How many are getting an Apple watch?

[touchstone]

Why do you guys have to be so petty and get angry about it. It's a watch.

 

[Artdeco]

Why do you guys have to be so petty and get angry about it. It's a watch.

I find the culture here curious, especially since the site's named after a guy that works for Apple now.

 

[QueBert]

What's the point of an app to play music via Bluetooth on your watch when you also need to have your phone on you?

With my phone in my pocket zipped up I still can get interference where the music will have moments where it cuts out. If I have my phone in the opposite pocket my BT headset is on, it can be choppy. BT can really suck when it comes to interference.

 

[WelshBloke]

With my phone in my pocket zipped up I still can get interference where the music will have moments where it cuts out. If I have my phone in the opposite pocket my BT headset is on, it can be choppy. BT can really suck when it comes to interference.

Why do you think streaming it from your wrist rather than your pocket is going to make a difference?

TBH it sounds like there's a problem with your headset or phone rather than with the Bluetooth protocol there. I have no problems using my Bluetooth headset with my phone on the other side of the room.

 

[Artdeco]

Why do you think streaming it from your wrist rather than your pocket is going to make a difference?

TBH it sounds like there's a problem with your headset or phone rather than with the Bluetooth protocol there. I have no problems using my Bluetooth headset with my phone on the other side of the room.

AW streams by itself so you can run without a phone strapped to your arm or in your pocket. It also has fitness features.

It also connects via WiFi and as long as your phone and watch are on the same network, it'll stay connected to the phone. Come home, dock your phone, watch takes your phone calls, runs apps that require the phone be connected to the AW, pretty slick, and expands the ~30 foot limitation of BlueTooth to an entire WiFi network, home, work, etc...

 

[touchstone]

So apparently the Apple Watch will only be sold by reservation. It looks like they must be really really short on parts because they aren't letting people buy the watch and just return it and get a new one if they don't like it. It looks like a whole new dynamic for sales, I don't know what other technology item you get fitted to you like a suit and cannot return. I wonder how this will affect sales?


http://www.macrumors.com/2015/03/29/apple-watch-reservation-only/

 

[Artdeco]

So apparently the Apple Watch will only be sold by reservation. It looks like they must be really really short on parts because they aren't letting people buy the watch and just return it and get a new one if they don't like it. It looks like a whole new dynamic for sales, I don't know what other technology item you get fitted to you like a suit and cannot return. I wonder how this will affect sales?


http://www.macrumors.com/2015/03/29/apple-watch-reservation-only/

I don't see, haven't read anywhere that Apple Watches can't be returned.

It looks like Apple isn't particularly worried about sales volumes, and plans to instead cater to it's customers with lots of face time, interesting approach.

 

[Commodus]

I don't see, haven't read anywhere that Apple Watches can't be returned.

It looks like Apple isn't particularly worried about sales volumes, and plans to instead cater to it's customers with lots of face time, interesting approach.

I think it's more the acknowledgment that this is still a very young category, and that Apple wants to get people comfortable with the concept. If you're a die-hard "gotta buy it now" type, they'll be ready to take care of you just as well as the person who needs a 15-minute demo.

 

[Raduque]

I can think of at least some. For example, checking in on a location service like Swarm, which I've done on a watch -- why pull out your phone when you can check in within a couple of seconds? It also makes sense for hailing a cab or rideshare, unlocking your hotel door and the like. Basically, those tasks that you could either accomplish very quickly (faster than it takes to reach for your phone, anyway) or which are sometimes a hassle when you're on the move.

Besides, having just endured a rough Canadian winter, I see a certain appeal to not having to freeze my hands any more than necessary!

I don't have a use for any of that, honestly. I never "check in" at location services, I don't use cabs or shared rider cars and never will (I'm a vehicle owner, not a bike riding hipster), and while I stay in hotels, I don't think NFC communications are very secure, so I won't use that.

I'm still not hearing anything compelling past what I already DO with my smartwatch.

 

[Artdeco]

I don't have a use for any of that, honestly. I never "check in" at location services, I don't use cabs or shared rider cars and never will (I'm a vehicle owner, not a bike riding hipster), and while I stay in hotels, I don't think NFC communications are very secure, so I won't use that.

I'm still not hearing anything compelling past what I already DO with my smartwatch.

