How many are getting an Apple watch?

[luv2liv]

people are saying how $400 is a bargain for all the fitness tech this watch has. i wont argue with that.
but let me tell you something...i bought my heart rate monitor 10 years ago for $80. today it is still working fine (with 1 or 2 battery replacement). i would be amazed if the apple watch works over 3 years knowing how apple loves to cripple its devices after software updates. good luck!

 

[Commodus]

people are saying how $400 is a bargain for all the fitness tech this watch has. i wont argue with that.
but let me tell you something...i bought my heart rate monitor 10 years ago for $80. today it is still working fine (with 1 or 2 battery replacement). i would be amazed if the apple watch works over 3 years knowing how apple loves to cripple its devices after software updates. good luck!

And the Apple Watch also tells the time, delivers phone notifications, gives you walking directions, plays music, lets you communicate with others and runs thousands of apps that enable everything from ordering Uber cars to controlling your garage door. Not that it's perfect by any stretch, but that's a lot of value for $350.

I'm reminded of the arguments when smartphones hit the mainstream. "Eh, my 5-year-old $80 flip phone is great for making calls and lasts a week on battery, why would you get a phone that won't run for more than a day and will be obsolete in 2-3 years?" It's because the sheer versatility is more than worth the sacrifices you make in longevity. You don't hold off from buying a new computer every few years because you still have your calculator from high school, do you?

 

[richierich1212]

If the Apple Watch was a standalone device, then sure, I would call it a value for the current asking price. But it isn't, and will have to be grouped with the other smart watches for now.

 

[Commodus]

If the Apple Watch was a standalone device, then sure, I would call it a value for the current asking price. But it isn't, and will have to be grouped with the other smart watches for now.

Well, that's a virtue of the smartwatch market circa 2015. It's probably going to take a few years before cellular-equipped watches aren't gigantic, an eyesore, or both (see: Samsung Gear S). That and I'm not entirely sure we'll get rid of smartphones in the foreseeable future -- you can only do so much on a watch screen, even if you have voice commands and pressure-sensitive touch.

 

[gorcorps]

people are saying how $400 is a bargain for all the fitness tech this watch has. i wont argue with that.
but let me tell you something...i bought my heart rate monitor 10 years ago for $80. today it is still working fine (with 1 or 2 battery replacement). i would be amazed if the apple watch works over 3 years knowing how apple loves to cripple its devices after software updates. good luck!

I've heard this a lot (Apple intentionally slows down old devices with updates) but I'm wondering if it's just a matter of the update not installing properly and causing issues. If these people do a factory reset (or w/e the equivalent is for iphones) after the update is applied I wonder if it performs better. I only say this because I know of a few android users who has issues after their latest update, but it was fixed with a factory reset.

 

[Oyeve]

I've heard this a lot (Apple intentionally slows down old devices with updates) but I'm wondering if it's just a matter of the update not installing properly and causing issues. If these people do a factory reset (or w/e the equivalent is for iphones) after the update is applied I wonder if it performs better. I only say this because I know of a few android users who has issues after their latest update, but it was fixed with a factory reset.

I have many iphones ranging from 4 to the 5 and every one in between and constantly wipe them out and restore as I am always testing the companies app. The 4 and 4s are almost usless, IMO, after 7.x and definitively useless on 8.x. My ipad 2 is getting slow and useless after 8.x and my 5 is showing signs of slowdown. These devices are constantly getting wiped. So, yeah, crippling updates. Intentional? Who knows, I personally believe so as I see no reason why it would cause an impact other than to force an upgrade. My mid 2009 MBP is also extremely slow once I put the latest OSX on it and even though it has 8gb ram and an SSD its slow. HW has not changed all that much in the last few years that this system should not be plenty fast.

 

[Commodus]

To paraphrase the saying: never attribute to conspiracy what can be explained by incompetence.

