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Meet the Apple Watch

techcrunch.com

131–140 of 174 posts

Re: Meet the Apple Watch

#131

I just don't think the watch market is really there. I feel like its shrinking steadily among younger people as the need for a time teller is replaced by the modern cell phone. I believe people have convinced themselves into convincing companies that they actually want a high tech wrist watch when, in reality, the market isn't that big and it is shrinking. I believe this whole craze started with the pebble. People se…

there's a reason the wrist watch replaced the pocket watch.

People didn't live, eat, work, and sleep within 12 feet of 5 different clocks back then.

Re: Meet the Apple Watch

#132

I just don't think the watch market is really there. I feel like its shrinking steadily among younger people as the need for a time teller is replaced by the modern cell phone. I believe people have convinced themselves into convincing companies that they actually want a high tech wrist watch when, in reality, the market isn't that big and it is shrinking. I believe this whole craze started with the pebble. People se…

there's a reason the wrist watch replaced the pocket watch.

People didn't live, eat, work, and sleep within 12 feet of 5 different clocks back then.

Re: Meet the Apple Watch

#134
post #19

$350 and not out until "early 2015" Dead in the water. That's insanely expensive and too late in the smartwatch market in my mind.

I'll take that bet: https://twitter.com/BenedictEvans/status/509092715783401472 Also, I'm guessing that the "Edition" watches are going to sell for 10x that. And there'll be a months-long wait to get one.

[deleted]

Re: Meet the Apple Watch

#136
post #98

I think this design is much uglier than the Moto 260[1]. [1] https://moto360.motorola.com/

Wow, that's probably one of the most unusable, non-responsive product pages I've ever seen on the web. After clicking the link, I stared at a black screen containing nothing but the "Moto 360" logo and a throbber for about 10 seconds before the actual page content started to display. Scrolling is just completely broken: moving the mouse wheel in any direction will scroll the page down . But there's no at-a-glance sum…

If I understand correctly, OP's comment was not about the web page but on the product listed on that page.

Re: Meet the Apple Watch

#137
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> there's a reason the wrist watch replaced the pocket watch. The funny thing is that I stopped wearing wrist watches when phones started fitting in my pocket. So my phone, while having extra features, isn't very different from a pocket watch. And if there are a lot of people like me, you can make the argument that the pocket (or purse) watch subsequently replaced the wrist watch.

It's a cyclic evolution. Pocket watch to wrist watch to pocket phone to wrist phone. With technological breakthroughs practicality has to take one step back before catching up again.

Well, but screen size is an issue with "wrist phone". People like being able to watch videos, and reading stuff on their : "pocket phones". If anything, phone screens have been getting bigger.

Re: Meet the Apple Watch

#138

I don't know If I'm an idiot, but I'm not seeing the huge deal here. Is the space from the pocket to the wrist such a chasm that it merits making a device like this?

I'd estimate at least 50% of all the times I look at my smartphone throughout the day are non-interactive uses--I'm checking on a notification, the time, or just the weather. I've been seriously looking into smartwatches lately as a way to eliminate this friction. It's not just an inconvenience -- it's awkward to pull out your phone repeatedly during dinner, for instance, just to see if it vibrated due to a critical work email or a BS Snapchat message that you don't care about.

It's the same reason the wristwatch itself was invented. It was preceded by detached timepieces that were stored in coat pockets. The pocket-to-wrist chasm was enough to merit creating wristwatches, and I think it's enough to merit smartwatches.

Re: Meet the Apple Watch

#139
post #94

Terrible design. The high-end customers you desire will never abandon their shiny Swiss watches for this. The low-end customers will (once again) be claimed by Samsung. I didn't really like him, but Jobs was indeed a visionary. Apple is losing ground (alarmingly rapidly, I might add) after him. May he rest in peace.

Low end customers and Samsung?

The Gear S smart watch is stand-alone (or tether), has 3G cellular, wifi and looks far better than the Apple watch. It will probably cost about the same as the Apple watch too.

Re: Meet the Apple Watch

#140

I don't know If I'm an idiot, but I'm not seeing the huge deal here. Is the space from the pocket to the wrist such a chasm that it merits making a device like this?

It is, when you're cycling.

Lots of quick-release iPhone mounts for bikes out there. At the same time, constantly squinting at a watch is distracting. I wouldn't be inclined to use it for cycling, it's definitely not useful for water sports, and many runners will also object to the need to carry a large(r) iPhone somewhere on their person.

So if it's a sports/fitness accessory, it's primarily for use in the gym.

Really, this feels more like the Newton of smart watches, rather than the iPhone 1 of smart watches. A good start that will become indispensable to a very small number of people.

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