THERE was never any doubt that I would buy an Apple Watch on the day it was released. I’m a White House correspondent for The New York Times, but I’m also that early-adopter guy.
Buying the watch has led to the inevitable questions from friends and family: “What do you think? Should I get one of those?”
My
search for an answer reminds me of a similar period nearly a decade
ago, in the months after I stood in line for several hours at an Apple Store in Arlington, Va., to be among the first to spend $599 on the original iPhone. The Apple employees cheered as I emerged with the phone.
The next day, I was on a Southwest flight to New Hampshire to cover Fred Thompson,
the late actor and senator, who was then running for president. As I
sat in my aisle seat, playing with the phone, a crowd formed. First the
flight attendants. Then passengers. They all wanted to see the crazy new
device in action.
But back then, it was hard to recommend to my fellow reporters on the campaign trail that they ditch their BlackBerrys. The iPhone’s
on-screen keyboard made typing a clunky business. The phone couldn’t
connect with most workplace email systems. Cell service (limited to
AT&T) was slow and flaky at best. Battery life was short. There was
no App Store. The iPhone didn’t even have a “cut and paste” feature.
There
was just a sense — largely unrealized at the time — that somehow this
device was the future, while using my thumb to scroll through a
black-and-white list of emails on my BlackBerry was the past. Surfing
the web, reading email, listening to music, checking the weather and
stocks — all on one device. It was revolutionary.
When
colleagues asked, I was honest about the limitations even as I gushed
about the technological potential. Most of my friends listened politely,
tried to type on the screen with their thumbs, and then stuck with the
BlackBerry.
The watch feels as if it is at a similar place.
For
the same $599, which gets you a model with a 42-millimeter
stainless-steel case, the Apple Watch is a slave to a user’s iPhone,
relying on the larger device for processing and communications. It has
no GPS or cellular capability. It can run apps, but slowly. And without
any keyboard, it requires voice dictation, which is still far from
perfect. In most cases, opening an app on the iPhone is still a far
better experience.
Like
the original iPhone, the watch also feels like a physical compromise.
The case is bigger and bulkier than the ideal device you would want to
strap to your wrist. And while battery life is amazing for a device this
small — routinely almost 24 hours on a single charge — it still
requires that I remember to pop the watch onto a charger every night.
And yet, after almost eight months, the Apple Watch feels like the future to me.
More
than anything else, the watch has changed the way I communicate via
email and text messages. Using Apple’s VIP feature, I direct all of the
most important messages to my watch, which alerts me with a subtle tap
on my wrist or a soft ding. I ignore most after a quick glance. (Sorry,
Mom.) Many get a quick “O.K.” or “Sounds good.” I pull out my phone only
for the ones I need to respond to at length.
The
same is true for phone calls, which appear on my watch while my phone
remains tucked away in my pocket, or still at my desk on the other side
of the office. It’s like Caller ID for my wrist.
The
watch has also become my first stop for personal scheduling. I use it
to check the weather (the current temperature is right there on the
watch face) and to see at a glance what my next appointment is. My
OpenTable app taps my wrist when a restaurant reservation is coming up.
The eBay app lets me know when I’ve won, or lost, an auction — no phone
required. Tracking deliveries is effortless.
By
far, the most futuristic achievement on the watch is Apple Pay, which
works flawlessly. Buy something, double-click the button on the watch
and wave it next to the cash register. Ding. It’s like magic — where it
is accepted. But because that’s a very limited universe of retail stores
and restaurants, I still have to carry around my wallet, full of credit
cards.
A
few apps have become second nature now. I regularly use the watch’s
timer when I cook: “Siri, set a timer for 45 minutes.” My boarding
passes are now on my watch, which means I don’t have to fumble for my
phone in the airport security line. When I record the White House press secretary during an Air Force One
gaggle, I don’t have to hold my iPhone close to his mouth. I just hold
up my wrist. (It looks kind of funny, but works well.) Changing the
temperature of my Nest thermostats at home is easier on my watch than on
my phone.
So what’s the answer? Should you buy an Apple Watch now?
I’m
tempted to say “no” for most people. Most of what it does, your phone
already does better. And the Apple Watch, even with recent sales, is
pricier than competing smartwatches that do similar things. By that
logic, you should wait until next year, when Apple’s relentless drive to
innovate will have improved the watch’s hardware and software. Or wait
until 2019, when the fifth generation of the device has unimagined new
features.
But
after eight months, I’m convinced that people will eventually view a
smartwatch as an essential purchase. And waiting endlessly for the “next
great thing” means missing out on all the small ways that the watch
already can improve your life. So unless you want to be one of those
people who hang on to their BlackBerrys forever, go ahead and get one.
You won’t regret it.
