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Touchscreen Watch 183

Posted by CmdrTaco from the bogging-down-your-wrist dept.
SkywalkerOS8 writes "Saw this article on MSNBC about a touchscreen watch(Think touchlamp, not PDA). Instead of pressing a button on the side(that usually stabs your fingertip) you tap a location of the crystal's face. Its called the T-Touch, made by Tissot. It retails for $595, has standard features like time, date, alarm and chronograph, and extra features like thermometer, barometer,altimeter and compass. The author of the review points out that the compass is cool because the three hands of the watch form an arrow that points North and updates continuously. Sounds cool and relatively inexpensive considering all of its features. I also found a page by a T-Touch owner." I've always stayed away from watches but there's something about the smooth mechanics of a good watch that amazes me. And last week I got lost, and had to aim a satellite dish, so that compass would come in handy... but so would $600 ;)
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Touchscreen Watch More

Touchscreen Watch

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  • Product Splash Page (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kenshin ( 43036 ) <kenshin AT lunarworks DOT ca> on Friday April 26, 2002 @06:41PM (#3419246) Homepage
    Ooh... I wanna touch THAT!
  • Now all we need is for it to have a voice chip that will say, "He's dead, Jim!" -- and I'll buy it tomorrow.

  • nice picture (Score:5, Funny)

    by checkitout ( 546879 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @06:42PM (#3419250)
    Apparently you have to wear it with your shirt off to get the full effect.

  • Blown it all already? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    And last week I got lost, and had to aim a satellite dish, so that compass would come in handy... but so would $600

    Poor Baby. [wired.com]

  • Old hat (Score:2, Informative)

    by PatSmarty ( 135304 )
    Been there, done that [streettech.com]
    • No kidding.

      My bat watch has a touch screen that does all those things, plus it can deploy a smoke screen, operate as a bat phone and remote control the batmobile. sheesh. And I didn't pay no $600 clams either.

      And I've had it since '79!

      .

      • Re:Old hat (Score:2, Funny)

        by ksb ( 517539 )
        Yeah, I have that watch too, but what amazes me is the new 'Tangable' feature of the watch in the article.

    • And I'm sure it didn't cost $600. It's mentioned in this article:
    • I know we're focusing on the technological aspect of the watch. Certainly the casio can do everything that the T-Touch can. The difference is that the casio looks like one of those cheapy calculator watches that geeks, (and I use that term endaringly), wear. As opposed to something that a non technophile would wear (watches made for fashion).
  • ... I'd still buy my beautiful Seiko Kinetic Arctura [seikowatches.com]. Words fail me, I love my watch.
  • i saw a touchscreen watch for 100$ canadien over 4 years ago! Probably nothing special to it though but eh :-)
    • $100 canadian.

      Does that mean I should be able to find it in a vending machine here in the U.S.? 50 cents or so?

      Not new? It is too- it is the first Tissot touch watch- that's pretty new.

      What you saw for $4.00 US, 4 years ago was probably one of those plastic watches w/the sticker face that makes the hands look like they are moving when you tilt it. My daughter loves those.

      .
  • Who in their right mind would argue for 3 (!) paragraphs that it needs to be more expensive?

    Some people and their fsking money trees...

    BBK

  • Save your $600 (Score:2, Interesting)

    by datastew ( 529152 )

    Save your $600. If you want the novelty of a touchscreen try something like this [digitalwrist.com]. Casio have been doing these for a long time.

    Back in 1985, I had a Casio Calculator watch which had the buttons down the side like a normal digital watch. However, in calculator mode, the display stuff disappeared and the face of watch became a touchscreen. It wouldn't work with gloves or pencils, but I never had a problem with it.
    • But those don't have compasses or thermometers or altimeters or barometers--how dare they call themselves watches!

    • You don't get it (Score:3, Informative)

      by stoolpigeon ( 454276 )
      If they ran a story on those pants w/extra pockets for PDA's etc. you'd have a link to a site for fanny packs and pocket protectors.

