Tag: apple

Apple Watch is kind of stupid – it cannot connect to Ford Sync

I had a need to leave my iPhone behind, but I wanted to listen to an audiobook while I drove somewhere. I downloaded the book to the Apple Watch, and then went to the car to run my errand. But the Apple Watch would fail to pair to Ford Sync.

Ford Sync was introduced to the world in 2007. The Apple Watch was introduced to the world in 2015. Apple, a company with plenty of money to do research and development, should have gotten this right.

It’s not like Ford is some small niche car company.

The Apple Watch and Ford Sync would talk with each other and show me the PIN, and ask me to verify that the PIN showed up. It did. And then the pairing would fail. This is stupid. Apple has enough market share to do quality control, and be good at this sort of thing.

But apparently at Apple, Quality is Job 3.

The tension between help and usefulness (Apple Watch)

I have an Apple Watch, and it offers to help me to do things for better health. Wow is this thing being annoying – but I really like the idea of it’s help.

This last two weeks, I’ve been programming at work. I’m not a great programmer, and sometimes have to ponder stuff to figure out what I’m going to do next.

Just about the time (every time) I’m getting “in the zone” (so-to-speak), my Apple Watch pings at me, that it’s time to stand up and walk around. And drop out of “the zone”.

It’s a little weird, often when is pings at me, my physiological condition is that I’m a little light-headed. I don’t know if the Apple Watch actually has a monitor that can tell that. My suspicion is that there is just a timer going, and someone dreamt up the idea that the watch should insert itself into my consciousness once in a while, so I think of the box and recognize it’s value.

Problem is, it inserts itself into my consciousness as inopportune times (almost always), and I immediately react with “Fucking Apple Watch!”

Yet, I go talk a short walk, because I think the underlying idea is a good one.

I think it’s being helpful; but by interrupting my thinking time, it becomes anti-useful.