**Dreaming up the Perfect Watch: A Conversation with Joe**

In this episode of the Android Authority Friday Debate Podcast, we're diving into the world of wearable technology and discussing what makes a dream watch. Our host, Joe, shares his thoughts on what he'd want in an ideal smartwatch. "I would want The Best of Both Worlds," he says. "I still want the real ticking turning gears like a chronograph, but then if you have the watch face behind the arms that are doing the hour and the minute and the second, those hands would go translucent and it would just become a screen."

Joe's idea is to create a seamless user experience between the physical watch face and the digital interface. He envisions a slap band-style watch with a tall screen on it that turns on automatically when you put it on your wrist. "It would be amazing," he says, "and it would blend in because it's not like you're trying too hard to be a certain way." This concept is inspired by the Martian Smartwatch, which has a tiny LED screen on the bottom.

We also explore why smartwatches haven't taken off as much as expected. According to Joe, despite the hype around wearable technology when they first launched in 2014, it hasn't quite reached mainstream success. We discuss some of the reasons behind this, including the lack of compelling use cases and the difficulty of creating an intuitive user experience.

**A Conversation with Lan**

In a separate conversation, we chat with our guest, Lan, about his thoughts on smartwatches. Joe jokingly teases him for not being much of a watch person, but Lan shares some interesting insights. "I've been waiting for this whole podcast to say something," he says, referring to the topic of smartwatches. "Want this extremely hipster thing every episode like clockwork man."

**The Android Authority Friday Debate Podcast**

Throughout our conversation, we're reminded that the Android Authority Friday Debate Podcast is all about exploring new topics and ideas. We discuss how wearables might encompass a whole range of devices, from smartwatches to fitness trackers. Joe also thanks us for having him on the show and invites our listeners to join us for future episodes.

**Social Media Links**

As we wrap up this episode, we'd like to remind you that you can follow all of us – Joe, John, and Lan – on social media. Our handles are listed in the links section below. You can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms. Don't forget to rate and review our podcast on iTunes and Stitcher to help us reach a wider audience.

**Subscribe and Support**

Finally, we'd like to invite you to subscribe to the Android Authority Friday Debate Podcast on your favorite platform. If you're not already subscribed, please hit that subscribe button and start listening to new episodes every week. We'd also love it if you could rate and review our podcast to help us grow our audience.

**Special Thanks**

We want to extend a special thank you to our listeners for tuning in to this episode. Your support means the world to us, and we're grateful for your engagement with our show. If you have any suggestions or ideas for future episodes, please don't hesitate to reach out to us on social media.