      That little POS from Casio doesn't come close to the incredible cool of a swiss time piece. Not to mention, quality, durability and the fact that it will look nice. (You know for that crowd that wears something other than a t-shirt and jeans to work or out)

      .
      • I have that Casio watch shown, and it's a very classy looking watch, especially compared to the other Casio databanks that are unadulterated nerdwear. Mine's been great for 3 years. One battery change, and many rainstorms later it still looks and works great.

        The only problem is that people seem to be inexorably drawn towards a touchscreen of any sort, whether a monitor or a computer.... 'Wow, you're watch has buttons on the FACE? Let me try it out!'
      • Agreed. That Casio watch shown is about the ugliest thing I've ever seen.

        I'm surprised it doesn't use red LEDs.

        I'll keep my Tissot, thanks.
    • I had one of those! It was my favorite watch. Until you switched it into calculator mode, there was no way to tell (other than tiny + - / x labels) that it was a calculator.

      It had two LCD displays stacked, one normal watch with big numbers and lots of info, and the other with calculator digits at the top and the rest of the screen with the numeric keypad.

      I think the dual LCD aspect make it coller than the $600 thing pictured.

      I wish I could get a hold of one of the old Casis, mine broke years ago or I'd still be using it.
    • Hell, for $600 you can get a good PDA. And if you get a Vx or M505, or one of similar size, you can have it in you pocket with you.

      I never were a watch anymore. I have a program called PocketWatch+ on my Vx...Wana know the time? Hold down the date button, turns on, shows time. Release it, turns back off.

  • Compass (Score:5, Informative)

    by QuodEratDemonstratum ( 569501 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @06:56PM (#3419276) Homepage
    You can find North with any watch. Even the $1 watch from a cornflakes packet.

    Try it now [wwmag.net]

  • Some things money can't buy. (Score:5, Funny)

    by nobodyman ( 90587 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @07:05PM (#3419279) Homepage
    Decent wristwatch: $60
    Decent compass: $10
    Decent Barometer: $5
    Decent Altimeter: $5
    Decent thermometer: $3.50 (Walgreens)

    Cost of witnessing some dumbass spend $650 dollars to combine all of these devices that will hardly ever be used just because the product's website features scantily clad women?

    Priceless.

    I guess if you're gonna spend $650 dollars on a watch that can tell the temperature, you wont mind if it's a rectal thermometer, huh?
    • Please tell me where I can get a decent altimeter for $5.
      • My dad's got one of those cheapy altimeter/compass combos that sticks to your dashboard. $20, so I extrapolated. I can't account for it's accuracy, but it's an altimeter just the same. (and the man hardly ever leaves phoenix, which begs the question of why he got an altimeter in the first place.

        And I see thermometer/barometers all the time that people put on their porch wall. In fact, I have one boxed away somewhere, and I'm sure I would have remembered paying a bundle (maybe someone gave it to me?? i dunno)
    • Just curious, where can you get a "decent" barometer or altimeter for only $5?
    • You are lying, I can tell by the way you type.
    • Barometer, Altimeter, and Depth Gauge are really the same device. Around ten years ago a digital watch (Casio) that displayed pressure in the previous formats was less than US$100.

      One of my hobbies is scuba diving and I would use the watch as a backup depth gauge. It's depth was reasonably close to my real depth guage. Comparisons to elevation signs along the highway were also pretty close.

      For US$650 the watch should approach a dive computer and tell you your multi-dive no-decompression time limit, tank pressure, download your dive profile to your computer, etc.
    • Scantily clad? All she was wearing was the watch!
    • "Decent wristwatch: $60"

      A $60 touchscreen wristwatch [top-one.com] no less :)
    • I've never seen an altimeter for $5. I've never seen a barometer for $5 either. And, even if you did get one for that cheap, I doubt it could provide trends.

      Finally, the cost difference goes towards something called style. But, since this watch probably won't compliment your pit-stained t-shirt, it's not something that you'd understand.

