MOTO 360 / Android Wear Review

The first step in exceeding your customer's expectations is to know those expectations. - Roy H. Williams

I have been using the Moto 360 for about 4 months and I feel I have enough experience to now give a worthwhile review, although I think at this point most of my opinion is based more on Android Wear and wearables in general.  First the watch.

I purchased the Moto 360 for two reasons.  First, I am very

interested in wearables and I wanted to understand the experience as a user instead of just reading what others think about wearables.  Second, I picked the Moto because of its aesthetics. I did not want a something that looked liked a calculator watch from the 1970s. I am an Android guy, so there was no waiting on Apple's version of a 1970s calculator watch :-).  

My expectations were to have a tool that would reduce the number of times I pulled my phone out.  I wanted something that could provide the information I needed (i.e. who is calling, meeting alerts, etc.) at a glance.  Android Wear seems designed for just this use case.  It compliments, not replaces your smartphone. You might think the Moto 360 has a hefty price tag for to solve such a specific need, but based on the number of the interruptions I experience every day, it has been well worth the price.  

As I mentioned before I was willing to pay the extra price for the look of the watch.  I have received as many comments on the watch's appearance as its functionality.  That requirement ruled out purchasing a Pebble or one of the Samsung watches.  Once the now famous patch fixed many of the performance issues, the watch has worked great.  I did have a few glitches, but subsequent software releases resolved these issues.  Now the watch performs very well.  It is clear, responsive and performs the basic functions I want.  That does not mean it is perfect, but that brings us to Android Wear.

Much has already been written about Android Wear so I see no need to do an in depth analysis.  What I do want to touch on is what I feel is missing: user context.  Specifically, I want to touch the watch as little as possible. Think about it; a wrist watch was developed to provide the time at a glance.  Eventually a little more information like date was added.  Everything was available at a glance, not an extended period of holding your arm up and swiping through menus or interacting with an app.  Sure Google Now provides some of that functionality through voice and previous behaviors, but it still has a long way to go.  The watch (phone) needs to understand where I am in order to provide the right information.  

I have a new app Stocard which tries to do this very thing.  It stores my rewards cards; in a recent update, when I am in a store it gives me the option on my watch to open that store's card .  Exactly what I need and when I need it.  It is still buggy, but they get the idea.  Now the app or Android Wear needs to know when I leave the store.  Why should I have to swipe it away?  

By far the best app for the watch is Google Maps navigation. 

I am prompted on the watch prior to a turn and the direction notifications auto clear as I drive.  That is the model other apps should use in order to maximize the wearable aspect.  Calculators and games really don't hold my interest.
The latest version of Wear will at least allow me to hide the notifications with a flick. 

According to the app developers at Tesla, the Apple Watch will be very app driven. I think this will be a major flaw with the Apple Watch. After using a smart watch for several months, I cannot imagine using it this way. Every time an app requires me to touch the watch, the less likely I am to use it in the future.  


Overall I am very happy with the watch.  It significantly reduces the amount of interaction I have with my phone.  For that I very pleased.  I really like apps like Stocard and Maps navigation. I am excited about where this technology can go, but first developer have to break out of the mindset that the watch is just a smartphone for your wrist. 


Finally I mentioned the latest release of Android Wear and I would be remiss if I did not comment on one of the most important features in this release: Wi-Fi connectivity.  This sounds minor, but it will allow your watch to connect to your phone from anywhere.  This could lead to some very interesting apps.  I am anxious to see what developers will create now that this tether has been removed.

Open Letter to Third-Party Technical Recruiters

There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded. - Mark Twain

To All Third Party Recruiters:

As a follow-up to my Open Letter to Developer Candidates, I thought it would be appropriate to tell third party recruiters how best to get you candidates picked when submitting them. I feel a great deal of time is being wasted due to a lack of understanding about what is important to me as a hiring manager when I am hiring a developer.  The advice given is not meant to be insulting and hopefully it will not be taken that way.

Send good candidates, not gifts: Third party recruiters and their account managers spend a great deal of effort trying "build a relationship" with me.  To be blunt, this will have zero impact on the candidate hired for the job.  Once you are on the approved vendor list (just so you know, I have no input as to who goes on the list), the only priority for you should be finding great candidates. I refer all request for my time back to our in-house recruiters because I don't want to waste your time or mine.  Hiring managers who take you up on your lunch invitations are using you.  I appreciate the effort, but you are better off spending this time schmoozing highly qualified candidates. Those are the important relationships.

Pre-Screen means pre-screen: I cannot tell you how many times I have interviewed so-called pre-screened Senior Developers who could not answer basic programming questions.  This is infuriating.   You don't even need to know the specifics of the job to do a basic pre-screen. A developer claiming 8 years of Java experience should be able to explain polymorphism regardless of the job description. Your company has relationships with previously placed developers who can quickly screen applicants for you. If you test applicants, do it on site.  I can assure you that cheating is rampant. Submitting unqualified candidates does you no favors in the eyes of everyone involved.

Not all candidates are good candidates: Building on my last point, just because someone applies does not mean you should submit them.  No amount of coaching or resume cleaning is going to get them past the interview if they are not qualified.  You are better off submitting 2 good candidates rather than 8 bad / mediocre ones.  If you have a reputation for of bringing superstars, your submissions will move up to the top of the list.

Research the candidates:  Do a Google search. Find them on LinkedIn.  The good ones will probably have GitHub accounts. Read what they post on Twitter.  I am going to do all these, so if you don't want any surprises you should take 5 minutes to research your candidates online profile.  You will also begin to see similarities in the profiles of superstar developers.  I still get calls from recruiters wanting me to apply for developer positions.  It would be clear to anyone who spent 30 seconds looking at my LinkedIn account I have not coded in years.

This letter was meant to be taken as a positive guide to getting your candidates placed.  We both want the same thing, a position filled.  For this to happen, your candidate must be the most qualified and best fit.  From my perspective, third-parties spend too much time on building a relationship with me as opposed to finding superstar candidates.  I interview a great deal of unqualified candidates who should have never been submitted. It becomes very clear after the interview that the resume had been professionally scrubbed.  All this does is damage your reputation.  Bad developers are not going to slip through our screening process and they should not slip through yours.

Thanks and good hunting,

Real Steve Vaughn