05 Feb 2008, 23:59
I have to admit that there were two things which annoyed me about LED watches when they first came out: 1) It is a two-handed operation, which can be very inconvenient at times, and 2) they sucked dry TWO batteries at once in just a year.
The LED seems to be making a bit of a comeback, despite the superior efficiency of LCD and the advent of E-ink (paper-like LCD). Now Diesel is on the bandwagon, targeting mainstream watch consumers. Their new model DZ7080 is quite cool looking. I like the style. And it uses more efficient OLED technology, so the battery life must be better. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any specifications about it--lumens, battery life, etc.
However, the 2-handed issue remains. I'm curious as to why Diesel didn't try something innovative. At first I thought something like a mercury switch would be useful. When the watch is raised into a viewing position range and held still for a second, it would auto-activate for just 2 seconds. If you manually press the button it would stay on for 5 seconds. Or, rather than auto-activation in a certain position, do it by motion--if you turn your wrist outward and quickly flip it inwards, the LED will light up (not a usual motion that would keep accidentally turning on the LED).
Then someone could come up with a "wrist flick" dance craze and get the whole world flicking for time.
The LED seems to be making a bit of a comeback, despite the superior efficiency of LCD and the advent of E-ink (paper-like LCD). Now Diesel is on the bandwagon, targeting mainstream watch consumers. Their new model DZ7080 is quite cool looking. I like the style. And it uses more efficient OLED technology, so the battery life must be better. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any specifications about it--lumens, battery life, etc.
However, the 2-handed issue remains. I'm curious as to why Diesel didn't try something innovative. At first I thought something like a mercury switch would be useful. When the watch is raised into a viewing position range and held still for a second, it would auto-activate for just 2 seconds. If you manually press the button it would stay on for 5 seconds. Or, rather than auto-activation in a certain position, do it by motion--if you turn your wrist outward and quickly flip it inwards, the LED will light up (not a usual motion that would keep accidentally turning on the LED).
Then someone could come up with a "wrist flick" dance craze and get the whole world flicking for time.
