22 thoughts on ““Dumb” Watches”

  1. All my co-workers, young and old, wear watches, because we spend all day locked in an air-gapped room where we are allowed nothing more sophisticated than a one-way pager, and sometimes not even that…if you want to listen to music, you have to (a) have a portable CD player with no recording functions, and (b) have authentic factory-made CDs – no homemade discs allowed. We’re probably single-handedly keeping the commercial music CD market alive.

  2. I’m still using the same digital watch with chronometer from the 1990s. I only need to switch batteries like every decade. I only use it to keep track of time. I don’t want comms in my watch.

    1. I’m wearing the same Seiko Kinetic that I bought back in 2000. I’ve replaced the battery (ahem, capacitor) once in that time, and it will likely be every 8-10 years like Godzilla. The case and band are stainless steel with subtle gold accents, so it goes with just about everything.

      At the time, it was fairly large by 2000’s standards. Within the last couple of years, it would be considered “small” and/or “women’s”, at “only” 40mm. The newer 48+ mm watches are somewhat absurd, IMHO.

  3. Watches suck and being made by Apple won’t make them suck less. Maybe I am a pocket watch person. Just need one that can send text messages, make phone calls, and take the occasional picture.

    1. Also, who can’t tell the time just by looking outside? (Except for people locked in dungeons like cthulhu)

        1. The great thing about the USA, people are free to wear watches or get plugs in their ears or have pockets hanging out from the bottom of their jorts.

          There will always be a limited market for watches because some people want to be different or display status, like the author at the link. It read like the utilitarian nature of checking the time or the desire to de-tech himself was really as much a style choice as anything. There doesn’t need to be a purpose beyond that.

    2. A buddy just bought the Apple iWatch or whatever, it worked out to around $1500 CDN – just the steel bracelet was over $500. Now maybe I’m just getting old and inflation has had its effect, but seriously, I would have paid far less just for the matching iPhone had I not got it on contract. Not like it’s a Rolex or something.

  4. I never could stand to wear a watch. Just can’t get used to something on my wrist. But…a pocket watch is just the trick, although it’s just as inconvenient to take it out and look at it as a cell phone.

    1. One of my brothers prefers a pocket watch too. I think if I needed to go back to wearing a watch, I’d use one of the pendant watches we sell. When we’re at a show, I usually wear one to advertise them, and I’ll set it to the local time, so I’ve been known to check it rather than my phone.

      1. I believe Flavor Flav has a pendant-like solution to the “in my pocket is too inconvenient” watch, as well.

  5. I’m amused at the younger generation’s disdain for the convenience of wristwatches.

    I’m 53. And if I were a troll I would now go to all-caps to declare your entire blog null and void because one thing you said had one exception. Totally unlike certain semi-regular commenters who take that very same rhetorical approach (minus all-caps), most of the time they appear. Ahem…

    It’s just that I consider having to wear something on my wrist that does a thing, when I always have something on my person that does it and a bunch of other things, kind of wasteful. Not to mention I’d never really liked wearing a wristwatch. Which may be why I’ve always worked to pre-organize my day so that on-the-fly time checks can be kept to a minimum.

    1. I must regretfully find your entire comment null and void because you did not point out even one exception to Rand’s generalizalization.

  6. I have worn a black plastic Casio for decades now. The last one I had I decided to experiment with by letting it die completely before replacing it. That took nine years! And I use the alarm fairly often!

    What really surprised me is that, when I went to replace it with another, there was no discernible difference between new and old. Casio had changed nothing about that model watch in nine years, probably longer.

    Of course, the font seems a little fuzzier these days and I can only read it in bright light. I can only hope that it is them, but it is probably me.

  7. I’ve worn wristwatches most of my adult life. Finally got tired of changing batteries, and bought a fairly inexpensive Marathon military wind-up. Works great–just had to get back in the habit of winding it twice a day.

  8. I gave up on plastic watches because the bands wear out. Got an all-metal Casio with a (claimed) 10-year batt. Looks sharp, waterproof, inexpensive. Three years on it works fine and I can read it without glasses.

  9. Just to throw my two cents’ worth in. I have long hated wearing wrist watches. I just find them an irritant. “Chafing” is too strong a word but I hate the feel of them; it’s like having an itch or something.

  10. My watch is the only jewelry I wear. Plus, it’s a dive watch with rotating bezel, and I use the timer 2 or 3 times a week. “cook pizza for 22 minutes” OK, I set the dial. Et Cetera.

    1. I think the timer and chronograph is the most useful functionality other than just telling the time. I had all sorts of watches at one point. Mechanical watches, watches that wind themselves with your movement, digital watches with calculator functionality. Heart rate monitors. Whatever.

      Most mechanical watches start losing sync after some time. Plus they cost a bundle to fix. Quartz is just so much more convenient. The self-winding watches are a problem for me because sometimes I spend weeks without using the watch. The battery lasts a decade. I just don’t need to think about it. It’s low maintenance. I like that.
      As for the wrist straps I prefer either leather or rubber. They may last less but at least they don’t get entangled in my body hair. Plus they are a lot more comfortable. Especially the leather straps.

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