De-Converging Technology - Smart watches
What is De-converging
For the full introduction, check out the previous post De-converging Technology - Introduction. This is part of an ongoing ramblings about my attempt to start deconverging my technology.
De-converging, or de-convergence, is the opposite of converging or convergence. It’s a made-up word. The gist, the feeling, is that it’s breaking apart these bits of technology that we’ve melded together for convenience. Western society, and much of the world from what I gather, is constantly aiming to make the technology we use more convenient and do more and more functions, i.e. the smart phone. There are many benefits to this convenience and convergence, but there are also many unforeseen consequences.
Unlike the previous entry smart watches are unlikely to be as difficult of an item for most folks to deconverge from, HOWEVER, I do think that removing them from your technology toolbox has a greater and outsized benefit versus using them. I am also speaking from a position of not having a health need for one. So if you find that your smart watch’s health features are necessary that’s perfectly okay. The key to thise whole series is for me to figure out how to be more mindful of my technology use.
What’s so smart about a Smart Watch?
Smart watches are interesting because as a watch they’re…fine. They tell the time. You can set alarms with them. You can use them for stop watches and timers. But their battery life is pretty terrible compared to an old school cheap Timex, so what makes them so special? Apps. The answer is always apps. You can control your music from your smartwatch, but you can also stream music straight from your watch in many instances. You can take notes from your watch, answer texts and chats, even check your calendar. And of course all of the health apps. Track your steps, your breathing, your heart rate, your elevation, your excercises, everything! You also get all your notifications conveniently on your wrist so you don’t have to pull out your phone.
But with all the cool things the smart watch can do, the key is much like with our smartphones…how much of that are you actually using, and what is your tradeoff?
They can’t DING be that BUZZBUZZ distracting BLOOP can they?
I found that after the initial “cool factor” of the smart watch wore off, I tended to use it to pause my music sometimes, track my sleep, sometimes, track my excercise, sometimes, and check my notificaitons. I found that I’d generally pull my phone to control my music and now that I’m using an iPod that means I no longer need that funcitonality. I tracked my sleep so infrequenetly with the watch, and can feel when I slept badly, that it doesn’t seem worth wearing to bed. Tracking excercise was nice, but I’d generally forget to even turn it on, and it didn’t track indoor treadmill walking very well, so I’d end up using my phone as the pedometer.
In the end my smart watch is a watch that also shows me notifications from my phone. And it’s that second piece that has me de-converging my smart watch. I found that because of all the notifications I get from my phone, my watch was just as much a distraction as my phone. I’d get a text or chat and check it on my watch first, then bring out my phone while at the dinner table, or I’d get an email and check it on my wrist briefly while playing games with my son, halting our time together for something not super important. And yes, you can disable those notifications, but then you miss things that are actually important. I find that the problem isn’t the notifications by themselves, but also the consistency and timing.
Conclusion
When I’m spending time with the family, I like to leave my phone charging in another room so that I’m not tempted to check it. But with a smart watch that’s moot. However if I leave my smart watch in the other room, now I don’t have my watch to tell the time, and unlike in the 90’s, there’s not a clock in every room anymore. So what do I do?
It’s pretty simple, but I bought a Casio digital watch for $20. It has a supposed battery life of 3 years, is water resistant, and does 24 hour time. It even has stopwatch capabilities and an alarm. It does all the clock/watch things. But there’s no notificaitons. No distractions. And if I break it, it’s not $200 down the drain. It has a replacable battery so in 3 years if it still works I can just replace that and keep using it. It’s a single-purpose tool, and it’s glorious.