    • btw, decent compass is not $10 but more like $60 and might be as high as $200 for a high end compass.
      • btw, decent compass is not $10 but more like $60 and might be as high as $200 for a high end compass.

        Any watch that also claims to serve as a compass will not work as well as a high-end compass. The $10 compass is probably comparable, or possibly even better, since a cheapo compass would be more convenient to use with a map than something that simply reads out a heading. Plus, I have less faith in anything electronic when I'm out in the woods, it seems to have a high Murphy quotient.
  • It retails for $595...
    I think I'll keep my Rolexxx for now (I got a deal on it!).
  • What a deal!!! Guess what everyone in thy family is getting for Xmas this year!!!

  • shammy (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Jon_Sy ( 225913 )
    Does it comes with a little cloth to wipe your grubby fingerprints off it every (x) seconds?
  • A pointed out before, Casio [digitalwrist.com] has had them for a while. I've worn mine every day for 2.5 years, and it's great. The buttons even change function in different modes. To me, this isn't something that should make Slashdot headlines.
    • You're right. It should not make headlines that you would wear that geeky thing every freaking day.

      Did you wear the same t-shirt w/it every day too? Let me guess- the one that says "Got root?"

      Take the calculator off-- Go buy a watch and a shirt with a collar. Go out to a nice restaurant.

      Seriously- try it.

      .
  • If someone makes a post about how they got Linux running on this watch, then I will be impressed. Until then we don't need to hear about someone running Linux on a used cash register that is really the type of PC that was being used when Unreal first came out.

    __NOTE__ Just because I say I'm not impressed doesn't mean this isn't cool, when it is; just like if some girl was able to lick her own crotch. That would be impressive, but not cool :)
    • IBM [ibm.com] did it. Quite a while ago actually look around on slashdot.
    • "If someone makes a post about how they got Linux running on this watch, then I will be impressed."

      Am I the only one who is like super burnt out on seeing 'Linux installed on so and so device'? It sounded cool at first, but I never seem to find anybody doing something cool with it. If somebody said "We got Linux installed on this watch and then made it act like a Tricorder from Star Trek", then that'd be the start to me thinking it was cool again.

      Sorry about the OT rant. There's so much potential when getting Linux to run on something, but damn never anything ever comes from it.

  • Looks pretty cool (Score:4, Interesting)

    by martissimo ( 515886 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @07:29PM (#3419334)
    But i seem to have a problem with watches, and knowing you geeks, im sure one of you can help me answer it ;)

    Whenever i wear a wristwatch i seem to do something odd to them, they just stop working on me. I can put on any kind of watch, a cheap little 10$ digital job, all the way up to a top of the line Rolex, unfailingly about 4 or 5 hours later it will stop working. If i take the watch off and set it aside someplace for a few hours it will usually start working again.

    So my question is, anyone know what causes this, and does any company make a watch that is targetted to people like me? I have never seen one, but would certainly pay a lot if i could find one.

    • Re:Looks pretty cool (Score:2, Interesting)

      by pennsol ( 317791 )
      I've seen this before i have an ex-roomate that couldn't wear watches for the same reason. I think it has some thing to do with the bodys electromagnetic field. I'd try a true windup watch if you can find one. :)
    • If you do work in a high magnetic field, then the watches tend to stop working. I have a friend who built a cyclotron and the magnet is very powerful. Whenever it is on, his Swiss watch stops working. He now places it inside of a Faraday cage or far away from the magnet BEFORE he works....
    • Simple.. See the other post on your thread? He's probably right. Just get a mechanical (spring driven) watch and you'll be set.

      Catch is (depending on model) you may need to wind it every couple of days.
  • Buy a good cell phone and a year's worth of service. If you ever get lost, just call up your spouse ... "Honey, I think I'm lost. I'm near a mile marker that says 29.3 or wait, is that 23.9 ... anyway, I think I'm near the valley ... no, not THAT one, I see the Sun up in the sky over THERE, so I think that's where west is ..."
  • Now, that's a chick I can dig!!!

