For an Apple Event that was rather lackluster for me, I have been reading a lot on the subject.

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I’ve said before that I am more of a ring than a watch person. Still, I have a new Apple Watch on my wrist and I’m relegating the gorgeous looking Oura ring to my reading and research category.

Over the past few years, the smart ring market has experienced many false starts, whether that’s been due to hardware hold-ups, legal issues or just the fact they’ve proven to be notoriously difficult to get right for mainstream consumers.

But after the rise and fall of hyped brands, like Smarty Ring, Fin and Nod, a number of companies have stuck around that promise smart rings with true staying power. That means highly accurate data tracking, valuable insights and, most importantly, a design you’ll actually want to wear.

One smart ring that ticks all of those boxes is Oura.

​Oura Ring Review - Wareable

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Recently, Marco Arment posted about the inconsistencies/oddities of Apple Watch watchfaces. For those that didn’t read that commentary, the crux of his position was that the Apple Watch all but ignores long-held horological standards that make reading the time on an analog watchface more simple. Marco’s asssessment was one that I would have not been able to put into words but admittedly agreed with wholeheartedly. Shortly before that post, I puchased an Apple Watch Series 3 Nike+ to replace my aging Series 0 Stainless Steel. The reason I am providing so much additional information about all this is the differences I noted between a “standard” Apple Watch and the Nike+ models. In particular, the additional watchfaces that come with the Nike+ model watches.

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I normally automate some of my reading commentaries, which generally means that these posts only point to one article. In this instance, I had two articles that played off each other so perfectly, I was unable to separate my thoughts about them into two posts.

I read all of Ben Brooks items that are open to the public and have often toyed with the idea of becoming a member because he and I see eye-to-eye on a lot. I feel him on this one.

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I said recently that I was not in the market for the new iPhone models. After reading Gruber’s review, I started to think that maybe I should be. However, there are two gems that I thought I would draw attention to in this excellent review:

I don’t think the absence of 3D Touch is a dealbreaker for anyone, but it’s just weird that the iPhone XR is the first new iPhone since 3D Touch was introduced not to have it.

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I am generally less of a watch person and more of a ring person. Ever since getting my first fitness tracker, I’ve been interested in quantifying those metrics: sleep, calorie and step counts, etc. I write all this to say I think for me, the long term vision for fitness tracking will be a ring, not a watch. The Oura Ring is awesome tech and the company’s articles about sleep and overall health are always worth a read.

Since the advent of electric light, we’ve increasingly ignored and misunderstood sleep: It’s a necessary evil. It’s an inactive state. It’s the human stand-by mode. Why sleep when you could watch just one more episode on Netflix or go to Mars? However, with advances in science and technology, and a budding revolution in attitudes towards sleep, we may be ready to throw these ideas into the dustbin of history and embrace a non-binary view on human existence and see that there is no ON/OFF for us. Rather, there are three stages of being that are inextricably intertwined, each one affecting the others: Awake, Asleep, Dreaming.

These three states of being are found in nearly all mammals and birds: wakefulness, Non-REM sleep and REM sleep. From a physiological viewpoint they are as different from each other as sleeping is from being wide awake. You just don’t notice it — mainly because you’re asleep.

Stages of Sleep: The Definitive Guide for the Curious | Oura Ring

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