If it is not in your plans already, I would like to suggest a Mudita watch with minimalistic features.
I would like to hear from the other members. 
PS: Is it the correct category?
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I like the idea of a simple, e-ink display watch (I yearn for a Pebble successor) but expanding to GPS devices and MP3 players (which the Pure already has) seems like it goes against the ethos of Mudita (my interpretation of it, at least).
I forget where I read it, perhaps the blog, but I remember reading somewhere that the creator(s) do not want to create a suite of products but one-off solutions free us from our devices rather than further tether us.
Ecosystems serve to further tether users, mainly. Perhaps there are ways not to do so, though? I’d be interested to hear thoughts on how to built an ecosystem that frees rather than restrains users.
So… perhaps not even a watch, but I can’t see how a simple e-ink watch with only perhaps an alarm, watch face, pedometer, and heart rate monitor or something would be too distracting.
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@roberto Correct category. Sounds like a really neat idea. However, can you be more specific what kind of watch did you have in mind? Like a smartwatch, but with an e ink, or more minimalistic & simple like a Movado?
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I’m pretty sure there are already literally thousands of “minimalist” watches on the market… and have been for a hundred years or so. I’m partial to my Tissot, personally, but there are plenty of options for every budget.
Cheek aside, though, what would a “minimalist” watch developed by a mobile phone company even be? That seems like an oxymoron.
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Urszula,
Perhaps a “kind of” smartwatch with an E-ink display, two basic views (analog or digital) that shows the hours, date and could have a meditation timer, a pedometer with distance counter, and an alarm. A possible synchronization with Mudita desktop to export our daily steps/distance would be interesting.
I didn’t see that specific kind of offer in the market yet, and I believe it follows Mudita’s philosophy.
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I leave here for reference the PineTime. It is an early community-driven effort to make a low cost smartwatch. Right now it’s only oriented for developers building free and open source operating systems for this kind of devices.
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It appears to me the pure phone exists partly to fill the vacuum left by the absence of quality feature phones, as well as to strip back to the base of useful features a phone should have, rather than be the kitchen sink/surveillance monster approach of smartphones.
Watches are very different. The base Casio digital watches are still made. Basic analogue watches from $5 through to luxury jewellery are all available. Rugged diving and military spec watches are everywhere as are smart watches busily tracking metrics for life insurance companies and mapping spy bases.
Watches are a remarkably diverse market already, from the very simple to the very complex.
Not being too critical, but finding a niche is much harder than in the mobile phone market. That said, finding functions that are consistent with the minimalist theory should be interesting.
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The only reasonably good looking eink watch I know of is Sony Fes. It’s been around for a while.
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@roberto Seems like there is some interest in this. Would you want the smartwatch to be connected- in the way most of them are? I’m not sure how I feel about all that “synchronization” with other devices. (In terms of privacy etc). I would love to hear what everyone else on this thread has to say about that.
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I would love a fitness tracker but without the gunk others have. Not all tech is a negative, I think fitness trackers have really positive benefits and can actually improve exercise safety too, but to use one you’re uploading your data to Fitbit, Samsung, Apple etc, then probably Strava on top, maybe My Fitness Pal too. A simple e-ink watch with a heart rate monitor, SO2 monitor, route tracking, and fitness display as you run to check your times and so on would be really positive in my mind.
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@urszula: a USB-c connection (to charge and connect with the computer) and an integration with the Mudita desktop would be a good solution. No Bluetooth nor Wi-Fi on the watch. If the user exports his data from the watch as excel, pdf, or a direct watch file download, it doesn’t jeopardize the privacy since there is no registration or names involved.
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Similar to the old data logger function you would see in diving watches from 15-20 years ago.
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@urszula, the name for the watch? I would call it Mudita Harmony. It gives you (the) time, and it conjugates your health and wellbeing with simplicity and balance.
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That’s a REALLY nice name!
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You could check Withings for smart yet minimal watches: https://www.withings.com/it/en/watches
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@Dobroslaw_Zybort, thank you for your suggestion. I know the brand, and it is close to what I wrote in my initial post. Still, not comparable to the minimalist concept I’m looking for.
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One thing that may interest some in this thread actually is the new Huawei Watch 3. Its a reasonably interesting concept as it has all of the fitness tracking you could need, it also handles calls, and texts independently of a smart phone as you can have a sim in it, as well as a few collected features such as maps, and the ability to store loyalty cards on it. However, it has no instagram, reddit, facebook etc.
Its not quite minimalist, but its actually a really good fitness dumbphone…watch…thing. So if your concern is more the attention economy rather than data privacy, it could be a really good option for some. I use mine and love it, it gives the benefits of a modern tech, but without demanding my attention constantly, especially seeing as it functions independently of my phone, so no notifications I dont want.
I suppose its for people who want a halfway house between Mudita and a smartphone, but in a watch format.
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@rhysjones The Huawei Watch 3 is an interesting looking watch, but it’s imho, it’s your run-of-the-mill smartwatch, similart to the Apple or Samsung ones. The thing with Huawei, they are not the best example when it comes to privacy and security. There have been some espionage and security concerns concerns- specificaly that employees have been caught conducting corporate espionage in the US. I’m weary of anything connected with Huawei
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I had an Apple Watch 5 before. It is great to have an integrated system in your life (phone, computer, tablet). However, I’m not the kind of person that wants to “charge” his watch every two, three days, at best, and honestly, it is a lot of functionalities I don’t use. At the moment, I have a regular Casio watch that I only use when I’m not at home. Since I want to get rid of my smartphone and unnecessary gadgets, I had this idea of a minimalistic watch without Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or wireless feature, but I can still control my health in a “healthy” way.
Thank you very much for all the discussion.
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