  • Back tomorrow (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by stoolpigeon ( 454276 )
    So I just had fun w/some posts that I think will get a few people riled up. Now I've got to go home-- so I can't reply to your angry responses until tomorrow.

    So check back then if you can.

    Hopefully somebody will be at least a little annoyed.

    .

  • Six hundred!? (Score:3, Funny)

    by MrHat ( 102062 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @07:36PM (#3419350)
    For six hundred plux tax, that chick on their website better come with it.

    Shit. If I had six hundred and wanted to piss it away, I think I'd be buying the Timex and a really good hooker instead.
    • Why not just buy the Timex Hooker?
      • Timex has hookers now? Sign me up!

        *Wayne's world dream sequence...*

        Oh yeah...
        Mmm... lower...
        It 4:20pm, and a hotttt sixty-nine degrees.
        Oh yesss! You're currently going south!

        *Fade back in*

        Okay. Maybe the Timex hookers aren't quite a great idea...

  • T-Touch Owner's Page (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Jim Tyre ( 100017 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @07:40PM (#3419361) Homepage
    "By reading this page, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to the legal notice." [ozdoba.net]

    I read the page. Is "Slashdot made me do it" a good defense?

  • Setting the alarm... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by netsharc ( 195805 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @07:41PM (#3419365)
    Looking at the Flash demo on the website, setting the alarms appears to involve holding the + or - button and waiting as the minutes tick one by one until the LCD displays the time you want the alarm to go off. Great. At least it can go forwards and backwards. What would be cool (but is probably too complicated) is if you can press a button to set the hour (LCD displays "HOUR"), and move the hour hand to the appropriate/approximate time using your touch, press another button and then move the minute hand to set the minute. And perhaps another pres to activate the + or - to fine tune the minute.


    Otherwise, it's one neat watch.

  • and that made me think... $100 for a watch is pretty steep.

    And then I read the article - holy crap - who has that sort of money to waste.. er.. spend on a watch.

    I'd rather get a new 19" monitor, scanner and new DVD player.
  • Check out the watch's website [t-touch.com] (wow... nice cover page :-).

    It's an interesting marketing exercise if nothing else.

  • no backlight? :( (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sodakar ( 205398 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @07:49PM (#3419395)
    The analog display has luminous hands and indices, but the digital display is not illuminated.
    This is quite a bummer to me, as a watch without backlighting, to me, is useless... Most $500+ watches "meant for the outdoors" seem to come with the backlight feature... I wonder why they chose to leave this feature out -- especially when most of the fancy features are on the digital display...
  • And last week I got lost, and had to aim a satellite dish, so that compass would come in handy..

    Or you could use a watch with hands and use the Sun to find North.

  • I used to have a touch screen calculator watch six or so years ago. Sadly I lost it somewhere in Yosemite. :( Anyways, my watch had a calculator and an address book. Pretty much the same feature set as those huge casio watches, but since you pressed buttons that appeared right on the screen instead of a little keypad thing, it wasn't absurdly bulky.

    So, touch screen watches aren't that new. However, I guess watches that combine a barometer, thermometer, etc. plus an ad campaign involving nude men and women are novel. ;)


  • A touchscreen...watch..

    I'm surprised they aren't selling the watch for 99 cents when you buy a "Toshiba Home Finger Guillotine" and the "Sony(tm) Ultra-Small Prosthetic Index Finger" you'll need to utilize it.

    I'll pass. Buying a touch-screen watch makes about as much sense as buying a NetCat. Its an invention that solves a problem that never existed to begin with.

    Cheers,

  • Lost? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Technician ( 215283 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @08:07PM (#3419423)
    I've seldom gotten found by using a compass. I can spend a lot less money on a watch that also has a GPS and will tell me where I am.
    Casio GPS Watch (PAT-2GP) can be found for $394.00. http://www.shoplite.com/pat-1gp.htm That watch even has something important, auto time correction. I use a watch to know the time. Non-GPS autoset watches can be found for less than $100.00.
    • I've seldom gotten found by using a compass. I can spend a lot less money on a watch that also has a GPS and will tell me where I am.

