Ben Bajarin has a thoughtful take on the Apple Watch as a new computing platform that uniquely blends new hardware and software.

Unlike other tech reviews published today, he’s a fan of notification filtering done from the Apple Watch app on an iPhone:

The Apple Watch became my primary notification panel/dashboard. It is not only the most natural place to be notified and to decide what action needs to be done but, because the entire user experience was built for quick interactions, notifications may have found where they were destined to exist.

Apple allows for a tight filtering of the notifications you want to occur. By limiting what I want to be notified of, I ensured only the most important things — from email, to texts, to calls, and even relevant app notifications — are exactly what I want to be notified about. It ensures each notification is meaningful.

In a tweet, he also confirms that the Watch automatically adjusted its activity goals over the course of a week.

@gruber @viticci mine had unreasonably high goals for me from the start. It adjusted downward ;)

— Ben Bajarin (@BenBajarin) April 8, 2015

The first Apple Watch reviews are out today, and the first one I read was John Gruber’s.

Gruber, I think, has a done a good job at covering the Watch from the perspective of a traditional watch wearer and iOS user. His article has some great points about the Apple Watch compared to traditional watches, as well as the Watch as a new Apple device with an array of new features.

Here’s Gruber on the Watch as a watch:

I’ve worn a watch every day since I was in 7th grade, almost 30 years ago. I’m used to being able to see the time with just a glance whenever there is sufficient light. Apple Watch is somewhat frustrating in this regard. Even when Wrist Raise detection works perfectly, it takes a moment for the watch face to appear. There’s an inherent tiny amount of lag that isn’t there with a regular watch.

And on Force Touch and the Taptic Engine:

This is the introduction of a new dimension in input and output, and for me, it’s central to the appeal of Apple Watch. By default, Apple Watch has sounds turned on for incoming notifications. I can see why this is the default, but in practice, I keep sounds turned off all the time, not just in contexts where I typically silence my phone. Taps are all I need for notifications. They’re strong enough that you notice them, but subtle enough that they don’t feel like an interruption. When my phone vibrates, it feels like it’s telling me, Hey, I need you now. When the Apple Watch taps me, it feels like it’s telling me, Hey, when you get the chance, I’ve got something for you.

Highly recommended read.

After confirming that pre-orders will kick off at 12:01 AM PT next Friday, Apple has launched a new webpage with guided tours for the Apple Watch.

To take advantage of its size and location on your wrist, we’ve given Apple Watch new interactions and technologies.These Guided Tour videos will show you how to use them to do all kinds of amazing things.

As the company did with the iPhone before, these short videos demonstrate the device’s UI, built-in apps, and user interactions. Right now, you can find videos for Messages, Faces, Digital Touch, and the general user interface of the Watch; more are coming soon.

Two details that stood out to me: Apple often says “press firmly” instead of “use Force Touch”; at one point, they clearly state that the Digital Crown is the equivalent of the click wheel on the iPod.

Good story by David Pierce at Wired on the history of the Apple Watch and the design process at Apple.

The article includes quotes from Kevin Lynch and Alan Dye, plus screenshots of the Apple Watch UI and San Francisco font. This tidbit caught my attention as it suggests Apple tested and discarded a timeline interface – one of the selling points of the Pebble Time.

As the testing went on, it became evident that the key to making the Watch work was speed. An interaction could last only five seconds, 10 at most. They simplified some features and took others out entirely because they just couldn’t be done quickly enough. Lynch and team had to reengineer the Watch’s software twice before it was sufficiently fast. An early version of the software served you information in a timeline, flowing chronologically from top to bottom. That idea never made it off campus; the ideas that will ship on April 24 are focused on streamlining the time it takes a user to figure out whether something is worth paying attention to.