Which smart watch are you using?

The whole sector is still evolving, nothing is static, expect Android Wear to match feature for feature fairly quickly.

 

[Commodus]

I don't have a use for any of that, honestly. I never "check in" at location services, I don't use cabs or shared rider cars and never will (I'm a vehicle owner, not a bike riding hipster), and while I stay in hotels, I don't think NFC communications are very secure, so I won't use that.

I'm still not hearing anything compelling past what I already DO with my smartwatch.

I just think it's important that smartwatch apps get a chance to show their potential. You'll never know how useful they can be if you make them difficult to access. Besides, what's not vital now may be huge later. Take Instagram, for example: it helped popularize mobile photography in a way that people didn't expect.

Besides, you don't have to be a bike-riding hipster to use ridesharing... it beats taking a taxi to the airport!

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I find the culture here curious, especially since the site's named after a guy that works for Apple now.

IMO a watch is an essential part for fashion. AppleWatch is not classy enough for fashion to me.

 

[openwheel]

I will laugh when I see people wear their iWatch with NATO bands after Spectre comes out.

I am wearing my Planet Ocean with Omega NATO today. Nice combination.

 

[touchstone]

I will laugh when I see people wear their iWatch with NATO bands after Spectre comes out.

I am wearing my Planet Ocean with Omega NATO today. Nice combination.

I think the person laughing probably should be the guy with the Apple Watch plus 15K he didn't waste on a useless piece of pretentious pageantry like an Omega, all way to the bank perhaps

 

[openwheel]

I think the person laughing probably should be the guy with the Apple Watch plus 15K he didn't waste on a useless piece of pretentious pageantry like an Omega, all way to the bank perhaps

That's weird because I've never lost money on a mechanical watch. My PO has appreciated by roughly $1,200 and my Pepsi more than $2K. I think you got it backwards.

Unless the new iWatch is being commissioned to fly to Mars, it is guaranteed to depreciate faster than Lindsay Lolan on drugs. After all, iWatch will be mass produced in China and every douche in town will own one.

My home town SWAT team is laughing at your iWatch because their G-Shock is more rugged, useful and more reliable at a fraction of the cost of the fruit brand.

 

[Ramses]

I'm pretty sure nobody really cares how much the iwatch or whatever it's called depreciates. More when is the next version coming out. Ditto for android based watch owners. I also suspect the vast majority of smartwatch buyers don't think anything at all about high end expensive non-smart watches. Different culture.

 

[Mopetar]

I don't see, haven't read anywhere that Apple Watches can't be returned.

It looks like Apple isn't particularly worried about sales volumes, and plans to instead cater to it's customers with lots of face time, interesting approach.

I imagine a lot of it is also to keep people like me who has no desire to buy one at all, but would still stop in just to try it on and see what it's like. I imagine a lot of other people here are of a similar mindset and I can see what that would be annoying from a retailer's perspective.

 

[poofyhairguy]

IMO a watch is an essential part for fashion. AppleWatch is not classy enough for fashion to me.

This post points out my only beef with smartwatches- we call them watches.

I mean sure they are on your wrist, and sure they tell time, but so do a bunch of fitness trackers and people don't jump on those threads and complain about how a Fitbit isn't classy enough to replace their current piece of arm jewelry. Phones have been timepieces for forever and outside of the HTC/Apple metal fetish we don't really see people obsess about how they look. But smartwatches are different, and I feel that name association is part of what pushed Apple to go the luxerary route instead of a more practical/affordable route.

I wish this segment would have been given a different name so that we can separate these highly functional devices from the near useless jewelry on the arm of your average Metrosexual. That way the vain men who wear watches to complete their outfit don't get offended when all these things called a watch don't fit the bill, while a guy like me who wants to avoid association with those vain men and their arm jewelry don't have to get questions about "when will there be a more fashionable version?" when we are giving the local luddite a tech demo.

