’m teaching (Tai Chi or Kung Fu) , and even then only if there is no clock in the room. My phone, PC and laptop tell the time so I don’t need it the rest of the time.
I don’t mind wrist watches but I find the wrist straps can start to smell by the end of the day.
I’ve considered finding and repairing a pocket watch – I think that could be a nice eccentric thing to wear.
I still wear a wristwatch pretty much 24/7. I travel a lot and find that I need a stable time source that can show both the local time zone and what time it is at home. Also, it’s a lot faster to take a covert glance at my wrist to check on meeting progress rather than the more obvious dig the phone out of my pocket and turn it on to see the time (iPhone).
However, I have started to notice fewer people wearing a watch. In fact, I’ve actually had a couple of people come up to me to ask what time it was! That hadn’t happened to me in almost 15 years. But, it’s becoming more common as cell phone’s batteries die and suddenly folks don’t know what time it is.
I can’t really wear a watch because I am allergic to the metal in the cases. Have made due in recent years with the ever becoming more versatile wireless devices.
I agree that a wrist watch is handier than looking at your phone. But I wear a watch for another reason: it is one of the few ways that a man can express a bit of either fashion or elegance (depending on the circumstances). I have about a dozen wrist watches in colors (e.g., red face, black bezel, red and black leather strap) that match or accent my clothing, and they get a lot of compliments. I also have a few that are understated (solid gold or solid black) for formal occasions. These all are a mix of quartz and automatic. Beware of the fact that automatic watches require maintenance by a watchmaker — or even the factory — every few years, which can be surprisingly expensive and take a long time. I don’t like the cluttered look of complications (fortunately, since those raise the prices) but I do like having the date, preferably in large numbers (which unfortunately tends to raise the prices).
Gave up wearing watch after getting addicted to computer and later cell phone. I would still wear one if it has all the features of my cell phone!
I have a thing for cool wristwatches. I currently alternate between a Citizen Skyhawk radio controlled Eco Drive and a Skyhawk Blue Angels Eco Drive model and own a bunch of others (and will probably by more that pique my interest) I usually take my watch off when coding though, as it uncomfortable to type with it on, especially on a laptop.
M.
Like M. I shed my watch as I walk to my desk.
But I still wear watches as, (under many people’s radar) there are a LOT of places in America with zero cell service.
Yes I [still] wear a watch. It’s just too much more convenient than digging the cell phone out of my pocket. Especially since I have to unlock my cell keypad before it will show me the time.
I about gave watches up anyway when I got tired of the expense and inconvenience of replacing batteries, and the occasional time inaccuracies (monthly re-syncing).
But now I have the killer solution… my new watch has an atomic clock radio receiver and a dial face that is a solar panel.
Woot!
As far as future features go, Watchmakers really need to learn an important fact. Most features are very rarely used, and any such feature hidden farther than a single button press away gets relegated to the “completely useless” category, since people don’t want to have to re-figure out how to get to it twice a year. Also, even super-watches with specialty-user high-utility functions will run into the user interface limitations, where there are only so many pixels and buttons that can be crammed into the thing.
-D.
Yes, I still wear a wristwatch. I’m 54 and have been in realtime software development for 34 years. My regular watch is a Timex Expedition. They last around 5 years and cost around $50. It has two time displays, which are great for travel, and three alarms. I use all three. It is my regular alarm clock. I get up at 2:00AM to beat the drive to work in Los Angeles. I rarely use the stop watch or timer functions. I have two Movado dress watches, one classic black and the other white face with Roman numerals. I also have a Revue-Thommen dress watch. (Yes, my name is Thommen.)
I have a weakness for watches, and always wear one.
Remember the Microsoft MSMDirect watches? First available in 2004, going obsolete Jan 1 2012. Yea I had one. Wasn’t very useful. http://direct.msn.com/
I still wear a watch everyday, a bit of a collector. I currently wear a Gerald Genta retrograde watch. I guess a watch is still useful in to pool or at the beach and places with limited pocket space.
Wrist watch sales have gone down for sure, but this appliance is conveniently located and also attached to your wrist (not likely to get lost like cell phone). In addition to fashion and date/time, I think this watch should get rid of the wallet we carry by electronically carrying all types of cards, cash, etc. I think pick pocketer may find it hard to steal, but won’t escape the muggers …
We need some killer apps … we really can’t afford to loose this time honored tradition in my opinion ..
Talking of watches, some of you may have heard of TI’s ez430 chronos watch. It seems to be a good gadget for the embedded developers
They even sell it as a developer’s kit !
Have a look for yourself: http://focus.ti.com/graphics/tool/ez430-chronos_800.jpg
Regards…
A watch and an embedded dev kit in one. Very cool C.. Thanks!