**About the Podcast**

The Android Authority Friday Debate Podcast is a weekly discussion of topics related to Android technology. We explore new ideas, interview experts in the field, and provide analysis on the latest developments in the world of Android. Join us every week for fresh perspectives and insightful conversations.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello everybody and welcome to the Friday debate podcast episode number four yes we are getting we're moving up in the world a little bit we are now on our fourth episode as I have trouble speaking I'm going to apologize right off the bat I am of course Joshua Rara from Andrew Authority what's going on everybody I'm a little bit under the weather uh so hopefully our prestigious guests are going to be able to pick up the slack where I made maybe coughing in the background I'm uh joined by two of our three normal guests and we have one uh new guest for today we have Joseph Hindi and Jonathan feice how's it going guys hey internet doing well thank you well um they are both um super healthy at the moment so like I said they're probably going to talk more than me in this particular podcast but that's perfectly fine because um I I want to give a quick shout out to to Andrew grush our lovely gushy is out for this week um uh let's just say uh he ran into a little bit of trouble and I really wish he could have been on this podcast along with the four of us because it would have been great to hear Andrew grush on meds while he was on the podcast he's he's got a little bit of a dental thing going on so best of luck to you gushy uh recover very soon and enjoy the meds um but our fourth today is our fellow YouTuber Lon Wen um and I want to go ahead and hand it over to L real quick um you know for our viewers on YouTube you may be watching our uh podcast video on YouTube for the benefit of those of you who aren't on podcast streams just yet but remember that the Android uh Authority Friday debate podcast can be found on all of the different podcast networks iTunes pocketcast Stitcher uh we're very close to SoundCloud like I keep saying uh I promise that's coming very soon but you can find it all there but nonetheless let's hand it over to Lan Lan why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself to our podcast listeners and tell us what you do here at Android authority hey what's up guys uh so uh you some of you guys already know me cuz I'm uh I'm part of the YouTube team and uh I review phones and tablets and wearables all that good stuff so if you guys follow us on the channel then you've probably seen a lot of my work and you'll probably see uh some articles that I write for like cases and accessories on the site as well too so uh and uh I'm here on the Friday debate this is my second time but uh it's good to be here so yeah yeah for uh for anyone that may not have followed us since the beginning here at the Friday debay podcast lawn was on our pilot episode that we recorded live at CES 2015 um speaking of which I do want to say that uh NWC is only a couple of weeks away and uh we have the distinct pleasure obviously of being there um I will not be there alone as the sole YouTuber this time around laan will be coming as well so you can expect a live episode from us we're probably going to have Darcy lauve on that particular episode as well and maybe a couple of special guests so it might be uh it might be an episode that gets a little nuts because we have a lot of people all in one room talking at One microphone most likely so nonetheless um I want to welcome everybody once again to the fourth episode of the Friday debate podcast and this week we're talking about wearables which is why I think it's great that we have lawn on the episode because this is more of a device Centric podcast this time around I'm going to go ahead and read off our topic for this week of course created by gushy the architect of the Friday debate every single week on Android authority.com for years now companies have been claiming that wearables will be the next big thing not to quote Samsung it's 2015 and still wearable devices are Niche at best with Apple HTC and likely many other players entering into the game this year what will it take for smart watches to go mainstream what features would make you buy one or do you think that they will always remain Niche now uh to begin our disc discussion here on wearables I am going to hand it over to Lan once again since you are our guest for this week and I want to ask you what are your thoughts on wearable technology um like right now I think it's kind of I don't know like I don't think it's really taken off the way that I think a lot of these oems have sort of wanted it to take off and I feel like it's still like very like the only people that really want to wear them are like the the like people like us like the techy guys and I don't know I I think it's just it's not it's not having that that appeal that that they're sort of anticipating and I think some of it has to do with maybe just the functionality and uh I don't know cuz like for even for me like I don't feel that compelled to always wear like my Moto 360 all the time because I don't feel like it really changes my life drastically and I I think for people to want to buy into these things uh there has to be like a big incentive for for them to use it that that will actually change the way they use their phones or really augment the way they use their phones and I don't really think it's doing that right now and for me like I would like to it's probably never going to happen but I'd like to be able to text from my phone or text from my SmartWatch actually be able to like physically input like messages and not always speak it out loud but that's probably never going to happen but I think if if that did happen I think that would actually sort of help that would actually make more people want to adopt one because right now everything's just kind of like uh I don't know it's not it's it's like it's nice to have but you don't necessarily have to have it it's it's cool to be able to check the weather on my wrist and stuff like that but it's almost it's not that much more difficult for me to pull my phone out of my pocket and just unlock and look at a widget or something so I don't know it's just I think that's why it's it hasn't really taken off yet it's just hasn't it's not as compelling as they're hoping it to be okay um how about you guys Joe and John um let's start off with Joe okay um I think uh I think law touched on it the the biggest reason when he said that you know it's there's not really a use for it um like when you look at other technology that like literally everybody uses you look at computers and you look at smartphones um they fill a very huge void that was you know unfilled before like you know before smartphones you know the best we could do was play snake on a Nokia phone and like talk and text with the T9 keyboard and those things were trash and everybody knows it um W wo wo wo T9 was amazing back in the day I got to say like uh I do I hated T9 really yeah I couldn't I I'm an idiot so like I could never get figure out exactly how it worked and it was like by the time I got a phone that was able to use it it was like right around the corner was the quity keyboards so there was like a good like three or four month window there where I was trying to use T9 and I was like screw this I'm going quiry and never went back I love T9 cuz like that was like the only time where I was able to actually text and not look at my phone yeah exactly you can't do that nowadays it's hard to like text and not be able to and not look at your phone but T9 I was able to do that on the Fly well and also one of the greatest things about T9 was when you could text faster using t t I do use the T9 app because other our other YouTuber Kevin nether got me to review it for the for an app once so I do use T9 today but I could not use it back then and I hated it as a keyboard thing but anyways back to what I was saying I didn't expect someone having to jump on me for the T9 thing damn but yeah no I mean like you before there were smartphones there was a huge need for even if people didn't really know it there was a huge need for smartphones and that's filled such a huge gap people use smartphones every day for all kinds of stuff you know the social media and the phone calls and the text and the games and a whole bunch of stuff that cell phones couldn't do before but it's still useful enough to carry around with you all the time and you know the same thing with computers and lap you know computers and laptops didn't exist we would not be here we would not be doing what we do today you