Maybe You Need An Apple Watch Case After All
Several articles have been cropping up lamenting the accessory market’s foray into Apple Watch cases. Basically, they all conclude that your Apple Watch isn’t an iPhone and you’re not going to drop it because it’s strapped to your wrist, so you’re a huge freaking moron if you decide to get one, you idiot.
But that’s too easy, and I’m guessing that the majority (but by no means all) of the commentators taking this position are of the decided couch (or office chair) potato set. Believe it or not, lots of people are going to work out with these things, and not everyone has access to the winding trails of the California foothills as a backdrop for their Zen-fueled, spandex-clad solo meditations. Some of us have access only to crowded, dank, cluttered gyms that stack weight machines six deep and barely let you get a leg in edgewise. Others of us play group sports on blacktop and concrete, and when things get physical, we might take a spill. Still others enjoy games with hard, hurling spheres, and I even know some folks who play tackle football without pads (gasp!). Soccer is mighty popular in the USA every four years or so, and Ultimate Frisbee’s been known to break arms and legs, particularly when the players hydrate with Gatorade coolers full of booze. Sure, all these people could simply forego wearing Apple Watch for the duration of their activities, but then its fitness tracking capabilities are rendered moot (which isn’t really ideal when they’re a primary advertised feature).
Abdel says Apple Watch is too attractive and comfortable to cover up by a case, and I agree — 95 percent of the time. And 100 percent of the time, I’d rather not have to wear a case on it at all. But I’ve shattered two expensive Polar sports watches in the gym (one after eating the court playing racquetball and one across the top of a pulley rig while stretching my shoulders after some overhead presses), and I once broke my wrist diving for a kickball after some jerk thought it’d be funny to boot the thing out of reach and missed everything but my outstretched hand. Even certain non-athletic activities can be problematic: I often take hot brass and steel to the hands and arms when I’m running courses at the range (and rocks all over when I’m there lying prone), and I’ve repeatedly banged my Casio on the prominent railings of the too-narrow staircase to my apartment while hauling up groceries and hauling down trash. Fortunately, that Casio is a higher-end G-Shock, inherently padded to withstand the abuse. But my Apple Watch isn’t. It’s not covered in shock-absorbing plastic, it doesn’t have a recessed display, and it’s not built to take much of a beating.
Instead of not wearing the Apple Watch I just bought for $400 to help track my many activities, the better solution for me — and people like me — is to slap on a nice bumper case whenever engaging in any of the above. I’d rather spend $35 on this than leave my Apple Watch at home on the nightstand, and whenever someone makes a floating, airtight clamshell for the thing, I’ll spend $100 on that and take the wearable fishing and kayaking, too. Apple Watch might be waterproof, but I doubt it’s very saltwaterproof.
Look, only you know if your job or chores or hobbies (or general gangly spazzedness) stand a good chance to end up in a cracked, non-functional Apple Watch and a big fat Apple Care co-pay (if you even bought the service in the first place — I didn’t). Apple Watch is supposed to be intimately personal, but the hardware is as mainstream as it gets. Accessories can fix that.
After all, aftermarket support is one of the best reasons to buy Apple stuff.