Not at the moment, but usually do. Wife insists I do only because it looks unprofessional not to. For a few years I didn’t, enjoying the game of “find the clock” since so many are around. Now that I must I wear a Movado, black with no markings save a dot for noon (goes nicely with my iPad and B&W attire).
M.Y.’s and E.D.’s comments about taking their watches off reminds of my experience. I would take my watch off as soon as I sat down at my desk. I would put it back on when I left my office, but would take it off and place it on the desk of the person I was meeting with. It was not until my tendinitis flared up and became acute that I realized I had been doing that for about a year. Wearing the wristwatch was not the source of the problem, but it contributed to it. It took more than a year to fully recover from the tendinitis.
I played with the ez430 Chronos watch when it first came out. Very cool platform for demonstrating the various peripherals in the system. Being able to use the USB-based RF access point really drove home the possibilities of using such as form factor. It even has a heart rate monitor that uses a wireless communication link with the “watch.”
I have small wrists, so the watch face and band were a little too large for me to wear comfortably.
I always wear a wrist watch, feeling quite naked without one. As I believe many other people in this thread also think, it is not a small task to bring up the mobile phone from the pocket every now and then. I am also the kind of guy that likes to be up to date with the current time…
I stopped wearing a wrist-watch when I started writing software for embedded devices and started handling evaluation boards that must be protected from all sources of static
My fav wrist-watch was a metallic one and I don’t know why I have never been comfortable with watches having tight-fitting bands. I luved the feeling of my mettalic watch that gave my arm some space to breath. Sadly a metallic watch may cause static issues with boards (or so I was told..). So I stopped wearing one. Now, I rely on my cell-phone for the same.
My wristwatch is far more reliable than my cell phone and far more omnipresent than my laptop or wall clock. I don’t see me getting rid of my watch any time in the foreseeable future.
I know what I would get when I retire from my company .. a wrist watch.
When I was younger I always used to wear a wristwatch; however the cell phone made my wristwatch redundant. Later I found that since my car shows me the time, my laptop shows me the time and even the coffee machine is able to indicate a fairly correct time, then there in no need at all for a wristwatch, unless I am in vacation, escalading a mountain.
I once accidently welded my watch across uncovered capacitor bank bus bars while poking around a high current calibrator. In a shower of sparks as a junior EE it reminded me to always remove it at the electronics bench. If this was the capacitor bank one of my home brew audio amps, this would have been a even more heart racing experience
Have a Casio CPX-200 watch (stainless steel case) which includes a full function scientific calculator. Usually wear it at work: normally do not carry or do not turn on my cell phone. There is no boot time. Have had this watch for 25 years. Useful for computing mileage at the gas pump. As I spend most of my time in front of a computer, it’s usefulness has waned.
Original motivation was that people were always borrowing my calculator and no one ever borrows your watch.
Like the ez430 Chronos kit: cheap, portable and programmable RF link in a “watch” form factor. Many possibilities.
A Great subject….
I have two sons, one is a wrist watch person and always wears it, and the other lost the same watch a while ago…
regarding watches: Two interesting Casio watches: my current watch is a Casio AW-80. it has dual time, stop watch, countdown and two alarms. the best feature is that it can be set upward or downward, yet has the same classic 4 buttons interface. Yes, it also has a phone book, but this is absolutely useless.
Another interesting Casio model is the A158W, which had not been changed, basically, in the last 28 years or so. still sells nicely. do you have any other “technology” product that still sells after 3 decades?
I use an analog timex, white face with black hands for easy reading while running, since I don’t run with my reading glasses. The need for integrating multimedia, sensors and telemetry in a wrist-carry has been worked on for awhile. Here’s something we were working on, called AgilePac, 18 years ago. Shows how far we’ve come and how far we’ve yet to go. http://tinyurl.com/SAIC-RawlingsS71 . Credits: Dr. Roger Johnson, SAIC Center for Mobile Computing Technologies, Pat Rawlings.
I misplaced my watch over a year ago now and only wore it sporadically prior to that. It is/was a self-wind/solar powered/atomic-clock radio synchronizing thing (probably like Dan T.’s) that I bought at Costco for an excellent price. As low-maintenance as it gets. But now that I have an iphone I don’t miss it.
When a cellphone was just a cellphone, I didn’t use the clock on the cellphone. But since I must look at my iphone at least a dozen times a day for other reasons, it is natural to use that clock. Not that time means that much to me anyway (and even less since the layoff) …
what is a wristwatch -:) ?
I love my Citizen’s Eco Drive. Looks good, very simple, and the hands are a statement that I like the tried and true old way of doing things.
My father told me he would buy me a watch if I was a good boy in hospital. I was seven at the time. It was 1980. I must have been good! Well, probably I just endured my week or so in hospital like any child would – lonely and out of sorts. Anyway, when I came home my father gave me my first watch. I had to stay at home for a few days and I remember “Coward of the County” playing on the radio while my mother did the housework. The watch was actually a little ladies digital watch (though I didn’t know that at the time) and I remember it had a dark blue face and could dispplay the date. And if you pressed the button again it would show seconds. The seconds seemed to merge one into the next, slowly it seemed, slower than a second should be. I was delighted with it and thought it made me a big boy – almost a man. I had my own watch.