know so it's huge impact for a lot of people and SmartWatches just don't have that you know there isn't that thing that that that void that they fill that everybody needs even if they don't realize they need it just yet so I think that's why that they you know they haven't caught on too much it's you know there's no reason to own one other than to say that you have one and as like an accessory I guess okay well I I'm I'm I'm expecting a very passionate discussion among all of us on this particular topic cuz we we've all been we've all touched wearables or worn wearables let's put it that way and we all have you know our own opinions on it I want us to get feisty right now to talk about some wearables oh I'm going to disappoint you and completely agree with Joe no no almost now it's hard to hard to outdo what Joe just said um let's be honest this is Niche it really is um now I'll back back up here I struggle with using the word wearable when all we're talking about is smart watches uh when I think wearable I'm I'm thinking beyond the Smartwatch uh now here's my biggest reason I have a really nice watch already for starters but I can't wear it day today when I'm sitting down at the computer that watch it it rubs on the desk it rubs on the laptop I cannot use it and work at the same time therefore a smartwatch same problem it it it just doesn't fit my needs uh so what is a wearable to me it's it's something else is it Google Glass well I'm already wearing glasses and I avoid them whenever I can so I'd have to get two pairs of Google Glass or or you know the the transitional ones so that I can wear my glasses or just my contacts and so things are getting difficult here I for me I think actually one of the better wearables out there is the Motorola Moto hint just that earbud it talks to you but it doesn't do anything so for me wearables they're just like Joe is saying they're they're very much a niche product they serve so little that they really can't go mainstream we've already got the computers we've already got the cell phones we're accomplishing everything we need these guys are just for convenience now that said I very much think of the business place or students in school you're not allowed to bring your cell phone out of your pocket having those notifications pop up on your wrist that's really cool I definitely buy into that yeah you know what I I it's a that's a good point um I I just imagine what it would have been like back when I was in college if I had let's say the pebble I have on my wrist right now like what it would be like if I was in class you know maybe I might have been the only person wearing it and that would have made it even cooler or nerdy I guess but I believe the word you're looking for is nerdy there Josh yeah nerdy yeah exactly but it would make me different in class you know that my phone goes off and I'm just like I don't even have to touch it and and people were like ooh what's that cuz I when when when uh SmartWatches were first sort of becoming a thing the pebble was obviously one of the first ones to Pioneer the whole thing it uh you know a lot of people it it made people turn their heads that's why I got little glimpses of back in my days in San Diego and college like you know would have that been like but anyway I digress um I love the point you brought up feisty about how it's really semantics right like right now we're seeing today we saw quite a few articles come out about how Android Wear in particular has moved not really a whole lot of units it's not necessarily being adopted quite as fast as say a smartphone has um but when we talk about SmartWatches that might be true but honestly for me I I'm I kind of live on the other side of this topic in the sense that I actually think wearables have completely exploded because you got to think about wearables in general um SmartWatches yes might be a niche product but I look at you know uh fitness trackers and how everyone's wearing them and whether or not they're actually really beneficial for half the people who are wearing them well that's a different topic but um I actually think wearables are are the future they are the next big thing whether or not it's going to be smart watches in general in in particular I mean uh that may be that that we that still needs to be seen but I think wearables are definitely becoming a very mainstream thing uh you just have to look at which portions of the spectrum to look at but as far as SmartWatches Go I mean I don't know I I thought Android Weare was a was a pretty nice implementation to be with um I have gone back to my Pebble though because well I mean I'm going to get into this question uh next for me it's battery life that really gets get uh gets me going on Android Weare is that I wish I could keep my watch on for much longer periods of time uh and my pebble is the only thing that allows me to do that especially for certain functions that I need uh but before I get into asking you guys what your issues are with let's say SmartWatches or Android Weare in particular um what what SmartWatches are you guys rocking anyway I know you said the Moto 360 um hold on one sec guys before we go any further just a little quick fun fact um for those who are wondering uh Android Weare moved 700,000 units in 6 months right that was the the new story yes it was um I did a little Google searching while while you were rambling on there and um according to Peter Cho on October 25th 2008 um the HTC G1 sold about 600,000 units in its first uh in its first year so um to give everybody an idea I mean 700,000 in the first 6 months is actually fairly decent for a brand new platform considering that Android itself actually didn't do that good so okay fair enough um I did notice that you know everyone was covering that particular article and there was a mixture of positive reaction and negative reaction I guess uh it depends on how you look at it some people were like oh they they put out over 750,000 and then other people were like but it wasn't a million you know so I guess it matter the uh did you see the Wall Street Journal article that everyone's all pissed off about no I didn't see that one they compared Android Wear to iPhones to iPhone sales wow as if that were something that could possibly be compared I thought that was kind of humorous I was like good job Wall Street Journal because that's what everybody thinks of when I think Android Wear how many iPhones were sold all right well um back back to the topic your hand um Lon was talking about the Moto 360 like that's the one that you're rocking right yeah the mo if if I do wear a smartwatch the motor 360 is the one that I typically wear because that's that's the one I actually own so um but you know honestly they're all really kind of the same so it's like you wear one Android were watch you kind of wor them all so they're really not too different um but I mean I kind of agree with uh with you Josh on what you said about wearables in general they do I mean I do agreee with the the fitness like the fitness bands like I do see a lot of people wearing Fitness bands so I I agree in that that regard that they have taken it off but as far as just like actual smart watches I feel like it's still very still very Niche cuz I don't see very many people wearing them like right now I mean that could change in the future obviously but as of right now I think uh it's kind of just the tech nerds that want to wear it and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that uh one they're like a lot of the watches are very they're very masculine they're not like unex so I think if they were like sort of like like a more unisex type watch I think the adoption rate would probably be a lot higher and then they're not like the most fashionable watches on the market like even like the 360 and the gatr even though they look really nice they still don't really look as nice as something that as like a normal watch like a Michael Kors or something like that or a Nixon so all right how about you over there Joe what are you rocking on your wrist or what is sitting on your table just wishing it could be on your wrist um I have the uh the LG G watch um and whether or not I wear it is based on and what I'm doing like I'm just sitting here at the desk you know writing or doing videos I'm not wearing it uh because my cell phone is like right there I can just pick it up but I actually do wear it when I go out and about doing things um uh like when I'm I get a red light when I'm driving it's easier to look you know to glance at my wrist to see who sent me a message and it is to pull my phone out of my pocket look at it you know risk missing the green light and having people honk at me and