My Apple Watch Review

I've had the apple watch for a couple of months now and I've decided to post a review. First, I'll start off with some general overall comments and then move into some pros and cons. Now, I'm not going to cover everything there is to know about the Apple Watch. To learn more, please visit the Apple site to learn more at the following link Apple.

The Apple watch is a smart watch released by Apple earlier this year. As far as functionality goes, it provides a great deal of functionality; but lacks in some key areas. In particular, one of the main drawbacks is that most of the functionality is tied into the watch having to be within bluetooth range (30 feet) of the phone. Venturing too far away from the phone will result in reduced functionality and thus relegate the watch to being just that without all the additional bells and whistles. In my opinion, given the current state of the watch, I view it as more of a luxurious toy than a necessity.

Pros:

Convenience: Notifications are received on the watch which eliminates the need to reach into your pocket and pull your phone out every time you receive a text or call. In addition, the Apple watch makes it more convenient to respond to a text while driving through the voice dictation feature which allows you to talk into the watch to respond to a text.

Fitness Tracking: The watch has a built-in fitness tracker which tracks how active you've been throughout the day and also "nudges" you to be more active based upon goals that you can modify each week.

Coolness: As a kid, one of my favorite shows to watch was "Knight Rider" which I always envied Michael Knight when I would see him talking into his watch. Now with my Apple watch I can talk to people through my watch as well. How cool is that? The Apple watch gives you the functionality to answer calls directly on the watch which can free your hands to complete other tasks during the conversation.

Cons:

Bluetooth Rage: The Apple watch must be within 30 feet, give or take depending on envorinmental factors in order to work. This is a major drawback for me and in my opinion the watch would be much better if it worked more independently.

Cost: The Apple watch is a little on the expensive side. Especially, given the functionality or lack thereof it is my opinion that it's not necessarily worth the steep price tag in it's current form.

Apps: Although there are quite a few apps available for the Apple watch, that part of the market is still trying to catch up. However, the current apps list isn't too shabby.

 In conclusion, the Apple watch is an intriguing tech gadget; however, in it's current state it leaves a little to be desired. In retrospect, I would take a wait-and-see approach to see if there's any functionality added before taking the plunge to purchase it.

Tune in next time for the next #techtuesday blog.

That's all folks. Keep Calm and Tech On!

'Shark Tank's STEMCenter Encourages Education Using Robots

S(Science) T(Technology) E(Engineering) M(Mathematics) areas have been in the headlines quite a bit recently and for good reason. These are vitally important areas to the future of America. Currently, there aren't enough qualified candidates to fill many of the open positions in the STEM areas. This shortage has ultimately led to a great deal of emphasis being placed on creating awareness and increasing training and education in the STEM areas. STEMCenter is one of the programs introduced to help create awareness and stimulate interest among students in STEM. The general focus is that through kinesthetic (hands-on) learning through the use of robots will help motivate students to pursue STEM careers. The program was recently featured on Shark Tank and the creators were able to secure a deal. How cool is that? I'm looking forward to seeing this program expand and continue to help shape the future of STEM. That's all for now, tune in next week for another amazing #techtuesday topic.   

STEMCenter