this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Is there really a reason to need faster smart watches? I can understand shrinking the internals to pack in a larger battery, but I'm kinda confused about what newer smart watches do that requires a more powerful processor (I don't own a smart watch).
It seems like you could support backward compatibility pretty easily by having basic software running on the watch with a program-agnostic API to send and receive info from the watch (kinda like midi or osc). I doubt the processor necessary to send, receive, decode and display information in this format would require that much power. If smart watches honestly get slower over time, the only thing I can think is that the software itself is getting less efficient at doing the same tasks it previously did.
Software is a gas: it expands to fill the processor and memory you give it. That's a goofy way of saying that, as manufacturers cram faster processors and more memory into devices, software developers will use the extra facilities.
If you're on an old device with limited CPU/RAM, you'll be forced to upgrade to a newer OS that was built with newer devices in mind.
Andy and Bill’s Law
Mostly new sensors rather than larger battery I think. For instance, newer Apple Watches can monitor temp and oxygen (at least in some capacity).
I have a S3 Apple Watch, and while it's stuck on an older version of watchOS, it serves my purposes perfectly. Sends me notifications, lets me control my music and tracks my exercise. That's pretty much all I need from a smart watch at this point. The battery isn't amazing, but if I charge in the evening when I'm watching TV, it'll last me through the night. I give it a little bump while I'm drinking coffee and reading in the morning and it'll still be on 40/50% when I get home from work.
Good one lol. I'm sure apple will think about it haha