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Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

nytimes.com

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Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#21

Post by doodyhead »

psionides wrote: post #15

I know who isn't buying it - anyone like me who doesn't live in one of those lucky 16 countries... It's still not available globally and it's not clear when it will be, so either they have a terrible supply of them, or there's still quite a lot of demand in the countries where it's being sold.

Re-shipping services like myus.com for the US and parcelmotel.com for the UK/Ireland make this an easily surmountable problem.

I'm in Ireland, ordered mine from the UK on a Sunday night, had it by Thursday. Supply seems to be stable by now and I imagine they'll start shipping further afield soon.

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#22

Post by seanmcdirmid »

pjmlp wrote: post #20
rebootthesystem wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Are we at an age when taking the phone out of our pocket is an inconvenience? Frankly, I live my life in front of a computer on a desk. My calendar and a million other things are one click away and in a format far more convenient than a phone or a a watch. I think the watch will, in the long term, be a flop. Apple needs to find a real killer app for it or it is toast. I already have a $500 iPhone in my pocket…

I am old enough to have lived through the Casio and Timex smart watches craziness. Even owned a Casio Databank. So I don't get this first world problem of paying $500 for the convenience of not taking the phone out of the pocket.

It took me a while to realize the convenience of paying $30 a month to not go home or use a payphone to make calls. I guess its just a thing you have to experience, maybe its legit, maybe not.

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#23

Post by Osmium »

rebootthesystem wrote: post #18
kylen wrote: post #12

The phone is about consuming/producing content and that's what many popular apps (like FB, Instagram, etc) are all about. No FB app on the watch indicates that the standard FB experience doesnt work on the platform, in the same way it wouldnt work on your kettle. That doesnt mean the kettle is a failure. The watch is all about quick access to small, self-contained nuggets of information and simple actions. Previously…

Really? Are we at an age when taking the phone out of our pocket is an inconvenience? Frankly, I live my life in front of a computer on a desk. My calendar and a million other things are one click away and in a format far more convenient than a phone or a a watch. I think the watch will, in the long term, be a flop. Apple needs to find a real killer app for it or it is toast. I already have a $500 iPhone in my pocket…

> I think the watch will, in the long term, be a flop. Apple needs to find a real killer app for it or it is toast.

There already are killer apps. Fitness is one. The question isn't if wearables are going to be a success (they already are), but just how smart and connected we need them to be: do you choose the Fitbit or the Apple Watch? etc. It seems that most objections to smart watches are due to price and size/aesthetics, both of which are hopefully only temporary issues, rather than absolute functionality. A bit of imagination is all that's needed.

> Down-vote away. I know the truth hurts.

If you get down votes, it'll be for the attitude, not the opinion...

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#24

Post by Htsthbjig »

Read the Innovator's dilemma to understand that when a new product is launched nobody really knows what is useful for.

It happened to the Iphone, it took at least a year and a half(it had no apps at launch!!) to start being useful for something and it happened to the Ipad: people did stare at it and say "it's cool, but I don't know what I could use this for", There is a video of a news reported asking this to people about the Ipad.

Selling millions of devices is the best feedback they could have. People always find crazy uses for any new tech.

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#25

Post by amirmc »

somberi wrote: post #14

I have had the apple watch for a week, and I am indifferent to having or not having it. This I think is its problem. It is probably the first Apple Device that has been released without a sharp use case. I mean it is cool that I can answer phone calls from my wrist (A candidate who I interviewed for an hour could not tell I was talking from my Apple Watch). But it is not a necessity. This is in essence the problem wi…

That's an utterly ridiculous criterion/comparison. Of course, I'd turn around and go back home for the device that people expect to reach me on (irrespective of how 'smart' that device is - it's my phone after all).

The thing that smartwatches bring that fitness trackers didn't is a multi-function device. Each feature is incremental and by itself might not be compelling enough to care about long term, but add enough of them together and maybe then it can jump the chasm into everyday use (e.g. telling the time + fitness tracking + alerts + payments + quick comms + ???).

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#26

Post by MeNotMe »

Osmium wrote: post #23
rebootthesystem wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Are we at an age when taking the phone out of our pocket is an inconvenience? Frankly, I live my life in front of a computer on a desk. My calendar and a million other things are one click away and in a format far more convenient than a phone or a a watch. I think the watch will, in the long term, be a flop. Apple needs to find a real killer app for it or it is toast. I already have a $500 iPhone in my pocket…

> I think the watch will, in the long term, be a flop. Apple needs to find a real killer app for it or it is toast. There already are killer apps. Fitness is one. The question isn't if wearables are going to be a success (they already are), but just how smart and connected we need them to be: do you choose the Fitbit or the Apple Watch? etc. It seems that most objections to smart watches are due to price and size/aes…

Oh contraire, fitness is a 'success' because many think they should do more but don't have the willpower and then buy this magic device to overcome their lack of will.