stuff like that um but yeah I mean most of the time I'm actually I'm not wearing it uh it's it's really only when I go out and about and in situations where taking my phone out of my pocket is a bigger uh inconvenience than it is to just look at my wrist to see what's going on okay um and feisty who had a lot to say about wearables do you uh which ones do you have or which one are you using at this moment the nothing I've had the LG G watch should spend a short time on my wrist but at this moment there are no wearables in the house okay so in the in the limited amount of time that you had the LGG watch feisty um it really didn't really it didn't convince you uh about about this ecosystem that we're seeing hopefully growing the ecosystem yes I love the ecosystem it's exactly what I want and I want it embedded everywhere I want it in the steering wheel of my car I want it you know in the sleeve of my jacket that sort of stuff but uh the the wristwatch again I just it does not fit my life okay um let's explore that uh real quick then um let's stick with you feisty right now since I have you right now um so what is it about the wristwatch the the the wrist the wristwatch uh form factor the Smartwatch that doesn't convince you that it's something that you would want to have in your repertoire it really comes down to the functionality for me uh when I'm in a position where I'm wearing the short sleeves I'm usually just sitting in the office here you know plunking away on the laptop again it rubs on the desk it rubs on the laptop it wrecks things it wrecks the watch and it's uncomfortable can't wear it uh the rest of the time I'm dressing up nice it's going under my you know shirt jacket and it's under the cuff links and again it's a piece of jewelry at that point but it serves zero function other than Aesthetics uh so for me the big thing you know moving in what's the ideal wearable in this case again come down to the functionality you mentioned battery life and I think we're in this situation right now where there's no one watch or even Fitness tracker that offers everything that somebody wants I'd like a watch that has theoretically a watch I'd like a wearable uh that has its own data connection it's got GPS at uh a heart rate sensor you know do some nice sleep monitoring so the Samsung gears maybe yeah the gear s yes uh but I'd also like Android Wear yeah okay so like you said you opened up asking about the ecosystem yes absolutely love the ecosystem just wristwatch can't do it yeah it does feel like Android Weare is sort of the jumping off point to what so many other um form factors could be I mean obviously we're looking at Android auto it takes a few cues from Android Weare um so yeah uh the ecosystem probably will move forward where the actual form factor of the wristwatch kind of doesn't um Joe what are some of the problems that you see with uh the the the Smartwatch game let's say you know you have the gatch I almost said R the LG gatch for example um that's a really difficult question because I don't know exactly uh where these things are act are going and that might be the problem at least to me uh because I don't know what the purpose of these are going to eventually be come uh I'm sorry I'm trying to like think of like a better way to phrase that I really can't U but you like like I said earlier you know with smartphones and like last you know all these other technology that's mainstream we know what it's for and we know why it's here uh but you know like with the watch I don't know why I have this thing on my wrist right now or well it's on my table right now but I don't know why I have it and um I would really like to have a reason to own it so I think that's its biggest weakness right now is just you know not enough reasons to have one okay um let's jump over uh yeah I kind of have to just piggyback off what uh feisty said like it's that I think one of the biggest problems is that they don't operate they don't function without your phone and uh I think that's the reason I think that's kind of one of the biggest drawbacks is that you can't it doesn't it's almost it's just a watch at that point if you don't have your phone with you and I know like with the update and then um the Sony SmartWatch 3 having GPS it can function uh somewhat without your phone like you can go running and then when you come back to your phone it'll sync the data up uh but you can't you know make phone calls you can't answer you know text messages or anything without the phone and I think that's sort of like you know it's not really it's not really saving you too too many steps I mean it's not really any more difficult to just pull your phone out of your pocket and just answer that text on your phone I mean yeah you can you can just look at it and see if it's a PRI if it's important and decide whether you want to answer it or not but I don't know I just don't really see that it's saving you all that much time to just take your phone out your pocket look at it and decide whether you want to answer it or not so I think that's one of the biggest problems well you're bring up a you're bringing up a particular point that it's uh you said the phrase it's just a watch at that point and what if what if you looked at it from that scope what if you looked at it as um I want a new watch maybe I would go for this electronic watch that has a little bit more to it than a regular wrist watch that will just tick um is it wrong to think that smart watches could just be a fashion item like feisty said or that uh maybe the functionality will will will not quite evolve maybe it will just be a fashion statement is it wrong to think that that could be where this goes I don't think I don't think that's necess like the wrong way to to look at it but I don't know I just feel like if you're going to buy a smart watch you kind of want to use it for the smart functionalities and not just as a watch and if you want to use as a watch you want the battery life to be you know reasonable not just like a couple days if you're just going to use it as a watch so I don't know I guess that's my way of looking at it okay um but before before smart watches became a thing I have this questions for all you guys uh did you guys have uh a collection of Watches or did you have like you know a favorite watch that you wore before this whole Smartwatch Revolution uh sort of took off well not took off but um came about uh I'll go first cuz my answer is quick I have never won a watch in my lifetime before Android Wear why why though that's that that's the part that I want to see cuz maybe maybe we're exploring um you know maybe it's not just SmartWatches or Android War that's the problem maybe maybe what they're doing is they're trying to jump into an jump into a system that not everyone has adopted in the first place and you might be an example um what what I don't how come you never really were a watch Person um uh it's just I don't know that's a difficult question to answer it just something I wasn't into you know like why don't you wear bracelets why don't you wear jewelry you know how come you don't wear Crocs you know it's just it just wasn't my bag you know it just wasn't something that I was ever into um and you know I I mean I got the the Gat because I'm a tech nerd and I work for a tech blog and you know it was um said to me at one point that it behooved me to pick one up so uh you know I mean it's I don't know I just it was something I was never really into before and it's not really something I'm into now like I don't really you know look at this thing I'm like man my left wrist looks way more badass than my right wrist right now with this awesome thing and like it it frankly it reminds me of those Casio calculator watches from like the 80s and 90s you guys remember those uh yeah yeah yeah I mean that's kind of what it reminds me of like it's and I think it's the kind of people who wear both kinds of watches you know nerds I mean I don't see like I don't see you know the you know the cheerleader homecoming queen like rocking an a Moto 360 going oh my God I want homecoming queen I'm going to totally blog this on go+ on my watch like that's not going to happen like if you could blog on your watch like we we're done like that's all we need like honestly like you brought that up and I thought about it I was like holy that that would be really cool we would have no like video at mwc you would see you see you guys walking around behind a bunch of other people's videos just talking to your wrist hey you hey you never know maybe five years we're going to see that happen oh man that would be great and home automation while we're at it I would love home automation on Android Weare