Even beyond personal association, I am scared the "luxury" Apple watch will make it so the form factor innovates at a slow pace. If every Apple Watch was some $200 piece of functional plastic then people wouldn't complain so much when the gen 3 product does all this crazy stuff the gen 1 doesn't- just buy a gen 3 at $200! Instead every time we hit some innovation that would require some change in hardware, or more compute capability, it will be held back by all these gen 1 adopters that demand their overpriced piece of jewelry still be able to do whatever the new one does because they paid so much for it. Jewelry is the EXACT opposite of technology when it comes to value, and often when they mix the result is bad for consumer (looking at you Beats headphones that basically became fashionable hats in certain demographics). There will be some things the gen 1 gets wrong, that always happens, and instead of innovating around that we will be stuck with it. Instead the innovation will be improving what was already decided on in the base model- aka a higher res screen, or a SoC that gets better battery life. That is sad.

I am not even convinced the form factor of putting everything in the "watch" head makes sense. I know Samsung created a lot of pushback when their first smartwatch had those funky bands with a camera in them, but jeez I would trade replaceable bands in a minute for product-specific bands that shift the battery mass from the display unit to the rest of my wrist. My real beef with every current smartwatch isn't the overall size but the thickness of the unit and its bezels. I feel a more functional design can be had by maximizing the form of the unit, even if that means breaking free of all the concepts tied to traditional watches like replaceable bands. But the die is cast, and so this limitation carried over from the traditional watch industry will have to be dealt with.

Sad thing is I don't really care about fitness, but I might wear a "fitness band" one day because it has a better form factor. Fitness bands are a category that can experiment without offending fans of more primitive devices because they are separated from that baggage- they are a new thing! Heck I want more wearable tech than one of my wrist- I dream of private projector wearable or some NFC tags in my laundry that does my clothes sorting for me. But I am scared that as long as we only accept wearables in form factors that are tied to unrelated cosmetic items we won't see real innovation in the space.

I get that analogies to things people understand help people conceptualize the use for technology products- it has been that way since the Apple 2. But the fact of the matter is that for many people the watch as an everyday item died for a reason- it wasn't useful anymore for those that don't care about fashion. The smartwatch is the first reason in over a decade for a practical person to wear a "watch," but because of the name a smartwatch has to overcome the stigma that it is a useless and primitive piece of jewelry. I have shown my smartwatch to many people who rebuff it by saying "but I quit wearing a watch years ago." I have to ask them to think outside the box and imagine a more useful device that is not just a timepiece, but is another access point to the smartphone that dominates their modern life. Then they get it, but the original analogy of a "watch" is more a burden than a benefit.

 

[Commodus]

I get that analogies to things people understand help people conceptualize the use for technology products- it has been that way since the Apple 2. But the fact of the matter is that for many people the watch as an everyday item died for a reason- it wasn't useful anymore for those that don't care about fashion. The smartwatch is the first reason in over a decade for a practical person to wear a "watch," but because of the name a smartwatch has to overcome the stigma that it is a useless and primitive piece of jewelry. I have shown my smartwatch to many people who rebuff it by saying "but I quit wearing a watch years ago." I have to ask them to think outside the box and imagine a more useful device that is not just a timepiece, but is another access point to the smartphone that dominates their modern life. Then they get it, but the original analogy of a "watch" is more a burden than a benefit.

I think it's just a matter of the market eventually changing perceptions. Remember, the cellphone market at the time the iPhone was unveiled was still full of curmudgeons who asked "why would I want the web/music/videos on my phone?" It took a few years, but a lot of people now associate "phone" with something that's really more of a pocket computer that happens to take calls. You could see the same happen with smartwatches, if they take off. Just because we define watches as primarily jewelry now doesn't mean that will hold true in the future.

And to me, Apple is trying to strike a much-needed balance between function and style. A wrist-worn device by its nature is going to make a fashion statement, whether you want it to or not... it might as well look good, if you have the money. A smartwatch probably won't compete with a luxury mechanical watch in terms of ornate design or materials, but it doesn't have to.

 

[soccerballtux]

This post points out my only beef with smartwatches- we call them watches.

I mean sure they are on your wrist, and sure they tell time, but so do a bunch of fitness trackers and people don't jump on those threads and complain about how a Fitbit isn't classy enough to replace their current piece of arm jewelry. Phones have been timepieces for forever and outside of the HTC/Apple metal fetish we don't really see people obsess about how they look. But smartwatches are different, and I feel that name association is part of what pushed Apple to go the luxerary route instead of a more practical/affordable route.