I wear a wristwatch most of the time. It isn’t a digital one. I prefer one with a dial. Sometimes digging in my pocket for my cell phone just to see the time isn’t worth it. I have many meetings and like just to look quickly.
I was given a calculator watch for my birthday recently (and have yet to actually calculate anything with it, but am really looking forward to doing so). This might seem silly, but I do like the fact that I don’t have to reach into my pocket to check the time.
Also, I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on it, especially from teens. This reminds me that watches are considered an accessory. As an engineer, function and efficiency are important, but we might want to recognize that watches can be fashion accents. For some, this is important. In fact, who doesn’t also consider what a watch looks like when purchasing it? Form can be just as important as function.
Indeed, as I commented earlier, men (most men anyway*) have few accessory options for expressing a little bit of tasteful fashion, ties being the obvious one. I like to add a touch of red to my otherwise routine black blazer and gray slacks. The blazer buttons are custom made for me, being red on black rimmed with gold. Since I often tend not to wear a tie (but if I do, I have many with different subtle black/gray/red themes), a watch is the next most obvious accessory.
I have a variety of watches with various combination’s of black and red and gold, including a dress-style gold Rolex with a custom-made red dial and black leather strap that can be swapped for a red leather strap when I want to over-do it sometimes. That watch gets a lot of compliments and questions (“How did you get a red Rolex dial?” No problem, you can get a Rolex done in absolutely any imaginable, and many unimaginable, ways).
* I used to work with a quite senior DoD civilian employee who had red fingernail polish on his fingernails — and made faux red toenails on his white shoes! He also had shoulder length hair dyed bright red. Lucky thing that he was super-smart, this didn’t seem to impede his career as far as I could tell.
I wear a binary LED watch….what else would a software engineer wear?
It was a gag gift from a friend, but you won’t believe how many conversations have started with strangers staring in amazement at my watch. Always fun explaining binary to someone without a computer/engineering background.
“A man with one watch always knows what time it is. A man with two is never sure.” – old proverb
I still wear a nice analog wristwatch with day and date windows. I feel naked without it. However, I find that I take it off when I’m working on the computer because it irritates me when it’s on the wrist rest.
I only look at my cell phone time when I’m setting a clock in the house or car, because I know it will be the correct time. Other than that, I always look at my watch (or sometimes at my naked wrist…)
Cutting corners is never good engineering. Neither is ‘band-aid solutions’.
These are simply good accounting/time management.
Safety aside, a good engineer will always find ways to improve something – a sly engineer will only do the bare minimum and hand it on for someone else to worry about. The trick is to be somewhere in the middle.
Well, I am very unhappy at the moment that I can’t find my wristwatch. I do wood working as a hobby and its a bad idea to wear the watch with the power tools. I remember taking it off, but can’t find it now. I am very unhappy.
It was a analog quartz watch. About as simple as you can get. And I still hope to find it.
I like mechanical watches but don’t have one at the moment. I prefer analog clocks and watches and even have a analog display on my cell phone.
I wear a watch most of the time, except when doing heavy, dirty work or work where the watch could get damaged. It is not uncomfortable when working at the computer. When I forget to put it on, I miss it terribly, even though I carry my cell phone most of the time- it is just so much more convenient for time/date than a cell/pda/i*.
I use a Timex Ironman now, although I have used each variation of that PDA-In-A-Watch since its inception. I wear them out then replace them. They are getting harder to find, unfortunately.
This gives me the ability to only load those “wrist-apps” that I want, and reduce complexity to the level I wish. I use the contacts list, notepad, time, date. timers and stopwatch functions. It gives me multi-timezones and updates with a simple computer connection when convenient for me.
The original version of this watch communicated with an optical UART by “showing” the watch to the CRT. Now that so few CRTs are in use, the USB connection does the trick, although I don’t like having to use a physical connection.
A nice battery-powered mechanical watch is an alternate watch I use when appropriate.
… and use a wrist rest? Like piano, your wrist should not rest. And stainless steel linked bands adjsuted with a bit of slack should leave your wrist clean and nontendonitist(sp?). Nice with a binary display, but I’d rather the analog which gives me a spatial feeling of temporal location. Of course wood shop or the garage work means “in-the-pocket”. Electronics lab only off when high voltage or soldering. Static strap and ground otherwise. “Too much time on my hands, just, ticking away” (Styx)
Posted my 65 year old Gruen in a box on my nightstand. Love the mechanical, but can’t afford the upkeep in servicing. Bought a $20 NexXtech analogue display with only a sweep second hand as a feature. And it “ticks”.