Frazz by Jef Mallett for June 12, 2024

I call my Fitbit the Nag on my Wrist….

Those self-winders were too big for my comfort. And too expensive for my pocketbook. I graduated from “wind your watch every evening.” to “change your battery when the hands stop moving” to, now, "change the battery when the display gets too dim.

I’m pretty sure I’ll never have another watch. If this one dies (I hope not until I do), I’ll just start staring at my phone a little more. Probably.

For ordinary time telling, I prefer a glow-in-the-dark analogue watch to the weight of my smartphone.

Reminds me of a story or joke I once read. A guy had bought a self winding watch, but when he slept, he wasn’t moving around enough for the watch to rewind. So one night, he went to bed without the watch and his wife thought that he had given up on it. Until the next morning, when she went to check on their little infant, who really moved around the bed all night and found the watch strapped on his ankle, winded and perfectly on time.

And then there are power meters for those who bicycle.

Like my Dick Tracy wrist radio/watch I got back in the 1940’s.

I have several self-winders but have gotten too reliant on my apple watch to wear them anymore.

I had my Self Winding Timex Automatic watch for 15 years until the crystal got a hole in it and water got in, I miss it. Did by a battery changing tool for the new watch simple to use

I loved my cheap watch with a spider on the face. When it died, I quit wearing watches.

For people who don’t move much, you can buy motorized moving boxes to put the watches in.

I want my watch to be a watch. I want my phone to be a phone. I want my laptop to be a computer. and never the twain shall meet. We didn’t have these new fangled gadgets when I was young and we liked it! Did I mention my walking to school story?

I have a solar powered watch. Never needs winding, doesn’t need constant movement, just needs exposure to light.

Yay! Timex Indiglo!

All currently made Rolex watches are self-winding, or manually wound.

When I retired, I stopped wearing watches and pantyhose….

It’s the tan line that puts me off wrist born devices.

I have multiple watches that no longer work – self-winding and battery (even with new batteries) – I took a Seiko, Citizen and a Bulova (all self-winding) to a watch repair shop and they said it would cost more to repair them than they were worth. I’ve gone electronic with the Apple watch – I can make and take phone calls, get messages and mail, monitor my health stats and get my reminders – all without pulling my phone out – a modern day “Dick Tracy” watch…

GREAT Cartooning. I still wear an el cheapo Casio digital. Less than $15. YMYV

Those invasive computers are no joke. As you might guess, soldiers are super keen on fitness, and thus were early adopters of fitness tracker watches, so when the first breaches of the data on those devices happened, it immediately revealed the position of a lot of forward operating bases, and the routes a lot of soldiers took on patrol. Even anonymized, that’s pretty valuable information.

Frazz since you run for fun, why not leave the technology at home and enjoy an hour or so outside. Your body will tell you when its time to go in.

I could never get a Fitbit® to last more than about three months before suffering an unfortunate “accident.” Usually when it under-counted by half, or refused to sync with my computer after a 10,000 step day.

On the other hand, it was fun to go out for a ride on the Harley and see the Fitbit record 20,000 steps from the engine vibration.

So… the last panel is Frazz’s invasive little wrist computer invading his conversation to tell him he hasn’t moved enough in the last fifteen seconds?

“Some of us still do move…”

And an increasing number fake it. I was out on the bicycle path yesterday, and I’d say at least half the “bikes” I saw had some form of electric assist. And these were not “mobility” assistance for the elderly and infirm—if anything, the old geezers like me were pedaling (I’m 70 and still ride my 1998 Trek Y-bike because of its enormous coolness), while the younger folks were letting the motor do the work.

Kids questions remind me of how baffled aliens would be trying to figure us out.

Good self-winders are expensive (some VERY expensive) require 3-5 years leaning/service, also expensive. I replace mine with an attractive light powered Seiko ($60.) – - service in 10 years, keeps perfect time with no special care. Drowned the ego and eliminated the hassle.

I think they might both be right. :-) That said, my Apple Watch does do a nice job of monitoring exercise. So there’s that.

Not everyone who likes to stay active is a big list-checking nerd about it, you know.

You wouldn’t believe the number of people seeing my watch and asking me the time instead of looking for their smartphone.

So is it progress? I’m confused.