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I live inApple’s world.
That changed last week, however, when I swapped it for aCasioLCD watch.
A 1970s LED watch. Note that the ‘display’ is dark. You could only see the red readout if you pressed the button. Battery life was terrible
Even our own smartwatch guruMatt Evans recently sang their praises.
Part of the reason is that you might buy a decentCasio Stainless Steel Alarm Chrono for $20.
That’s a great price for a timepiece of any stripe.
A 1970s LED watch. Note that the ‘display’ is dark. You could only see the red readout if you pressed the button. Battery life was terrible
While digital, none of these classic timekeepers were what you’d call smart.
There was a watchband on it, but it was the wrong shape and model.
The CR2016 is much thinner than either of those batteries, and seemed like it might be fit.
No year, but everything here indicates an early 1980s vintage. Note the lack of screws – this back pops off
I gave them up when I adopted the 10.7mm thick Apple Watch.
Granted, there are a lot of thick, dumb watches, but they never appealed to me.
The Apple Watch isn’t like that.
Most of the watch is plastic and resin. The metal body is a relatively thin layer on top
I’ve always believed the thickness tradeoff for all that on-wrist intelligence was worth it.
Still, this Casio is so thin and light I never feel it on my wrist.
The dumb-down
A font of information my Casio chronograph is not.
It’s alive!
Weirdly, I don’t miss all the information, notifications, and weather updates.
The long tail of sense memory
I still feel wrist vitiations and bumps.
I have to assume that if I wear this thing long enough I’ll stop feeling those phantom vibrations.
The Casio Chronograph could run for two years with this one battery.
Having one less thing that I have to remember to charge is undeniably awesome.
And, yes, I was glad no one was watching me.
My classic Casio also lacks:
You get the picture.
This is a basic watch, but with a digital heart.
Does anybody really know what time it is?
The Casio watch may know the date, but its time accuracy is only as good as yours.
Second, I set the time based on what I saw on my oven clock.
Yes, I lifted my wrist the other day to tell my Casio Chronograph to set a timer.
And, yes, I was glad no one was watching me.
I struggled for days with what to do about sleep and exercise tracking during my watch-swap experiment.
In the end, I decided to wear the Apple Watch for both activities.
After that, I swap it for the Casio and begin my day.
These watches were designed and built at least 31 years before I wore my first Apple Watch.
Our needs were simpler, our transistors were larger, and our programming was less accomplished.
It’s just a tiny bit less distraction in my life.
My Casio Chronograph is happy to sit with me, on my wrist and be perfectly quiet.
You know, the way watches used to be.