I wish this segment would have been given a different name so that we can separate these highly functional devices from the near useless jewelry on the arm of your average Metrosexual. That way the vain men who wear watches to complete their outfit don't get offended when all these things called a watch don't fit the bill, while a guy like me who wants to avoid association with those vain men and their arm jewelry don't have to get questions about "when will there be a more fashionable version?" when we are giving the local luddite a tech demo.

Even beyond personal association, I am scared the "luxury" Apple watch will make it so the form factor innovates at a slow pace. If every Apple Watch was some $200 piece of functional plastic then people wouldn't complain so much when the gen 3 product does all this crazy stuff the gen 1 doesn't- just buy a gen 3 at $200! Instead every time we hit some innovation that would require some change in hardware, or more compute capability, it will be held back by all these gen 1 adopters that demand their overpriced piece of jewelry still be able to do whatever the new one does because they paid so much for it. Jewelry is the EXACT opposite of technology when it comes to value, and often when they mix the result is bad for consumer (looking at you Beats headphones that basically became fashionable hats in certain demographics). There will be some things the gen 1 gets wrong, that always happens, and instead of innovating around that we will be stuck with it. Instead the innovation will be improving what was already decided on in the base model- aka a higher res screen, or a SoC that gets better battery life. That is sad.

I am not even convinced the form factor of putting everything in the "watch" head makes sense. I know Samsung created a lot of pushback when their first smartwatch had those funky bands with a camera in them, but jeez I would trade replaceable bands in a minute for product-specific bands that shift the battery mass from the display unit to the rest of my wrist. My real beef with every current smartwatch isn't the overall size but the thickness of the unit and its bezels. I feel a more functional design can be had by maximizing the form of the unit, even if that means breaking free of all the concepts tied to traditional watches like replaceable bands. But the die is cast, and so this limitation carried over from the traditional watch industry will have to be dealt with.

Sad thing is I don't really care about fitness, but I might wear a "fitness band" one day because it has a better form factor. Fitness bands are a category that can experiment without offending fans of more primitive devices because they are separated from that baggage- they are a new thing! Heck I want more wearable tech than one of my wrist- I dream of private projector wearable or some NFC tags in my laundry that does my clothes sorting for me. But I am scared that as long as we only accept wearables in form factors that are tied to unrelated cosmetic items we won't see real innovation in the space.

I get that analogies to things people understand help people conceptualize the use for technology products- it has been that way since the Apple 2. But the fact of the matter is that for many people the watch as an everyday item died for a reason- it wasn't useful anymore for those that don't care about fashion. The smartwatch is the first reason in over a decade for a practical person to wear a "watch," but because of the name a smartwatch has to overcome the stigma that it is a useless and primitive piece of jewelry. I have shown my smartwatch to many people who rebuff it by saying "but I quit wearing a watch years ago." I have to ask them to think outside the box and imagine a more useful device that is not just a timepiece, but is another access point to the smartphone that dominates their modern life. Then they get it, but the original analogy of a "watch" is more a burden than a benefit.

excepting the laundry NFC tags, this is a very insightful insight.

 

[poofyhairguy]

excepting the laundry NFC tags, this is a very insightful insight.

Lol, if I knew the next great wearable idea it would be on kickstarter. I was just throwing something out there.

I mean, I don't know about you but I hate doing laundry. If I could just throw my clothes in some hamper, and then some machine sorted and washed/folded it for me then my life would be much easier. We already have robotic folding:

http://www.foldimate.com/

All we need is robotic sorting and my dream is reality. I have researched it and apparently the problem is robots cannot find and read the tag to make sure the right thing gets washed with the right load at the right temperature. With NFC tags embedded in the clothing the robot could just use that information source instead.

But who knows what the next big wearable will be. Back in 1989 we expected self-drying clothes and self lacing laces as clothing tech in 2015. It is hard to predict the future. That is why I am wary of being locked in the capabilities of Gen 1 products.

 

[touchstone]

This post points out my only beef with smartwatches- we call them watches.

I mean sure they are on your wrist, and sure they tell time, but so do a bunch of fitness trackers and people don't jump on those threads and complain about how a Fitbit isn't classy enough to replace their current piece of arm jewelry. Phones have been timepieces for forever and outside of the HTC/Apple metal fetish we don't really see people obsess about how they look. But smartwatches are different, and I feel that name association is part of what pushed Apple to go the luxerary route instead of a more practical/affordable route.

