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Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

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Re: Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

#21

Post by msluyter »

cydonian_monk wrote: post #2

Really now. I understand there might be some small market for "smart watches," but who, honestly, still wears a watch? And who would want to wear a watch that you will (possibly) have to charge daily? This is a watch in name only. That aside, I can see benefits to connected devices such as this. I'm just not sure I'd call them watches.

who, honestly, still wears a watch?

Well, there's always aesthetics/fashion. I wear a (very attractive, IMHO) self-winding watch. As someone else has mentioned, it's actually really convenient compared to getting my phone out of my pocket, but mostly I like the way it looks -- I guess it's a form of functional jewelry.

I think watches are also status markers. Witness the wide variety of vastly overpriced -- for the actual functionality you get -- watches on the market. A 100$ watch probably performs 99.999% as well as a 10000$ watch, but people will buy the latter, because of the Cartier label or whatnot.

I'd love to say that I'm immune from that, but I'm not. A nice watch makes me feel subtly more powerful. Manly. Strong. In control. Etc... I feel a little awkward without it. This is difficult to explain and may be generational.

Re: Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

#22

Post by MattRogish »

malandrew wrote: post #20
MattRogish wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stopped wearing a watch when cellphones were able to send/receive text messages. For me, a watch is too low-tech compared to all the things I surround myself with (iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air, etc.). All it can do is tell time? I've been longing for a bluetooth (or similar) watch that had deep iPhone integration, looked stylish, and wasn't too expensive. The ones I've been able to find can't match all three. I'd love…

I'm curious how that $46B breaks down. It's not like the Apple watch will ever compete with a Rolex, Patek Phillipe, Parmigiani, Frank Muller or Cartier for example. People buy those watches for style and to show off. Then again, I could totally see some of the high-end watch companies creating exceptionally nice bands for the Apple watch to meet the need for style and showing off. Whatever they make though, it bette…

"By product, Luxury watches remains the largest segment in the global watches market. Mass-priced watches represents the fastest growing watches segment, waxing at a CAGR of about 2.6% over the analysis period."

breakdown being:

"Mass-Priced Watches (Under $50), Middle-Priced Watches ($50-$299), Upper-Priced Watches ($300 - $999), and Luxury Watches ($1000 - $5000)."

Somehow I don't see Apple making a watch that's either mass-priced ($1,000).

For them to have a sufficient umbrella and make high-end profits (that they are used to) they'd have to be in the "Middle-priced watches" which, at least according to that article, is neither a big pie nor growing.

Then again, Apple's strategy is to disrupt markets by creating new segments, so my guess is if they do release a "watch" (whatever form that takes) it won't fit into one of those buckets above. They'll create their own.

Re: Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

#24

Post by sciwiz »

neya wrote: post #23

I don't see why this suddenly appears to be 'revolutionary' when Sony has had this for a long time?[1] Heck you can even buy an Android powered Sony watch WITH THE SAME DESIGN even now! [1] http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/products/accessories/smartwatch...

I think the Sony smart watch needs to be linked to a smartphone to be useful, while the Motorola MOTOACTV can used as a standalone device.

http://www.motorola.com/us/consumers/8GB-or-16GB-MOTOACTV/79...

Re: Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

#25

Post by frozenport »

I remember the Fossil Write PDA(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Wrist_PDA)

The charging was a problem, but I couldn't find a killed application or use for it that wasn't covered by a regular watch. The only thing I used it for was a watch!

I think that these products face an existential crisis that asks "what can a watch do better than my Android cellphone?"

Re: Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

#27

Post by sksksk »

cydonian_monk wrote: post #2

Really now. I understand there might be some small market for "smart watches," but who, honestly, still wears a watch? And who would want to wear a watch that you will (possibly) have to charge daily? This is a watch in name only. That aside, I can see benefits to connected devices such as this. I'm just not sure I'd call them watches.

I used to not wear a watch, then I started wearing one a year ago and it's such an improvement over using your phone.

The fact that you can instantly see what the time is means that you're always aware of the time. It's improved my timekeepings so much, and I'm rarely late to things any more.

It's really hard to explain but I think an analog clock is far more intuitive than digital.

Re: Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

#28

Post by JohnFromBuffalo »

As they should. This is a sector that has truly suffered for innovation. I've tried to use two or three between a Sony watch to a palm connector watch. Nike has done a pretty cool thing with their sport bracelet, but it fails on Android horribly. At least make an device/app that does a crap load more than track forward motion and time. PLEASE do so.

Re: Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

#29

Post by fistr »

msluyter wrote: post #21
cydonian_monk wrote: post #2

Really now. I understand there might be some small market for "smart watches," but who, honestly, still wears a watch? And who would want to wear a watch that you will (possibly) have to charge daily? This is a watch in name only. That aside, I can see benefits to connected devices such as this. I'm just not sure I'd call them watches.

who, honestly, still wears a watch? Well, there's always aesthetics/fashion. I wear a (very attractive, IMHO) self-winding watch. As someone else has mentioned, it's actually really convenient compared to getting my phone out of my pocket, but mostly I like the way it looks -- I guess it's a form of functional jewelry. I think watches are also status markers. Witness the wide variety of vastly overpriced -- for the a…

The aesthetics/fashion/status thing isn't going to be hit with a mass-market iDevice. Apple makes beautiful, even jewelry-like devices but they are solidly mass market and there's nothing to differentiate one owner from another.

A 100$ watch probably performs 99.999% as well as a 10000$ watch

Hell, a fifteen dollar quartz watch will outperform a $20000 Patek Philippe.

This is difficult to explain and may be generational.

It probably is generational. I'm Gen-Y and watches seem like an irrelevance nowadays. I can't think of one of my similarly aged friends who wears a watch.

To be fair I used to wear one, and felt naked without it for a while after the band broke but by that time I was carrying a phone everywhere and I soon forgot about it.

Re: Rumor: Apple Building Bluetooth Smart Watch

#30

Post by superuser2 »

cydonian_monk wrote: post #2

Really now. I understand there might be some small market for "smart watches," but who, honestly, still wears a watch? And who would want to wear a watch that you will (possibly) have to charge daily? This is a watch in name only. That aside, I can see benefits to connected devices such as this. I'm just not sure I'd call them watches.

High school. I want to know the time and cell phone use gets you a disciplinary referral. I imagine this applies in ERs and other places cell phones are not allowed. Also I cannot pull my phone out of my pocket without standing up and spending some effort. Watches are easier to use.
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