[mladenkovacevic]

I have no interest in the exclusive "I make more money than you" objects so let's talk about that digital crown instead.

I think Apple messed up here. I might be proven wrong after millions of people are joyfully spinning their little digital crowns between their thumb and forefinger a couple of years from now, but I would wager a small sum that I'm not wrong.

Would it not have been better to put a touch-sensitive pad along the whole side of the Apple Watch and/or give it the same pressure sensitivity as the front screen? Or if they chose a circular watch, give it a spinning band around the whole face of the watch. Much bigger controller, much more comfortable and better precision.

Perhaps there's some use case where the digital crown is a preferable method of input (setting a very exact numerical value for example), but I have a feeling those use-cases will be few and far between, and even then, the set-up to use the crown will require some form of touch and/or voice input.

[bane]

> put a touch-sensitive pad along the whole side of the Apple Watch

That's exactly what I thought when I first saw it explained. Coming from the iPod and all this touch sensitive stuff (and then the "hard tap" being introduced here) a physical thingamabob to fiddle with seems really odd.

[stefanu]

What about a cold weather? You can still turn the crown in gloves when it is freezing.

[bane]

My Note 3 works just fine with gloves on (there's a screen sensitivity mode intended just for that use-case)...and I'm not talking about using it with the pen.

Touchscreen tech has advanced quite a bit since the old days.

The demos of the watch show a mixed use-case. The crown for some things, the screen to complete the task. So unless they're supporting similar screen tech as what Samsung is featuring now, the glove use-case doesn't matter.

[manicdee]

A touch screen on the side of the object is just begging for false input as people steady their fingers by holding onto the sides of the face of the smart watch.

Before you continue on your criticism of the digital crown as an input method, why not actually try it?

[mladenkovacevic]

Of course, all opinions are subject to change. But even on old-timey mechanical watches, the crown is there because of a need not because it is the ideal input mechanism. I think we can do better now.

I don't buy the false input argument. Smartphones already handle that pretty well but in the case of a watch I can additionally see people using their thumb on the base or the other side of the watch as an anchor to steady their hand before committing to swipe or a press gesture.

As I said before, though: all my opinions are subject to change.

[psbp]

>Perhaps there's some use case where the digital crown is a preferable method of input (setting a very exact numerical value for example)

Home automation.