6 Things the Apple Watch Can do that Nobody will Care About in a Week

Even more details have been revealed about the Apple Watch, and naturally it's gotten lots of people pretty excited. The thing is, amidst all the possibilities are several features that seem completely pointless. Oh sure they may sound cool when Tim Cook and Co. are talking them up in front of a big screen presentation, but their practicality is questionable at best.

Let's face it: most of this stuff you'll forget about within a week or two.

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Actually Talking to People from Your Wrist

I know we all want to do the Dick Tracy thing (and I'll admit I'm right there with you), but just how convenient will it actually be to have to talk into your wrist all the time? Not very. And supposing there's a way to connect a headset to your Apple Watch, that won't be any better. People will undoubtedly answer the first couple of calls from their Apple Watch, and probably grab a fried to see them in action while they do it, but after that it'll lose its "look how new and different this is!" appeal and we'll go right back to answering our phones as usual.

Responding to Text Messages

Being able to glance at your Apple Watch to see who's messaging you, and about what, will certainly be useful. Responding to said messages, however, will be a pain. Typing a reply is out, which means you'll have to make due with a preset response (in which case, why even bother?), dictate a reply (this is definitely going to be hit-or-miss), or leave an audio message (not great if the person texting you isn't an iOS user, and also not great if you're driving). Yeah, no, I'll be sticking with my iPhone for my texting, thanks.

Looking at Photos

No matter how much Apple tries to sugarcoat it, I just can't see that tiny screen being useful for looking at photos. At least not in any helpful amount of detail. It's going to be so much easier to simply pull out a phone, scroll through the Camera Roll, and hand your phone to a friend than it will be to shove your wrist in their face.

Sketch, Tap, and Heartbeat

Come on. I mean seriously, come on. I get that they're really pushing for this "new ways to communicate" angle but all three of these features are going to be completely ignored after their first few uses. Drawing something for a friend and sending it to them is cute and all, but why not just use your iPhone (with its much larger screen and myriad drawing apps) instead? Would a tiny sketch ever actually be useful for anything when you've already got the ability to text or call someone? Tapping is even more pointless, although I'll admit that the underlying tech will undoubtedly be put to good use by some creative iOS developers. Finally, there's Heartbeat. I've thought about it quite a bit and I honestly can't imagine anyone ever sending a "copy" of their heartbeat to anyone for any reason other than because it's something their new watch does. Mothers-to-be maybe, but unless they can actually get the watch around their kid's wrist I don't think they'll be able to get much use out of it either.

"Stand Up" Reminders

This you can chalk up to me being cynical realistic about how people who don't use personal trainers tend to exorcise if you want, but nobody's going to use these reminders with any regularity. They're either going to be ignored and eventually turned off, or drive people to madness because they're busy and why won't you stop telling me to stand up I'll stand up later I swear if you remind me again I'm going to-AAAAAAAAA!!

The Magnetic Charger

Being able to simply snap the charger on is great and all, but have you stopped to think about the fact that you'll actually have to take your watch off and connect it to a charger every night? This isn't like a regular wristwatch where you just wind it every now and then, or replace the battery if it's digital. And you won't be able to simply toss it on your nightstand and fall fast asleep - you're going to have to hunt and peck for the charging cable, get it lined up, etc. You'll have to charge it at least once every couple of days, too; probably closer to once per day if you use it a lot. Which you probably will because come on, it's an Apple Watch.