This is Technology Bytes, episode 174 for July 5th, 2026.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bites on interesting technology.
Enjoy, and here we go.
This week we’re talking about the Apple Watch.
And I know I’ve talked about it before, but really this is just to share an additional story about the Apple Watch and what it does and what it means to people.
And you know I’m an Apple guy, I like my Apple Watch, so I hope you enjoy this story.
This past weekend my wife and I drove to California for a couple reasons.
We had a long-time family friend who passed away, and so we were going for his memorial service.
And then it was also the weekend before my mother-in-law’s birthday, which was on the coming Monday.
And so when we got to their house, she said to me, I’m getting one of those.
And I didn’t know what she was talking about, and then she pointed to my wrist.
And I said, you’re getting an Apple Watch?
And she goes, well, she said yes, and then she said, well, I’m getting something like it.
And it always is interesting to me when people say they are getting an Apple product, when really they mean they’re getting something like it.
And there really isn’t anything like it.
I remember people telling me, oh, I bought my kid an iPad, and said, oh, that’s really cool.
Well, it’s not really an iPad.
Anyway, so it was supposed to be delivered that day.
It was supposed to be able to take phone calls.
It had all kinds of things that it was supposed to be able to do that were very much Apple Watch-like.
And so she was real excited to get it.
And it finally came late in the afternoon, evening, when we had all gathered back at her house for cake and ice cream to celebrate her birthday.
It clearly was not an Apple Watch.
And so being the tech guy, and it’s a little bit dangerous because I get blamed for things that go wrong as much as I get praised, maybe more than I get praised for things that go correctly.
But I was trying to set it up, and they have an app.
And it’s an interesting device because it comes with its own SIM.
And if you want to use it to make phone calls, you would have to buy a new SIM that would allow phone calls and pay for that service.
But it did come with a data SIM that was paid up for the first year, I think.
And so then they have an app.
And when you go to download the app, there’s two options, one for the elderly and one for a child.
And so my mother-in-law is getting to be elderly.
And so I set it up for that.
And that’s when things just kind of fell apart.
And I realized that this watch is simply a tracking device.
You cannot do anything with it that whoever is the owner of the watch does not let you do.
So when I set it up for my mother-in-law, it was really for her to give it to somebody else, like a grandchild or a great-grandchild so she could be responsible for where they were, for what they could do, for who they could talk to, for what phone calls they could make.
The whole thing was a simple tracking device.
Maybe, I don’t know, for $80, something that might be useful to somebody, but clearly not an Apple Watch, did not even come close to serving that possibility.
And so she was a bit disappointed.
I happen to be a two-Apple Watch person, and I know that’s a first-world problem or blessing or whatever you want to call it, but I always have an Apple Watch on.
And so I recently purchased the Ultra 3, gave my Ultra 2 to my son, and that is my main watch.
But when that one needs to spend time on the charger, then I have a Series 7 that I wear so that I do have an Apple Watch on at all times of the day.
It’s just the way that I’ve set myself up.
And so that evening when I was with my wife and we were at our hotel room, I said, what if I gave this watch to my mother-in-law and set her up with a real Apple Watch?
And then I said, however, that would mean I would want to buy another watch because I like to be a two-watch person and I like to have that as a possibility.
And so I am probably going to do that.
Tomorrow will be my first Sunday having the watch, so it will be the first time that I will be a Sunday watch wearer as far as the Series 11 goes.
All in all, I really like it.
I like the things that it does.
I like the things that it offers.
I did not buy the cellular version, although I thought I did, but I look back and I just click the wrong button because I will not use that watch as my workout watch.
And when I work out with my Ultra 3, I am doing three to five-mile walks and I don’t like to take my phone.
So I do have cell service on my Ultra 3 for that very reason.
But when I’m wearing the 11, it’s very common that I’m going to have my phone all the time.
I don’t need that watch to be available on the cellular network at this point.
I still kind of wish I’d bought it and then decided later to either pay the $10 a month or whatever it is to get it, but it’s okay.
I will use it as it is and it will work very well.
And I’m excited to have two watches still and very excited that my wife let me get the Series 11 and it is living up to everything I expected it to be.
Well, that is all I have for today.
If you have comments, suggestions, or questions, you can send them to technologybytes at merrickfamily.com.
As always, I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast and I look forward to the next time we are together taking another bite of technology.
