Tag: apple

Early Adopter Chronicles: the Apple Watch

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I got it for focus, not fecundity of features.

All I do with it is check the time, weather, my physical (in)activity, reminders (with Clear or Fantastical; there’s no Apple reminders app—yet?). Occasionally it’ll alert me when VIP emails or messages have come in. Even more occasionally, I’ll Apple Pay for juice at Whole Foods. When I’d like some musical accompaniment for my jogs, I’ll play music from the watch through bluetooth headphones. That’s it.
Apple Watch, hot or not?
And that’s great. It has really cut down my screen time, reducing it from an average of an hour a day to just over 20 minutes per day (as measured by Moment), allowing me to dedicate more focus to tasks at hand. Were I to use my iPhone for the tasks above, all too soon, I’d be lost in the wealth of apps and possibilities that just unlocking my iPhone and launching one app exposes me to. If one of the main goals of the Apple Watch is to limit distraction, it’s working. Sure, it’s tech to deal with tech, but I love it. I’m curious to see if it continues to keep me simultaneously connected and focused with watchOS 2.

I already feel weird not wearing this thing.

The Ease of Laundering Pocketable Technology, part 2

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What the sliz? It still works!

laundered iPod nano still woks!

With the poor contrast in this image, it’s hard to tell, but as far as I can tell, but after two days of letting this laundered iPod nano sit unactivated, it’s totally functional: touchscreen responds normally, battery charges, sound output through headphones sounds fine… wow.

Is this device sealed up really good or was it because the iPod went through an efficiency washed with a full load (and therefore didn’t get totally soaked through)? Or both? Whatever the case, looks like I may still be able to recommerce this one!

( And in case you’re wondering what’s on the iPod screen, it’s one of the recent Story of Stuff podcasts. )

The Ease of Laundering Pocketable Technology

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This week, my iPod nano went through a colors cycle in a washing machine, forcing me to update my iProduct Consumption chart: nearly 1.5 decades of Apple devices. In case you’re curious, the 4th-gen iPod shuffle worked fine after it made it out of the laundry and dried; I’m waiting to see what happens with this 7th-gen one.

iProduct-consumption,-July-2014

And no, I don’t have tons of disposable income. My major expenditures on consumables fall into the categories of food, books and tech Continue reading →