oh yeah that would be really good talk to my watch sit the thermostat so not so not really much of a watch Person see this is something that I said one time uh like like like right when Android war was kind of starting to become a thing um there aren't that many people who wear watches in general I think we're I think it's not I think it's fair to say that we're kind of 5050 split when it come like at least in the west that you know you can walk around and you're not going to see every single person wearing a watch so maybe this isn't the form factor that the Smartwatch Revolution needs to sort of focus on um maybe how about you feisty were there any watches that you have do you have do you have a watch collection at all I imagine you have you have a very stylish profile picture here on Skype so I feel like you have one of those wooden boxes with like a a vve thing in the Middle with all these watches in it she got the watch pillows inside yeah exactly I'm not going to say I dressed up for that picture uh I used to have a lot of watches U now that was before uh before I took my first office job uh I was out there I was H you know outdoor jobs my hands were dirty it was during those times where a watch was invaluable I couldn't take my phone out of my pocket uh indeed this goes back to a time when I didn't have a phone in my pocket it just wasn't feasible um and and during that time I mean your hands are dirty you can't reach in your pocket uh you don't even want to touch the watch because you're covered in oil you're covered in food whatever the case may be and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there right now that are in this boat also um so just to be able to glance at the watch yes to answer your question I had a number of them I took the office job I keep you know I kept one very nice watch and everything else was either given away or was worn out anyways and hit the trash can hit I me got recycled okay every every single person who wears watches they're either a metal band or a leather band and I'm going to take a bet and say that you're a leather band kind of guy you would lose I'm sorry metal band are you serious metal band really metal band feisty's like hemp that's right I can see Josh wearing a hemp watch or a hemp watch band before anybody else in this podcast who who who well okay before we even get into any of that right now with your quty with your Hardware quty keyboard and your hemp wrist watch got to go back in time right no I I want to rock those uh those those uh silicon but clear clear silicone bands oh man those are gross don't they make like kids sandals made out of that stuff oh man when I was a kid I had a watch that had a clear band and I thought it was the coolest thing but for me um okay so I guess this would allow me to answer the question too is I I do look at watches as a fashion statement if you look at earlier videos of Android authority that I was doing um you would notice that I had a lot of stuff on my wrists I had uh a watch on my left hand and then on my right hand I would have a bunch of like bracelets and trinkets from people that that matter to me you know I I used to say I only wear things that really mean something to me so I would have like beads I would have like this necklace from Ghana that my best friend got me and I just wrap it around my wrist um I since then have stopped wearing that stuff um uh much to the uh shagrin of my best friend but our our big boss Darcy was super happy about that because he said it distracted from the phone but anyway um but in any case yeah I I do look at them as a fashion statement and as far as the question goes of what kind of band I would use as long as it matches my shoes and my belt let's put it that way I have I've I've I'm in that I'm in that that category of fashion sense I should say um but yeah I I do look at them as fashion statements and I and whether or not they're smart or not doesn't matter as long as they look good and if they happen to be smart I want the function to to to add to what I need to do um but we have we have lawn left um did you have a watch collection before smart watches became a thing yeah um I was actually kind of big into watches for a little bit but my watch collection consist mostly of like G-Shocks and stuff so but I was pretty big in G-Shocks for a while and but I'm kind of the same way as you are like I just kind of wore them I didn't really wear them to tell time I just wore them because I like the way that they looked so they're just a a part of my wardrobe I just wore them as like a fashion statement and not really not really anything else but um yeah my collection is pretty small I kind of like kind of got out of collecting watches cuz I don't know it was just I guess was just a a a phase of mine I guess but so my collection is pretty small okay so you know with this with this whole idea in mind we all have differing opinions on even just the watch the idea of the watch in general um the the question I wanted to post to everybody with that in mind that you know we've all had varying degrees of liking watches in Joe's case he never really did like wearing them never really has um for Lon and I were fashion statements and for Jonathan the same but then you know he moved on to a different part of his life so he didn't need it as much I guess um do you think that the smart device the wearable needs to move beyond the watch and go somewhere else and if so what what what kind of device do you think that would look like have you ever seen the television show Continuum it's a newer show it's uh a little bit crazy the main character is a a cop that was sent back from the future and you know she's got basically the entire phone and everything and full computer system right in her head now this is going a little bit extreme here but you know it's built in it's a biometric thing it's she doesn't have to think about it she doesn't have to charge it she just you know wakes up in the morning and watches a video in her head so to speak and maybe that's extreme and and certainly going into you know physically embedding technology gets gets scary however the idea of having Limitless power for starters and having it always available is that's kind of exciting to me I think I would pursue something like this Limitless power that's an awesome phrase to use for that um how about Joe like is there is is there a wearable that you would actually wear um that's a good question um I I always wanted to try Google Glass um I think that's kind of like a fun concept uh but I mean much like the you know much like Android we that you can't really do much with it just yet but um I always thought that the next thing was going to come from something that was directly in front of your face because you literally cannot use any less effort to check something than when something is already there in front of your face all the time um so I mean I always wanted something like a you know like a HUD you know just like a heads up display that you know I can like access and you know use without actually having to do anything so you want life to look like a video game is that what damn damn straight who wouldn't man that's a you have all your information right there you got like all your vital stats and you know your inventory you like have like what's in your wallet over there also you know who wouldn't want to heads up this play I think that's really awesome that's what I want did you guys ever play uh Metroid Prime do you know that was I I stopped at Super I stopped at Super Metroid oh okay Metroid Prime was like the first firstperson shooter version of Metroid and it and when you were talking about like heads up displays I thought of that because when she puts on the the helmet like the the heads up display it was one of the first ones like to to look like it actually moved with the person rather than just a static thing um but yeah okay so something a little bit more closer to the face I suppose um how about how about you Lon um you know coming from somebody who was a watch enthusi are you happy with the watch form factor or is there a is there a form factor that you think the smart device needs to move into in order to become relevant um yeah I have to I have to agree with Joe like I would want something like I would want like a a contact lens that like I could put into my eye and I could like see everything like information like weather or I could lock on to somebody and like identify them and see their weight height and name and all that stuff like lock on to somebody I think that'd be cool or something that makes me feel like like a heads up display like Iron Man or something like just in my eye because I mean if