Old Apple Watch: A Gift That Can Save A Life

I passed on getting the Apple Watch when it went on sale in April of 2015.  I ended up with one as a gift.  And with the introduction of the Apple Watch Series 2 by Apple on September 7th of this year, it had enough new features that I ended up ordering one for myself.  So with the one that I currently own now, I've decided to pass it on instead of keeping it as a collection of some sort (I have a very small watch collection but I just don't see the Apple Watch in the same light yet - I'll get into that later).  

It was an easy choice to make as to who I was going to pass my AWS1 (Apple Watch Series 1).  First, I wanted to make sure it was someone who was going to take good care of is.  More importantly, I wanted to make sure that the individual was going to make the most of it.

My own Apple Watch experience evolves around the Activity App which records calories burnt, minutes spent on active workout that day, and how many times I've stood up from sitting down.  I'm also very interested in the Apple Watch's role as a pedometer, the metric by which many people I know use to gauge their daily activities (the Move ring of the Activity App shows calories and I still don't know how Apple takes that measurement).

So I found a friend who was an avid walker and, at times, a light jogger.  The Apple Watch was made perfectly for him.  And he works for a company that offers incentives to stay active and often has challenges to various teams to increase their levels of activities.  My Apple Watch will play an instrumental role in helping him stay on top of his activities and, hopefully, help his team win these challenges.

I'm not sure if he'll be into the notification feature.  I generally turn off notifications and sounds for the watch to conserve battery life.  I reckon it will be the same for him as well.  Once the Pokemon Go app for the watch is released, then I think it will be a different story.

I will be without the Apple Watch for a few days - the Apple Watch Edition version I ordered won't be here until the middle of next week.  I'll be heading out for a big run the next day.  I look forward to  playing and testing it out on the road.

So, if you've got an old Apple Watch, pass it along to someone who will make good use of it.  Use it in the way that best emphasizes the great features Apple built into it.  And who knows, the Apple Watch may be a life saver that Apple is trying to make it to be.

New Way to Name The iPhone - An Apple-Only Opportunity to Change How Mobile Is Updated

Before Apple came out with the iPhone 7 on September 7th last week, their invitation had a play on the "7" and I was sort of sure that Apple would be fooling us about the naming scheme and actually end up calling the iPhone 7 just the iPhone or move onto another naming format.  I was wrong.

Sorta.

Like many others, I still believe the current naming scheme is unsustainable and would really think Apple will go with iPhone 20 thirteen years from now?  

With nearly identical form factors between the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, and the iPhone 7, it would have been a perfect time for Apple to abandon it.  However, perhaps, next year would be a better time to do just that when Apple do release the next iPhone with a rumored new form factor.  

Here's why.  Apple had just gotten rid of the headphone jack.  Get that out of the way first - for whatever reason Apple truly got rid of it, let it be a distraction this year rather than next year when Apple truly ups its game next year.  It could be the same reason why Apple might wait until next year for the naming scheme.  

Whatever Apple does with the names and the new iPhone (I refuse to call it the iPhone 7S or iPhone 8), the new technology, form, and "wow" factor could be just what's needed for Tim Cook and company to go ahead and change things up for the naming of the iPhone.  It would serve as a distraction for the self-serving tech media.

More importantly, if Apple does it right and use the new naming scheme as an opportunity, it could well redefine how the iPhone and other iOS devices are perceived in the years to come - never having to worry about the dual-year update schedule with the form and really change how people think about updating their iPhones and other mobile devices. 

The new iPhone 7 this year, in and of itself, is a worthy update.  There is no doubt about that especially for folks who are pre-iPhone 6S.  It would have been nice to see early on how Apple wants  to change how the iPhone fits in our daily mobile routine and the upgrade cycle.