I wish this segment would have been given a different name so that we can separate these highly functional devices from the near useless jewelry on the arm of your average Metrosexual. That way the vain men who wear watches to complete their outfit don't get offended when all these things called a watch don't fit the bill, while a guy like me who wants to avoid association with those vain men and their arm jewelry don't have to get questions about "when will there be a more fashionable version?" when we are giving the local luddite a tech demo.

Even beyond personal association, I am scared the "luxury" Apple watch will make it so the form factor innovates at a slow pace. If every Apple Watch was some $200 piece of functional plastic then people wouldn't complain so much when the gen 3 product does all this crazy stuff the gen 1 doesn't- just buy a gen 3 at $200! Instead every time we hit some innovation that would require some change in hardware, or more compute capability, it will be held back by all these gen 1 adopters that demand their overpriced piece of jewelry still be able to do whatever the new one does because they paid so much for it. Jewelry is the EXACT opposite of technology when it comes to value, and often when they mix the result is bad for consumer (looking at you Beats headphones that basically became fashionable hats in certain demographics). There will be some things the gen 1 gets wrong, that always happens, and instead of innovating around that we will be stuck with it. Instead the innovation will be improving what was already decided on in the base model- aka a higher res screen, or a SoC that gets better battery life. That is sad.

I am not even convinced the form factor of putting everything in the "watch" head makes sense. I know Samsung created a lot of pushback when their first smartwatch had those funky bands with a camera in them, but jeez I would trade replaceable bands in a minute for product-specific bands that shift the battery mass from the display unit to the rest of my wrist. My real beef with every current smartwatch isn't the overall size but the thickness of the unit and its bezels. I feel a more functional design can be had by maximizing the form of the unit, even if that means breaking free of all the concepts tied to traditional watches like replaceable bands. But the die is cast, and so this limitation carried over from the traditional watch industry will have to be dealt with.

Sad thing is I don't really care about fitness, but I might wear a "fitness band" one day because it has a better form factor. Fitness bands are a category that can experiment without offending fans of more primitive devices because they are separated from that baggage- they are a new thing! Heck I want more wearable tech than one of my wrist- I dream of private projector wearable or some NFC tags in my laundry that does my clothes sorting for me. But I am scared that as long as we only accept wearables in form factors that are tied to unrelated cosmetic items we won't see real innovation in the space.

I get that analogies to things people understand help people conceptualize the use for technology products- it has been that way since the Apple 2. But the fact of the matter is that for many people the watch as an everyday item died for a reason- it wasn't useful anymore for those that don't care about fashion. The smartwatch is the first reason in over a decade for a practical person to wear a "watch," but because of the name a smartwatch has to overcome the stigma that it is a useless and primitive piece of jewelry. I have shown my smartwatch to many people who rebuff it by saying "but I quit wearing a watch years ago." I have to ask them to think outside the box and imagine a more useful device that is not just a timepiece, but is another access point to the smartphone that dominates their modern life. Then they get it, but the original analogy of a "watch" is more a burden than a benefit.

So doomed? Or not doomed?




I really think this is gonna be HUGE. You might be correct about the form factor but it is my hope that Apple with it's infinite budget to test and get it right, will get it right. They have been testing it for years.

We will all find out on the 24th I guess. My mom is getting one.

 

[Artdeco]

That's weird because I've never lost money on a mechanical watch. My PO has appreciated by roughly $1,200 and my Pepsi more than $2K. I think you got it backwards.

I agree 100% with this, and I think the market for the Edition version will be interesting to watch. It's for people with money to literally burn.

Nice watch, BTW... Color me jealous.

 

[Commodus]

So Apple posted user guides for the Watch:

http://www.apple.com/watch/guided-tours/

Even if you have no intention of buying, they may be worth a look just to see how things work (you've previously had to dive through announcement videos and various pages to get a feel for it).

 

[touchstone]

You guys are gonna think I'm stupid or crazy but I'm actually considering buying an older (5 or 5S) iPhone to carry around so I can use an Apple watch. It really would be useful for me with all the exercise and health apps.



Really torn between the 42mm Black steel case with black band or the 42mm Sport black aluminum case with black band.


difference in price is $399 vs $599. Is the sapphire worth it?