it's in my eye I already wear contacts anyway so if I had like a smart contact I think that'd be pretty sweet to just be able to see information and not have to do anything cuz I mean with a smartwatch you still have to check it and if it's already like in my eye I can just I already see it how would you control something like that though that's that's what I'm wondering just biometrically like how like in Continuum like leave it to feisty for me to say what kind of wereable do you want and he goes implant I want it inside of me um I saw I can't remember where I saw this at but uh a really fun concept for controlling that kind of stuff um like like something like a wrist band not like a watch but like a little band and you could like uh like tap your uh Palm with your fingers or something and like swipe things and move them away I thought that was a pretty cool concept but I I I wish I could remember where I saw that from but that that would be my idea of how to control it well we can't have uh we can't have an episode of the Friday tobay podcast without this uh gushy told me to make sure to add this in he would I think he would want a wearable with a tap on it and so I think he just needs to have a taser I think he's good so he's probably it be like it' be like Cyclops and X-Men yeah exactly press the button and it shoots things but it's a taser he's got to get like super close to them in order to he got to bash his head on them yeah exactly um so if uh if Android Wear is supposedly um not really on its way up so far uh one thing that we're seeing and and we're we're definitely going to get confirmation of this in mwc at least LW and I are going to we all are really but law and I might be able to actually uh see these things in the flesh HTC obviously apple is going to have its own wearable uh that is based upon their own operating system but it also looks like these manufacturers who are in the Android cut are deciding not to go Android Wear now uh do you guys think that that's actually a good move do you think that um moving into a different operating system at least for someone like HTC or LG with their web OS wearable um is that enough to to sort of change it up is it is it too little too late already have we proven that the wearable is not something or the the Smartwatch is not something that's going to catch on even if they change it to say tyen or web OS what do you guys think about what what do you guys think about the operating system the very core of of a smartwatch being changed anybody else want to go first because I don't know yet you mean just as far as like you mean just as far as like Android oems go like yeah yeah um I mean obviously we might get into the Apple watch for a little bit but you know obviously being an Android podcast it's going to be interesting seeing how some of these manufacturers are actually going away from Android and it begs the question is that is that going to be effective uh I don't I don't think it's necessarily a bad move um because I think as long as they make the watch comptible like across you know m a multitude of android devices and not just their own specifically then I don't think it's a too bad of a move um especially since Android Wear I mean it hasn't exactly I wouldn't say it's exactly exploded onto the scene so at this point in time right now I don't think it's I think it's okay for them to try a different operating system and just sort of see how it goes okay um I've I remember messing with a uh a taen device with the original Samsung Gear it was uh I don't know Android Weare definitely seemed like that Leap Forward that that SmartWatches needed for sure um but it's it remains to be seen whether or not taen will will grow into what Android War has already become uh it's just interesting um let's uh uh Joe did you have any thoughts on it I know I kind of uh blasted that on to you guys out have nowhere no I I needed a minute to think about it cuz sometimes you know I have like an immediate answer but every now and again I need a couple of minutes to uh to articulate it um the way I look at you know like HTC U by the way uh laan according to uh one of our talented writers uh Rob Triggs uh the HTC Smartwatch will play nice with all phones running Android 4.4 and later and Apple products running iOS 7 and later so yes that is it's not going to be HTC only yeah that's a good move but the the way I look at you know like um HTC branching off Samsung branching off and even like the Pebble smartwatch to a degree um is the same way I look at OEM skins on well I guess not really skins but you know OEM skins on Android and that you know it allows you know it allows the uh you know the oems to Branch out a little bit and try some new things and you know I mean you better believe that you know if HTC Smartwatch is some has something really really cool or really special about it eventually a similar thing will be integrated into Android Wear I mean that's how Android has been growing for years now is you know the you know either hackers or mod rommers or ROM modders sorry about that or you know OEM skins or and something you know they push the the boundaries in One Direction and then at some point Google's like hey you know what that's not a bad feature we'll incorporate that um like uh one really good example is the drop down notifications or the I'm sorry the uh the Quick Settings which started out in a Samsung OEM skin and before that a ROM that you could find on XDA somewhere so you know I think it's going to be the same kind of thing with wearables where you know I think it's great that they're branching out more to try new things and to try to implement more features because I think you know ultimately competition for those features will eventually be integrated back into Android Wear thus making the platform stronger so really I mean it's a win-win for everybody there's some extra choices out there for everyone if they want to go those routes or they can just wait for Android Weare to evolve to kind of swallow up the competition like Android does um so I mean I'm cool with it either way okay um feisty we lost you there for a second but um just to bring you back into it we were uh talking about uh whether these oems who for for for the most part are part of Android's Camp uh they're creating wearables or SmartWatches that are using different operating systems now obviously their compatibility with smartphones might be might vary from time to time but it looks like at least what Joe said HTC will play with everything with everybody really um but is it a good move to go away from what is you know this large ecosystem that you said you're actually happy to have and create smart watches with say tyen webos um I'm trying to remember a couple of the other ones obviously the Apple watch is going to be something we we touch upon in a little bit um how do you feel about these oems going outside of the Android Weare route I have really truly mixed feelings on this and I hope I don't duplicate anything Lon had said um I think it's great that they're reaching out uh you know doing their own thing creating their own s OS their own ecosystem and like Joe was saying in the end it's all going to come around together and and you know somebody's going to step up and take all of the feat all of the best features of all of these os's and and you know really bring it together uh but I think right now it's that uh you know it's that separation that's in a way holding wearables back uh we're saying that wearables are you know for the niche you know just not too many people can use them because they're not you know solid enough for mainstream and with everybody going their own route I just I I keep seeing these different you know these separate roads and lost my train of thought here uh let's go back to laptops again not laptops sorry just computers in general right for the longest time Microsoft you know they came in they ultimately they swept the market and everybody ran Microsoft and the computers became their own and now they've split off and you know the Ubuntu the Linux Community is growing the the Mac OSX Community it's growing uh these these other systems are coming around you know to fill in the gaps and as you know Niche extras uh but we had one coherent I just called my Microsoft Windows coherent anyways we had one coherent for everything right so right now we don't have that one standard of an OS uh I might like personally uh you know Android Wear but is it the answer I I don't think so I think if it was HTC wouldn't be thinking of their own Samsung may still be trying to push TI in their their own way to go but again if there was that dominant OS that really served the people