For me:
- It tells time and is always correct, also during daylight saving season
- It tells the weather forecast, I check it before leaving my house.
- I like that the alarm wakes me up with vibration mode, but not my partner (yes I wear my watch at night, but around my ankle, pro-tip)
- I like to easily read important notifications (I am quite strict in what it does show, so only texts from important people, my calendar and like bank notifications get through). Added benefit is that I don’t get distracted with other stuff because I don’t open my phone.
- I often lose my phone, my watch is able to find it.
- I use my watch to get simple navigation option when I go running/inline skating in an area I don’t know yet. Works better than the phone because I don’t have to hold the phone in my hand.
- I set it up so my partner can see where I’m at. When I see a notification from them asking where I am I can easily (and safily) start the tracking without having to pull out my phone.
- It tracks my heartrate, so I can do heartrate based training.
So is it really necessary? No obviously not, I will survive without it, but I do like it a lot and would miss it of it wasn’t there. But that’s how it is for me, that does not mean it will be the same for you.
People like to read those stories because it gives them hope it also happens to them. Media print stories that you want to read, that’s how they make money.
Other stories people like to read: how to world is going to shit (evolutionairy important to prepare to survive), what someone that’s familiar to you did (evolutionary important to be social to work together to survive), stories about how someone else did something stupid (complaining about that toghether gives yoh a sense of belonging) and stories about how a pet cat was retrieved (tickling that instinct to care for others again).
As you can see, media is looking for stories that tickle your most basic insticts and needs, because they know that’s what you will be interested in, making you read their stories so they can make more money.
Welcome to capitalism, you are the product.