Mixed messages about the wearables market
There has been a news story on the BBC website proclaiming the death of wearables:Has wearable tech had its day? - BBC News
"The wearables market has had a rollercoaster ride in recent months"
However, a recent story on MacRumors says the opposite:
Wearables Aren't Dead, They're Just Shifting Focus as the Market Grows 16.9% in the Fourth Quarter, According to IDC
"March 2, 2017 – The worldwide wearables market reached a new all-time high as shipments reached 33.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16), growing 16.9% year over year."
Are journalists just looking for a sensational headline? I see more people with wearable technology now than ever before. Well, it's both dying and growing. Wearables have become, much like the AV industry, something of a niche market for those into the tech. It started out as the next big thing but didn't get the traction smartphones or tablets did, so in a way it is seen as dying from a mass market perspective. For those of us who fall into the niche it has become, it has become a growing market as more and more people embrace it, albeit not on the level it was hoped it would become. News these days tends to be exaggerated and over the top to get people to read the article so smartwatches and wearables were massively overhyped to begin with and set impossible goals which now they've not been able to do, are being jumped on by the same people who overhyped them.
I think the wearables market is pretty healthy now that it's settled down a bit and people have realistic expectations of a smart watch, noticeably most of the Android Wear market seems to have quietened down while Fitbit and Garmin are doing well.I'm seeing a lot of people with smartwatches these days mostly Fitbits and Garmins although I would say it's moved beyond being niche for those into tech - Fitbit seem to have done a good job capturing those who want to start getting a bit more exercise while Garmin have broadened the appeal of theirs from not just running watches but something to wear every day.
I'm a huge fan of smart watches and dislike the frequent comments about them being pointless gimmicks, I started off with a Garmin Vivoactive which while basic its batterylife was superb and the display was always on plus all I really needed from it was to handle notifications from the phone.When it briefly crashed and I couldn't initially restart it I went back to a normal watch and was surprised at how much I missed the smartwatch as I'd gotten so used to simply glancing at the watch when a notification came in it seemed a lot of hassle to get the phone out every time to check if it's something I needed to reply to or not.I like the fact I can have all the phone's audio disabled as the watch notifies me of anything so I don't need to hear the phone which seems oddly intrusive now when I've accidentally put the audio back on.
I've changed to a Fenix 5s which has an onboard heart monitor which I've been curious to try.I know there's a lot of discussion about how accurate they are but I find it a pain wearing a chest strap and generally don't bother when out on the bike so having an HR reading all day to me is worth some inaccuracy. Missing my smartwatch at the moment. Waited a year for the Android Wear 2.0 update and when it came it bricked my watch. Have to send it off for repair.
Feels like a part of my life is missing and you don't know how useful they are until you have to go without. Although many think (myself included) a smart watch is a solution looking for a problem I have to say that I love my little Pebble Time Steel and getting notifications through. I usually have my phone on silent and often can be in another room in the house, so its great that I don't miss calls or texts when my arm buzzes ! To me that's the main use I get out of it as I don't really do much around step counting and sleep patterns. If there was a payment app that would work on the Pebble then that would top it off nicely as I'm fully on-board with Apple Pay etc.
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