      Ok, so you have a GPS, and your GPS tells you you're location is 75o45'38.3"W 43o13'08.52"N. Without any other resources, where are you? A GPS without any other knowledge is just as useful as knowing which direction north is without any other knowledge; in other words, completely useless.

      GPS is not a magical thing, folks. I've hiked for miles off-trail with nothing more than a map and compass, with no problems whatsoever. I have also used a GPS, and found it useful for checking my location from time to time to make sure I was still where I thought I was, while using a compass to navigate in between GPS readings. Relying 100% on a GPS and just following the little arrow pointing towards your intended target is foolish, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that you'll have to carry your weight in batteries. What if you drop the thing and break it, or what if you're in a deep valley or another situation where the thing doesn't work? Having a compass (or two or three, as is often my case) as a backup and knowing how to use it is a key to successful off-trail backcountry navigation.
      • I started navigating with a compass many years ago and I still carry one. You haven't checked the technology lately if you think you have to carry your weight in batteries. My GPS will (and does) run 10 hours on a set of batteries. My carrycase has room for a spare set. That way I always travel with a brand new set as the reserve set. (2 AA's)
        GPS reception is poor in the heavy woods. Most of the time while hiking, the GPS is stowed not using batteries. A set of batteries usualy lasts over a month of hiking with my typical usage pattern. I use it to spot check my location in clearings which I mark, so I can hop back and find where I parked the car. I print my maps from the National Geographic topographic maps (was Wildflower Productions software) with the GPS grid on the map, so yes those numbers do mean something on my map. The compass is still the primary direction setting insturment for cross country navagation. The GPS will tell me the distance and direction back to the last clearing (marked waypoint) as well as the distance and direction to that secluded lake or hot spring I am seeking. (Waypoint set before leaving home) The compass will tell you which way is North, but it will not tell you what direction that hot spring is when you miss it by a tenth mile.

        To demonstrate the diffrence between using a compass only and using a GPS to find your target in relation to you, try Geocaching with a compass instead of a GPS. Visit www.geocaching.com for details. Good luck with the compass only hunt. I'll be impressed if you find many geocaches with just a compass and a map. You may find a parking lot, but finding the cache will be much more difficult.
        • You haven't checked the technology lately if you think you have to carry your weight in batteries. My GPS will (and does) run 10 hours on a set of batteries...Most of the time while hiking, the GPS is stowed not using batteries.

          10 hours is fine if you're out for a day. But if you're out for several days (as I often am), and are hiking all day (as I often am), and using the thing constantly, then that's a lot of batteries you're going through. My original point with regards to this was that (as you said) the GPS should not be used constantly. But if it's not being used constantly, then you have to know how to use some alternate means of direction-finding, such as a compass. The GPS is not a 100% replacement for knowledge of how to use a compass.

          I print my maps from the National Geographic topographic maps with the GPS grid on the map, so yes those numbers do mean something on my map.

          My point was that without a map, those numbers mean absolutely nothing. Obviously with a map you can pinpoint your location (I've found UTM coords to be much better for this than lat/long, since I typically use USGS 7.5' maps with the UTM overlay). The reason I was trying to make that point was in response to the orginal's posters statement that knowing which way north is is useless, but with a GPS, he knows exactly where he is, which isn't necessarily true.

          try Geocaching with a compass instead of a GPS.

          I'm familiar with geocaching, and will never do it. I live near the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi, and the only forests in the nation to have constitutional protection [adirondack-park.net], and I'm not about to leave a tupperware container full of crap lying around in the woods. What ever happened to "if you carry it in, carry it out" or "leave no trace"? When I've hiked a dozen miles into the backcountry to a nice secluded lake, nothing ruins the wilderness feeling more than a blatant sign of mankind's disregard. Call me idealistic, but I'm just not a big fan of encouraging people to leave junk out in the woods.
          • Call me idealistic, but I'm just not a big fan of encouraging people to leave junk out in the woods.