This leads to hardware sales and non-usage.

Which makes it really hard for others to work on such a plattform.

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#27

Post by threeseed »

rebootthesystem wrote: post #18
kylen wrote: post #12

The phone is about consuming/producing content and that's what many popular apps (like FB, Instagram, etc) are all about. No FB app on the watch indicates that the standard FB experience doesnt work on the platform, in the same way it wouldnt work on your kettle. That doesnt mean the kettle is a failure. The watch is all about quick access to small, self-contained nuggets of information and simple actions. Previously…

Really? Are we at an age when taking the phone out of our pocket is an inconvenience? Frankly, I live my life in front of a computer on a desk. My calendar and a million other things are one click away and in a format far more convenient than a phone or a a watch. I think the watch will, in the long term, be a flop. Apple needs to find a real killer app for it or it is toast. I already have a $500 iPhone in my pocket…

There already is a killer app: notifications.

Yes pulling your pocket out is an inconvenience if every time you do so it's to find out that an email or text message is spam or unimportant. Likewise seeing what meeting you have next (and where it is) is a second on the watch. About 30 seconds on the phone.

Who cares if you are going to make an Apple Watch app or not. Most developers aren't. Nor should they. Not every phone app will work on the watch and vice versa. The Watch like the iPad requires a unique experience. I look at apps like IFFT and Workflow as the style of apps that are are the future of Apple Watch.

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#28

Post by Osmium »

MeNotMe wrote: post #26
Osmium wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think the watch will, in the long term, be a flop. Apple needs to find a real killer app for it or it is toast. There already are killer apps. Fitness is one. The question isn't if wearables are going to be a success (they already are), but just how smart and connected we need them to be: do you choose the Fitbit or the Apple Watch? etc. It seems that most objections to smart watches are due to price and size/aes…

Oh contraire, fitness is a 'success' because many think they should do more but don't have the willpower and then buy this magic device to overcome their lack of will. This leads to hardware sales and non-usage. Which makes it really hard for others to work on such a plattform.

That's a rather cynical view, no? Many people actively enjoy working out, and use these devices as a tracking tool rather than a motivational aide. It's a big market. No doubt your comment is true in some cases, but there have been plenty of contrary anecdotes too (people who've bought a fitness wearable and have become a lot healthier as a result).

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#29

Post by nhaehnle »

rebootthesystem wrote: post #18
kylen wrote: post #12

The phone is about consuming/producing content and that's what many popular apps (like FB, Instagram, etc) are all about. No FB app on the watch indicates that the standard FB experience doesnt work on the platform, in the same way it wouldnt work on your kettle. That doesnt mean the kettle is a failure. The watch is all about quick access to small, self-contained nuggets of information and simple actions. Previously…

Really? Are we at an age when taking the phone out of our pocket is an inconvenience? Frankly, I live my life in front of a computer on a desk. My calendar and a million other things are one click away and in a format far more convenient than a phone or a a watch. I think the watch will, in the long term, be a flop. Apple needs to find a real killer app for it or it is toast. I already have a $500 iPhone in my pocket…

Honestly, I don't see myself buying a smartwatch any time soon, but then again, I don't see myself buying a watch any time soon, period.

That said, it's obvious that the majority of watches sold will be smartwatches sooner or later. After all, if you've already made up your mind on having a watch - and yes, there are applications outside of fashion and jewelry - then why not get a smartwatch? Outside of the Apple bubble, the difference in price will be negligible.

There are two open questions in this context: First, will the Apple Watch come to dominate that market? Most likely, it will go the way of the smartphone market in the medium term: small number of units sold with comparatively high profits purely for brand reasons.

Second, will there be a land rush of application development comparable to when smartphones and tablets really came into their prime? Most likely not, or to a much lesser extent, for a combination of the reasons that you mentioned and that smartwatches will basically be appendixes to smartphones, where that land rush has already happened.

Re: Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch

#30

Post by jrs99 »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #22
pjmlp wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am old enough to have lived through the Casio and Timex smart watches craziness. Even owned a Casio Databank. So I don't get this first world problem of paying $500 for the convenience of not taking the phone out of the pocket.

It took me a while to realize the convenience of paying $30 a month to not go home or use a payphone to make calls. I guess its just a thing you have to experience, maybe its legit, maybe not.

What about receiving calls wherever you are?
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