Most likely, the OS updates run poorly on older gadgets simply because Apple is focused too heavily on features for newer devices and isn't doing enough to design with the older devices in mind. If Apple was really obsessed with forcing you to upgrade to stay current... well, it'd behave like many Android OEMs, and intentionally abandon updates sometime after the first year.

To tie this back in: I'm curious to see how Apple handles Watch updates. There'll be a certain point where you'll need new hardware, to be sure, but it could be more like the iPod (where devices could stay relevant for several years) than iOS.

 

[openwheel]

As more fragmented systems Apple has to update, we will receive less timely, less efficient and less reliable updates. The iWatch cannot stay like an iPod due to the its very nature.

It is difficult to determine whether Apple "intentionally" cripples old devices with updates, but the fact is they run slower after updates. Hardware limitation, perhaps, but it surely is convenient for Apple's bottom line. A Nexus device, however, works totally opposite. My Nexus has gotten better and faster with every update.

 

[ponyo]

As more fragmented systems Apple has to update, we will receive less timely, less efficient and less reliable updates. The iWatch cannot stay like an iPod due to the its very nature.

It is difficult to determine whether Apple "intentionally" cripples old devices with updates, but the fact is they run slower after updates. Hardware limitation, perhaps, but it surely is convenient for Apple's bottom line. A Nexus device, however, works totally opposite. My Nexus has gotten better and faster with every update.

That hasn't been my experience. My Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 (2012), and Nexus 7 (2013) all became slower with each major Android updates. But unlike Apple, you can rollback and downgrade the Android OS version if you wish. With Apple, you're stuck and can't downgrade once Apple stops signing the OS.

 

[bearxor]

Most likely, the OS updates run poorly on older gadgets simply because Apple is focused too heavily on features for newer devices and isn't doing enough to design with the older devices in mind.

They're damned if they do/don't.

They leave features out because it doesn't perform to their satisfaction (see Siri on the iPhone 4 or multi-tasking on the iPhone 3G) and everybody bitches and moans because they feel the hardware was just fine and they should have left the feature in.

They try to leave updates as much alone as possible and people moan about how slow it's made their three-year old phone.

You can't please all the people all of the time.

EDIT: I just want to also say that Apple deserves a lot of the blame for this. They simply shouldn't be selling three-year old devices. No one else does that. The 3GS came out in 2009 and Apple sold it until Sept 2012. The mobile device landscape changed so dramatically during that time there's no way the 3GS should have been an accessible option. There's the possibility that someone bought the 3GS on contract in July of 2012 and had to spend two years with the device, up until July of 2014. Are you fucking kidding, Apple? And it's not like it's gotten any better. The 5C was, essentially, released in 2012. It will be later this year before it is dropped off the offerings. That just shouldn't be happening.

 

[openwheel]

That hasn't been my experience. My Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 (2012), and Nexus 7 (2013) all became slower with each major Android updates. But unlike Apple, you can rollback and downgrade the Android OS version if you wish. With Apple, you're stuck and can't downgrade once Apple stops signing the OS.

Sounds like typical Android user error to me.
You are saying ICS is fastest, then JB, then KK, and Lollipop is the slowest???

 

[poofyhairguy]

Are you fucking kidding, Apple?

Apple's problem is that it doesn't have a "lower end" lineup for phones, just flagship devices. So old versions have to serve as the lower end for those who can't afford flagships.

Apple tried once to get around this by having a lower-end line but it failed because Apple is a status symbol and no one who wants the status of being an iPhone user wants to have "the poor person's iPhone." At least when every option was a flagship you can pretend you got it last year when it was new or something.

I think honestly the Apple watch is proof that Apple has a plan for this- they are about to go hard after the luxury market. If that $20k watch is a success then maybe Apple will start to kill old devices after a year or two.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Sounds like typical Android user error to me.
You are saying ICS is fastest, then JB, then KK, and Lollipop is the slowest???