            I'm not either. Most caches placed are located where the casual passerby will never find it. Unless you are into digging in the pine needles in a stump, or picking up a large flat rock, you will never know it's there.

            I have two caches hidden. One is in a city park. It has been there since last July undisturbed and unseen by the passerby. The other one is located under junk that has been there for over 5 years. I chose that location because nobody bothers it. Neither one is located in a wilderness location.

            Some of the more rural caches get me to unusual out of the way places I have never been before.
            Urban caches often get me to greenspaces I never new existed. For that reason I like geocaching. Going to the coast for example is usualy the pits hitting the regular tourist spots. With caching, I get to find some gems away from the beaten path that may not be marked on your map. Check for caches located near the wilderness area. Most caches are placed carefully and hidden unlike the beer cans near your favorite fishing hole.
  • I think I'll stick with my 1990 touchscreen VDB-1000 [cdecas.free.fr]. ;)
  • my g-shock (which is indestructable by the way) had a nice big soft plastic button underneath the display on the watch face. It activated the indiglo-style light for 5 seconds without constant pressure. This was like 10 years ago and only cost $50...

    In summary, I'm not impressed. Especially for $600.
  • If you had better tools, you could more effectively demonstrate your total incompetence.

    true..true ...
  • Greetings,

    I had a Casio G Shock watch for a few years that does everything this one does, with barometer/altimeter, compass, etc. plus a few other functions that this one lacks. It cost about $120 five years ago and works *great*. The altimeter/barometer is accurate to 10,000 ft/agl (I tested often; I'm a skydiver). The compass is very accurate.

    The watch itself is all digital, with an LCD instead of hands. You can probably find it cheaper on eBay than what I paid for it.

    Just a thought.

    E
  • Touchscreen pants: select your pocket locations, and fix wedgies at the flick of your fingertip.

    Touchscreen people: Y'know how you're good at pushing people's buttons? Now they're all labelled for your convenience.

    Touchscreen cellphones: because dialing, quickdialing, voice dialing, and using the address book are too difficult to understand. (Yes, I HAVE seen people tap their screens.)

    Touchscreen full-length mirrors: includes copy of Kai's Power Goo for creative reshaping.

    We need these just as much as we need touchscreen watches - quick, get someone on the project!

  • Some times an altimeter comes in handy (Score:5, Interesting)

    by frank249 ( 100528 ) on Friday April 26, 2002 @08:40PM (#3419487)
    A watch with a built-in altimeter helped save 13 lives. In 1991 a Canadian C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed a few miles short of the runway at Alert [tscm.com]. Canadian Forces Station Alert, located on the north coast of Ellesmere Island in the Northwest Territories, is the most northern permanently inhabited settlement in the world. Amazingly 13 of the crew and passengers survived the crash. SAR Techs jumped in [airforce.dnd.ca] but had to wait for a ground rescue crew to reach them to bring them out. It was pitch dark and too far north for a compass or GPS to work. One of the ground rescue guys had an altimeter built-in to his wristwatch and they were able to navigate by comparing the elevation to the map. No touch screen but it worked well enough to help save those lives.
  • my friend has one of those they're sw33t!! each 5min section has a function like 5min=timer , 10min=thermometer etc. this isn't the real order but u get the point. btw. this things aren't new, u know...

    --tzan
  • The watch I've always thought was cool and wanted is called the "See Touch Watch". They have a website [seetouchwatch.ch] but it doesn't seem to work. If you search google, you can find this page [europastar.com] with a picture of it at the bottom. The idea is that the watch looks like a dominoe, and the bumps move up or down to tell the time. It is really quite cool. I first found out about it on "Next Step" on the discovery channel. That was a cool show, so was Beyond 2000 for that matter. Anyway, I've always thought it's a cool watch but they have never answered my e-mails, and I don't have the $$$ to call Europe. The only time I found a price for it, I think it was a few hundred, but I don't remember. Such a cool watch.
  • is that guy gary krakow a tool or what? it sounded like i was reading an onion article or something.

    that said, the watch is neat. the essential problem with these gadgets is that the screen and input sizes need to be so small. within the next ten years or so, i'll wager that some genious is going to come up with a brilliant solution (voice-recognition holograms, anyone?)