the way we needed it there would be no room for these crops no need for them at this time not until wearables are more mainstream so do you think it's a bad sign that they're they're uh sort of branching off and and trying to make their own operating systems for these SmartWatches is it a bad sign for Android War I should say uh no I don't think so uh and you have our loyalist so let's look at Android specifically I don't see Cyanogen MOD taking over Android uh You know despite their claims uh and yes they have more users now but uh cm and even with cm12 coming out there's a lot of people excited but it's not going to take over mainstream Android is still going to exist and I think that's going to be the same with Android Weare no matter how much competition comes along even with apple I think Android Weare will remain because it ties to the the Google system U you know Google Now specifically is very powerful we don't know in our day-to-day lives sometimes but but Google Now kind of pulls it all together okay um we have mentioned Apple a few times now and uh I want to open the floor for our last let's say 10 to 15 minutes here on the podcast um while we will talk about our thoughts on the Apple watch obviously none of us have actually seen it in the flesh or even worn it you that's that's months and months maybe even a year off still um how do you guys feel about the Apple watch because I've heard from a lot of people this is exactly what should have had in a smartwatch in the beginning which I think is a ridiculous claim but if if it's not all as cracked up to be what is it that a smartwatch can have that would actually make you want to buy it um let's start off with Lon do you have one for us um what you think what you think of the APPA watch yeah let's start with that when I first uh aesthetically I don't like the way that it looks because I prefer you know just I want a watch that's round like you know a normal watch would be so aesthetically I don't think it's that great looking but I do think that apple is getting a lot of things right as far as making making it appeal to the masses and and both male and female because they have the small one and the larger one and you don't really get that with Android Wear like uh so they're sort they've gotten that aspect right where they're appealing to you know either sex and also the way that they they're handling the the band support and how easy how easy it is to swap out the bands cuz a lot of these other Android were watches you know it's you have to use the tool and to get the little uh spring out uh but with the Apple the Apple watch you can just slide them out slide out the bands and there's going to be like since it's Apple you know there's going to be like a ton of them to pick from so I think they have like the customization down too which people are going to like a lot lot um I mean the price is probably going to you know be through the roof though so I don't know it's I think that the price they're probably going to kind of lose out on maybe but I guess it depends really on how they're going to handle it but um I don't know so I think they're doing some things right and then they're doing some things that are a little bit questionable so it's kind of hard to say right now but since it's not physically out but that's sort of how I feel about it right now H okay I could hear some pitchforks being drawn up earlier when you were saying that they were doing some stuff right um so is that is that would would it be safe to say that that's something um what you were mentioning about the Apple watch that it's highly customizable in an easy way would would would it be safe to say that that's something you would want out of a you know your dream wearable what would your dream wearable look like then uh as you mean like as like a as a watch form factor yeah let's talk about Smartwatch since that's our Focus um I don't know I think I'd want it to look like a I don't want it to look like a really luxurious watch like a like a Nixon or something uh like so I would want it to be all metal but then I'd want to be able to easily like swap out the bands and stuff and maybe like put in anything on my own so I don't want to have to deal with you know those little spring whatever they're called but uh just I want to watch this highly customizable and one that actually will do things that I want to do like I would like to like I mentioned earlier I want to be able to text from my watch and not have to talk into it in order to send out a message I want to actually be able to physically type on it um but I don't know I just want something that looks nice something looks nicer than the ones we have right now okay yeah I want to I'll just answer real quickly on the Apple watch part I actually think it looks ridiculous I really do I'm not I am not a fan of the way it looks at all all that huge dial on the side it's going to be just the bubbly iOS icons all over the place it's probably going to make some ridiculous noises and um yeah I I I've been hearing from certain people like I watch a lot of YouTubers and they when the Apple watch was announced they said you know this is exactly what all these smart watches were supposed to be Apple's going to get it right and I just kept looking at it like I don't think they are like that this this doesn't look good at all to me um obviously functionality is something we're going to figure out later on but uh let's pop over to Joe um if you had any thoughts about the Apple watch uh you can go ahead and sound them off but what does but also after that what is uh what does a dream warable look like for you what would make you a watch guy thank you for asking both questions at once because I have almost nothing to say about the Apple watch uh the only thing I will say is that um in general like the you know the the mass media at least in the United States I can't speak for the rest of the world because I don't know their habits but in the United States you know if if uh somebody at at Apple headquarters farts you're going to see 90 headlines about it um so I think in terms of like exposure to the mainstream I think Apple uh the Apple watch is going to do a lot more than Android Wear has in making people aware that wearable technology exists in a consumer you know format um and that's really all I can say about it CU I haven't seen it I I think I mean I think it's hideous also but I actually do like the dial on the side uh at least if I can use that to control apps and stuff I guess so but only if it's functional like if it's just kind of like there and you can like oh yeah spin for screen brightness I hate it it sucks um but uh but then you would have you would have those people who are so into the Apple watch going look at the screen go up and down like oh my goodness you I remember when the iPad came out with that smart cover and it would snap onto the side every was like here the snap oh it drove me nuts I'm just saying I when the Nintendo 3DS came out I had went through all that with my friends you like oh look at the 3D slider turn it on and off you know and like Oh My head goes from hurting to not hurting this is great what a great game system you have there Nintendo that's so true though uh but for me like to for for me to be a 247 Smartwatch wearer um I would want it's it's all software for me at this point I mean like I don't really you know I don't think I'm ever going to wear a watch as a fashion statement I just you know it's never been something that I've ever done I don't think it's something I'm going to ever do but I will put anything you know on my wrist if it helps me throughout the day um earlier I mentioned home automation you know like being able to you know integrate this with Nest um my biggest beef with Android Wear is the uh navigation like getting to my applications using my applications you know it's takes a hold I'm going to do this here one tap two tap three tap because the first tap didn't register um and then swipe down swipe down swipe all the way to the bottom start and now I'm at my apps and now I can open an app and actually do something I mean that took like you know 5 six seconds and that's just ridiculous for something that should be a lot faster than that um so I mean the only thing I really want in in the in the wearable platform is something that's easier to use something that's less clunky and a little bit more ergonomic and then something that also does things other than let me check my notifications or look at the weather real quick okay yeah you're absolutely right about the navigation part cuz if you were in a car right now speeding up to a red light you'd probably be dead right now after all that yeah