ICS was a huge leap from Gingerbread so its hard to tell. 4.1 was faster but got slowed down by the multi-user stuff in 4.2 and 4.3. Kit Kat was the smoothest and fastest Android ever. Lollipop 5.0 is a lagfest beyond anything in Androidland since maybe ICS. 5.1 fixes some of that but isn't quite as snappy as the high water mark of Kit Kat.

 

[Commodus]

In my experience, Android releases can slow down your phone... depending on the phone. Both my Nexus 5 and my girlfriend's Nexus 4 got a tad slower after Lollipop arrived. Simply speaking, the more things you ask an OS to do at once, the slower it's going to get on similar hardware. With the Apple Watch, it's harder to tell.

Also, while I'm at it: my Apple Watch is preparing to ship! I was slated for delivery in mid-May, so you might not have to wait quite that long if you missed out on the first wave.

 

[Blackjack200]

Leaning toward cancelling my Watch order. I still think it's a really cool device, and would love to have one, but the more I think about it, I just don't know if I can justify $400+tx. That's an awful lot.

 

[WelshBloke]

Sounds like typical Android user error to me.
You are saying ICS is fastest, then JB, then KK, and Lollipop is the slowest???

Lollipop is the buggiest android release in ages.

 

[openwheel]

Lollipop is the buggiest android release in ages.

I guess I am the only one in the World enjoying lollipop on Nexus 7 FHD. Faster and snappier than KK for me.

 

[ponyo]

In my experience, Android releases can slow down your phone... depending on the phone. Both my Nexus 5 and my girlfriend's Nexus 4 got a tad slower after Lollipop arrived. Simply speaking, the more things you ask an OS to do at once, the slower it's going to get on similar hardware. With the Apple Watch, it's harder to tell.

Also, while I'm at it: my Apple Watch is preparing to ship! I was slated for delivery in mid-May, so you might not have to wait quite that long if you missed out on the first wave.

I received an email today saying the second watch I ordered this past weekend is expected to ship in 2-3 weeks. So my daughter might receive her 42mm watch at the same time or even sooner than you! :awe: I would be pissed if I ordered at midnight on preorder launch date and was getting it at the same time or later than people who are ordering now.

 

[Ramses]

I guess I am the only one in the World enjoying lollipop on Nexus 7 FHD. Faster and snappier than KK for me.

My Nexus 7.2 and 6 seem happy with it. The notification stuff is pretty vintage google making beta testers of everyone, but it seems fine otherwise.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Lollipop works well on my GS4. Only thing I don't like is all the white everywhere.

 

[ControlD]

I guess I am the only one in the World enjoying lollipop on Nexus 7 FHD. Faster and snappier than KK for me.

LP runs just fine on my Note 2 as well. If there are bugs I haven't seen them, but perhaps not running a carrier+manufacturer ruined ROM helps with that. And I don't have to have everything in white either. Win-win.

 

[WelshBloke]

I guess I am the only one in the World enjoying lollipop on Nexus 7 FHD. Faster and snappier than KK for me.

KK was rock solid for me. I've had more 'XXX has stopped working' in a few months of lollipop than a year of KK.

 

[Commodus]

I received an email today saying the second watch I ordered this past weekend is expected to ship in 2-3 weeks. So my daughter might receive her 42mm watch at the same time or even sooner than you! :awe: I would be pissed if I ordered at midnight on preorder launch date and was getting it at the same time or later than people who are ordering now.

Mine just shipped, so I'll probably get the Watch before your daughter... sorry. The "mid-May" figure was when Apple originally said I'd get it.

 

[Red Storm]

Leaning toward cancelling my Watch order. I still think it's a really cool device, and would love to have one, but the more I think about it, I just don't know if I can justify $400+tx. That's an awful lot.

You should be able to easily sell it for more than you paid. That's what I'm going to do.

 

[Blackjack200]

You should be able to easily sell it for more than you paid. That's what I'm going to do.

I don't think it's going to ship for another couple of weeks though, doubt I'd get more than retail at that point.