

Want An iPod Nano Watch? So Does Everyone. New Kickstarter King - rblion
http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/24/ipod-nano-watch/

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baddox
I would be interested to know how many of you even wear a watch at all. I
haven't since the very early 2000s.

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Erwin
I have a semi-expensive Swiss automatic (i.e. fully mechanical, no
quartz/electronic stuff, recharged by moving your hand around). I bought it
with unexpectedly large proceeds from a side consulting job later turned into
full time. It has a glass back, so you can take it off and see the gears
moving.

Given my work is all so ethereal, moving electrons around and sometimes
turning them into photons, it's nice to have something mechanical, hand-
crafted nearby.

It also has some permanence -- all the electronic gadgets, where I live, whom
I live with, what I wear etc. has been switched out over the last decade, but
not this watch.

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baddox
No quartz? How does it keep time?

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lucasjung
Using a part called an "escapement." This explains it clearly and succinctly,
right at the top:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_watch>

EDIT: Seiko created a hybrid watch that I think is really cool. Like a
traditional mechanical watch, the sole source of power is a spring, which in
turn is wound by the movements of the wearer. However, in place of an
escapement, it uses part of the power from the spring to create just enough
electric current to excite a quartz crystal, which provides the timing source
for the mechanical movements of the watch. Unlike other watches (mechanical or
electronic), the second hand doesn't move in steps, but rather rotates
smoothly and continuously around the face:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiko_spring_drive>

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rriepe
What's funny about this is that you can go on Amazon _right now_ and buy
something like this.

it's not an original idea by ANY means. Pure execution. And people love it.

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dpcan
Not only that, but there's a nice looking MP3 playing watch with FM Radio,
voice recorder, AND 1GB USB Flash Drive.

Just needs bluetooth ear buds.

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philipn
I wrote up an analysis that explores these sort of Kickstarter "product
sales":

[http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2010/11/the-pros-and-cons-of-
usin...](http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2010/11/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-
kickstarter-to-fundraise316.html)

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proudhorn
It was linked to by Gruber who iz truly the "Oprah of Kickstarter" Apple
related projects

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buddydvd
Unlike regular watches, it seems like you need to press a button on the side
to wake it up to see the time. If so, that's quite inconvenient.

<http://vimeo.com/16647049> (jump to 2:23)

In any case, it's still a neat idea.

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InclinedPlane
iPods use emissive displays (backlit LCDs) at a high refresh rate which use
far more power than the low refresh rate entirely reflective displays on most
watches. If the display on the iPod watch was always on it'd have unusably
small battery life.

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buddydvd
Right, I understand. My point is that iPod Nano just doesn't seem to work well
as a watch. If Apple were to design a watch, I don't think it would require
people to push a button to view the time.

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ZeroGravitas
Should I find it unusual that an expensive, exclusive and showy gadget with
very poor features and terrible usability is feted so highly by Apple fans?

I know the only difference from usual is the extreme lack of usability but
wasn't that supposed to be the important bit?

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modeless
I don't want one of these, but I'd buy a watch with a Mirasol display and a
wireless connection to the iPhone in my pocket for push notifications and iPod
control.

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karanbhangui
Kinda like these guys: <http://www.getinpulse.com/>

Except it's for blackberry.

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modeless
Yeah, like that! Very cool, although their OLED screen means it's probably not
on all the time, which makes it less useful as a watch. For the concept to
really work it has to be effortless to check at a glance, because if you're
going to be fiddling with it you might as well just take your phone out of
your pocket.

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ZeroGravitas
Sony Ericsson has the LiveView for Android:

[http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overvie...](http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overview/liveview)

Again it's OLED, but they've also had 3 analogue watch models for a while
which integrate with any phone with bluetooth:

[http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overvie...](http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overview/mbw-150musicedition)