exactly it's and oh I mean I'd probably be dead anyway cuz I had to take both my hands off the wheel to use the damn thing yeah exactly that's true like I can like rotate my wrist 180° and then an extra 90° to tap it with the same hand oh my goodness how creepy would that look what had turning your like the same wrist that the watch is on like turning your hand 180° to tap it with the same hand that the the wrist oh my goodness first we get implants from feisty and now we have like quadruple or what infinite jointed wrists or something if I saw one person do that I'd probably enter my house and never leave again like yeah no that's it syons are taking over we're done syons you're that Meme where they have he has he's in bed and he has the the the blanket up to his face like I'm not leaving nope never and for our final word let's jump over to feisty uh if you have thoughts on the Apple watch cuz we mentioned it so much I want to make sure we at least say a couple things about it uh go for it but also what would a dream warble look like for you certainly uh the Apple watch I remember seeing the first renders of it and that you know that OS just those little bubbles all over the place I could not help but laugh I honestly laughed at it thank you that's exactly my reaction they if they had called it bubble WAP OS and if the bubbles popped when you ta them you would not be having this conversation right now it would be the greatest thing of all time did you guys play that game back in the day the bubble WAP game on on Android oh yeah oh man yes yeah yeah but yeah go ahead Fey uh you know for all the hate we give to this watch it's going to sell just the my opinion the nature of the Apple you just the the fans that are out there this device is going to sell it it's going to take credit for bringing watches into the mainstream I hate that but I think that's what's going to happen yeah I I do agree it will sell but I don't think it's going to be on the scale of like how like the iPhone exploded when it came out in 2007 I don't think it's going to be like on that type of scale but I do believe it will sell absolutely uh so going to my ideal wearable uh exact L what the other guys said here it it needs to serve all of the purposes so instead of being a notification tool it needs to be a full OS it needs to be your Smartwatch so to speak on your wrist but for me it needs to operate via voice and by touch with the same skill set the same abilities and then as well it needs to give audio feedback as well as a visual feedback uh that's easy to work with without obstructing the rest of your daily life um you know obviously that's the uh the definition of the perfect wearable uh I I guess what I'm saying is for me the wristwatch certainly can't do it and can't do it alone it would be a part of you know if I had the again I guess what I'm saying is is Smartwatch on the arm uh the Moto hint kind of thing earbud in the ear and then a Google Glass on the face yes Google Glass some audio but go I want a little bit more than that you know uh but I don't like I think if I wanted Google Glass i' I'd have it by now it's just it's too obstructive it doesn't give enough visual feedback you know for for its form factor there's too much restriction on it as well I mean I don't want to be held by the FBI I know limited case here but held by the FBI because I wore my classes to the movie theater yeah yeah and and that's going to be that's a whole different topic is the the whole idea of creating this new culture that has to meld in with the mainstream um I get when you were talking about the hint and then putting the Smartwatch on and then the Google class in the face um I got this image if you remember the old Batman movies I just imagine feisty like putting on all of the things one by one oh yes my my smart watch is a Project Ara watch I can swap it out and put gushy taser on it and you know my IO output so I can attach to the stereo which brings up a great Point all of my warial my wearables my ideal solution is completely wireless I can't afford to have wires all over the place and then of course power becomes an issue but yeah always always has been okay great well I mean if I had to put out my ideas on what a dream warble would be you guys I mean feisty in particular reached for the stars there I didn't even think about all of that I was just thinking of what we have right now what kind of style I would want I would want The Best of Both Worlds I still want the chronograph in terms of I want the real ticking turning gears but then if you have the watch face behind the arms uh that are doing the hour and the minute and the second if you were to hit a button to look at the actual interface of the OS those um those hands would go translucent and it would just become a screen that's what I thought at least um the only other have you seen the chyros smart watch I have um not quite where I was thinking but it is somewhere in that in that vicinity uh the Martian Smartwatch also had a little bit of that but it's just got that tiny LED screen on the bottom um yeah but yeah I mean that was the one that I thought of but the the the last one that I was thinking of was um uh I said this I remember back at epha I want a slap band I want I want a slap band watch that has a screen on it was wait for it I've been waiting for this whole podcast VI to say something want this extremely hipster thing every episode like clockwork man I know for real I always got to end it on that like slap B it would be amazing and then you would just like there would be like a a tall screen on it and you would it would just you you would it would turn on you would just put it right onto your wrist I think that would be amazing it easy and it Blends in because it's not like you know trying too hard to be a certain way okay fine I'm not I'm not going to get too much farther into this forless Joe makes fun of me all right well we have talked about wearables today on the Friday debate podcast um whether the Smartwatch in particular the wearables might Encompass a whole uh plethora of devices we're talking about SmartWatches in general they haven't really taken off even though in 2014 we were all promised that it was going to be a huge huge mainstream deal it kind of isn't and we explored why that might be and we also got a glimpse into Joe not being much of a watch person and how much JN and Lon were uh back in in the day so uh thank you so much for watch for listening and watching on YouTube If you happen to be the Friday debate podcast remember that you can follow all of us all four of us me Joe uh John and Lan on social media the best places to find us are of course on go+ plus our names and you can easily search for us there but you can also follow us on Twitter and on other social media as well if you want the links to all of those make sure you head on over to the Android authority.com post for the Friday debate podcast talking about Andro topics every week I just said that wrong didn't I I'll just say it better later anyway you can find the Android authority Friday debate podcast on all of the different channels like I said at the top of our show you can find us on iTunes on Stitcher on pocketcast and actually I wanted to tell all of you guys I was perusing through the pocketcast website um I uh I use pocketcast for all my podcasts and we were number 40 on the top 100 trending podcast for last week woo pretty awesome go us so to all of you podcast faithful on pocketcast thank you so much for giving us some of that exposure and make sure you keep listening to the Friday debay podcast keep hitting that play button and if you can rate and review our podcast on iTunes and Stitcher that also UPS our visibility so please do that as well as always thank you guys very much for listening and watching don't forget to head on over to androidauthority.com for some of the best Android coverage there is on the internet head on over to our YouTube channel for one of the most watched Android channels on on YouTube One 1 million plus subscribers at this point so if you are not one of our subscribers make sure you hit that subscribe button if you haven't already and now I will go ahead and as I struggle to to not sniffle through this outro I will invite all of our guests to join me on this uh the Android authority Friday debate podcast discussing topics and Android every week thank you so much for watching and remember that we are your source for all things Android Android that wasn't so bad this time around yeah that was that worked all right thank you guys very much and Lan thanks for being on the show I'll see you at mwc dude yep for sure man all right take care everybody yep take care\n"