  • I know that I hit the top of my normal default generic watch lots of times. Wouldnt having a touch screen thing result in lots of 'button' pushage, eg, when sleeping, when reaching into pockets for wallet, you know, general stuff that happens.
  • I bought a touch screen watch from Casio on 1987. It was a calucator watch. Remember those?This watche didn't have regular buttons, just a flat, touch-senstive face.


    This watch being advertised as the first "touch screen" watch is pure, unadulterated BS.

  • Did everybody here think they'd be the first to post "I won't buy it because it's expensive."?

    I'm a little surprised this story made it to Slashdot. Thing is, this watch appears to be geared towards the Rolex crowd as opposed to being made for the general purpose. In that case, I think it's pretty cool that they made it. I had $100 burning in my pocket a couple of years ago and I wanted to get a nice dressy watch, preferably one with style to it, and maybe a techie doo-dad or two. I found a nice watch that , well, told time. But it was pretty, looked a little like the one Will Smith wore in MiB. $400. My attitude was "Uhhh, for $400, I want my watch to run MAME too." I ended up with a Timex watch, which I'm still wearing today.

    What's my point? Well, I imagine there is a market for people to spend $400 on a nice looking watch. And why not? If you want to look good, money is no object. Yet, the people paying $400 for that watch, really only have the demand that it tell time. Well, one day I plan on having lots of money to spend on things like ridiculously fashionable watches. To pay $600 for one with an electronic compass plus thermometer etc would be far better than to pay $400 for one that just tells time.

    Think about it. It's not really geared for the Slashdot crowd, it's geared for the people who use $20 bills to wipe their butt with.

  • I remember working in a physics lab a long time ago (1985) and one of my coworkers brought back an interesting watch from Hong Kong. It was an analog watch with a small LCD panel just above the 6. The interesting thing was, it was a full-function calculator watch with a touchscreen instead of all the buttons of a "normal" calculator watch. It was really quite small and elegant. To use the calculator, you would draw the numbers on the face of the watch with your finger. So if you drew:
    5 x 6 =
    the display would show 5 and then 6 and then finally 30 after you drew the = sign.

    I was always surprised that I never ever saw anything like this watch again, even after all these years.

    Anyone heard of this or anything like it?
  • It was the Casio TC-600 [pocketcalculatorshow.com], and it had a large LCD display that converted to a calculator. Perfect for sneaking into tests where calculator watches weren't allowed. Eventually, the touch screen went bad and the 3 "key" wouldn't work, but it was a very cool watch.
  • if it doesnt have the ability to show the time in binary it is a piece of crap.

    Kidding aside... I personally think my binary matrix watch is the best watch I have ever owned, the band sucks and had to be replaced with a real leather one within a month but the watch still looks new runs perfectly and has spend time in hot-tubs, showers and pools along with servers,workstations and fiber racks.

    And many of the women at work like how it looks compared to the junk available here in the states... I get compliments daily on it.

    Besides... What the hell can a $600.00 watch do for me that is WORTH spending $600.00 on it?
  • I have a Tissot PR50, which is their bottom of the line. Pretty basic stainless steel case with a sapphire crystal and a nice quartz movement. Bought it at the height of the dot-bomb era from a place called newwatch.com for like 40% off. :)

    First watch I've ever owned that has received "nice watch" comments from women. :)

    I am definately considering buying this T-Touch. Although I haven't found any dot-bombs selling it for 40% off. :)

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You mean you didn't *know* she was off making lots of little phone companies?

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