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Comment by keymone | Hacker News Reader

What if it could pair with air pods and function as a proper phone?

It might function as a proper phone, but it can't function as a proper smartphone, because you need a real screen for that.

What you're implying is that blind people can't properly use a smartphone, which I believe is false.

I'm not sure what the grandparent was implying, but there's definitely a major benefit for larger screen sizes, even for those that are completely blind. iOS voiceover and other accessibility UI affordances are much more difficult to implement on the watch form factor, where a very small amount of content can be 'active' at a time.

There are some interesting startups targeting the possibilities here, but right now, smart watches provide a less capable experience for everyone right now.

sure i won't get the display but i get speech to text, text to speech, calls, messages, calendar, activity tracker and all the other stuff that one can install on apple watch.

are you saying that everybody who has smartphone needs 100% of what makes it a smartphone?

At that point may as well have the cellular and processing function in the AirPods themselves.

What do you mean what if? This is something you can already do for calling + streaming music direct from the watch.

you can't call without carrying iphone with you

Also when you can listen to music or podcasts from the watch, they have to be preloaded. If there is an episode that you didn't download and put on the watch or you want to listen to a streaming music service… you're stuck unless the phone is there.

How would you properly dial?

It's 2017. Nobody dials. You say the person's name.

Anyway, the Apple Watch has a perfectly usable 10-key entry screen; that's what is used to unlock the Watch. Have you actually seen an Apple Watch?

it's 2017 nobody calls, voice dial is 2001.

that said my 5.2" phone doesn't have a perfectly usable tenkey, forgive me if I'm skeptical of a watch screen.

I use the pin pad to unlock my watch when I don't have my phone nearby, it works fine. I'm not going to say it's a great experience, but it's OK.

I agree I'd be more likely to use Siri or the Contacts app on the watch.

Rotary dial.

... I'm not sure yet whether that was a joke or not.

Don't they support speech to text? Unfamiliar never really played too much with one, but selecting from contacts isn't wasn't difficult. Rotary dial?

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