10 Reasons Why I LOVE My  Watch

Before I tell you why I love it, let me tell you about the one bad  Watch experience...buying it!

I set an alarm for 1:50AM (central, midnight Pacific) the morning pre-orders for the  Watch began, giving myself 10 minutes to wake up and shake off the cobwebs. I already had my 42mm stainless steel model with the Milanese loop band pre-configured and saved to my favorites in the on-line Apple Store. So, I got up in the middle of the night, drained my lizard, sat down at my iMac, logged into the Apple Store, opened up my iPad and launched the Apple Store app. (Belt AND suspenders. Just in case. Having had difficulty getting Apple’s on-line store to cooperate in the past, I took the advice of iMore’s Rene Ritchie who suggested the iOS Apple Store App works better for big launches like this when the web store can get choked with traffic.) Anyway. By this time it was 1:57. I called up my favorites on both devices and tried to pre-order my  Watch. The button was still greyed-out on both. Well, it was still a couple minutes early. I tried again at 1:59. The same. I watched the seconds count down to 02:00. The iPad app…no luck, grey. iMac, the same. Back to the iPad. Grey. iMac…I got a button! It’s now 2:04. I clicked. Nothing happened. Clicked again. Nothing. It’s 2:06. Back to the iPad. Refreshed. Got a button! Click! BINGO!!! 

Estimated delivery: 4 – 6 weeks.

Whaaaaa?

But, it’s only 2:08!!!????

Do I dare try another model? A different band?

Sigh…

Click “Confirm”

I go outside on the patio deck and have a smoke. I’m thinking, “WTF?, I get up in the middle of the night to be (at least) close to the front of the line to no avail. Instead of getting my new, shiny  Watch on release day, April 24^th , mine isn’t coming till sometime between May 13^th and May 27^th. I look to the stars and ponder this mystery of the universe. (Not really, that’s bullshit. I just yawned, had another smoke and went back to sleep, pissed off.)

Sure enough, I didn’t get my watch on release day, but it did arrive a little sooner than the web site originally predicted. On Friday, May 8^th 2015 at 11:14AM I took possession of my version of Apple’s latest world changer. OK, that does seem a little melodramatic, but signing the UPS or FedEx handheld device upon receipt of a new Apple product is always exciting. That’s especially true when the product isn’t just new, but also the first of a new category like my original iPad in 2010 or the original iPhone in 2007. It just doesn’t happen that often. No, I wasn’t the first to own an  Watch, but I was the first of anyone I knew and probably the first in my small town.

I’m not here to do a detailed review of the device. If you want a review just Google “Apple Watch Review” and pick one of the thousands of results. Generally, for product reviews I like Macworld, Mac|Life, 9to5Mac and The Mac Observer, but your experience may vary. Like every newly-released Apple product, the  Watch has generated millions of words of descriptions, reviews, critiques, analysis, scrutiny, complaints, bashing…

Well, you get the picture. If it’s a feature-by-feature analysis of the  Watch you’re after, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding one or thirty.

But like I said a few minutes ago, I love it. Here’s 10 reasons why:

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