Wear Wolves: internet commenters are howling about this week's Google Wear annoucements

Oolzie also made several good points a little further down the page, starting off with the contentious: "Don't kid yourself, this is more about giving you something to buy and giving Google another avenue from which to mine your life than it is about solving great problems."

Which is perhaps a bit dramatic, but his analysis of Wear's awkward position in the marketplace was pretty much on the money for many, as he continued: "If it's not solving a real problem, making things better, then it's ultimately just a toy. Feeding me steps of a recipe to my wrist isn't solving anything."

Abused not used

Samsung's latest chunky smartwatch didn't impress over on The Verge, where reader BoringOldChelsea gave it a right kicking, saying: "I think it is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. If I saw someone wearing one of them I'd laugh at them. If you are going to make a wearable device it has to mould to your body, not sit, perched on top of your wrist like it's been stuck on with Blu-tac."

And the practicalities were once again questioned by James-42, who thinks it'll just be another thing to impulsively look at 1,000 times a day instead of doing any work, suggesting: "If I still need to carry the phone around, these smart watches just don't make sense. I bet most people here are like me and work at a desk most of the day and so the phone is right there anyway. Cool idea, but not really useful for most people."

Reader RP2011 thinks it's already over for the wrist-based, sci-fi dream, claiming: "This category is looking like a dead duck. Unfortunately the gadget is not very useful [not does it] have a 'must-have' feature. Doesn't look good either. What would be the motivation for anyone picking one up? Certainly not fashion. And certainly not function or a killer app. What's left?"

Another way for Facebook to tell you it's someone you don't like's birthday?

  • These commenters might not be wearable fans, but have they seen the latest smartwatch from Withings? We got a first look at the new, beautiful, Withings Activité.