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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

#31

Post by pjmlp »

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.

You are not seriously comparing $30 with $500?!

Besides there are zero features it offers besides a mobile phone.

If I what to show off how rich I might be I'll get myself a Rolex.

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

#32

Post by nhaehnle »

pjmlp wrote: post #31
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You are not seriously comparing $30 with $500?! Besides there are zero features it offers besides a mobile phone. If I what to show off how rich I might be I'll get myself a Rolex.

They're comparing $30/month to a one-time payment of $500, so yes, that's reasonable.

Besides, if price is your argument, you should look beyond Apple anyway. Their devices mostly sell by branding. There are already smartwatches that are significantly cheaper than what Apple offer, and over time, the price difference between regular watches and smart watches is going to shrink further.

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

#33

Post by chippy »

marincounty wrote: post #16

Personally, I feel Apple should admit they got it wrong--on so many levels. Just let it die. Let companies like Pebble give it a go? Drop the whole concept of a smart watch. Work on getting that iPhone small enough, so it can be strapped to a wrist. If they insist on keeping this product; get the price down, and do a complete redesign. (I know they don't want to canabilize iPhone sales, but that would be years away?…

I enjoy your comments, marincounty!

I doubt that Apple are doing the wrong thing, I suspect that people will buy into it because they are high tech, wealthy, innovators and some will buy it because they already have invested several thousand dollars in the company via all the devices and others will buy it for status reasons.

But it will be a good thing in the end, it will change things, like the iPod and the iPhone - cheaper and better alternatives will be created, perhaps even devices that are designed for use in developing countries where length of life and hardiness are the main features.

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

#34

Post by rimantas »

chippy wrote: post #33
marincounty wrote: post #16

Personally, I feel Apple should admit they got it wrong--on so many levels. Just let it die. Let companies like Pebble give it a go? Drop the whole concept of a smart watch. Work on getting that iPhone small enough, so it can be strapped to a wrist. If they insist on keeping this product; get the price down, and do a complete redesign. (I know they don't want to canabilize iPhone sales, but that would be years away?…

I enjoy your comments, marincounty! I doubt that Apple are doing the wrong thing, I suspect that people will buy into it because they are high tech, wealthy, innovators and some will buy it because they already have invested several thousand dollars in the company via all the devices and others will buy it for status reasons. But it will be a good thing in the end, it will change things, like the iPod and the iPhone…

So which are cheaper and better alternatives to iPhone?

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

#35

Post by rimantas »

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've got a dumb Fitbit Charge. It already have shown me why would I want Apple watch: first, the incoming call notification is unexpectedly useful. Second, I already want the better activity tracking available on Apple Watch. And yes, taking phone out of the pocket (or purse) is indeed inconvenience.

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

#36

Post by seanmcdirmid »

pjmlp wrote: post #31
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You are not seriously comparing $30 with $500?! Besides there are zero features it offers besides a mobile phone. If I what to show off how rich I might be I'll get myself a Rolex.

$30/month in 2002 was a lot of money for a grad student like me. If the Apple watch provides even a 5-10% efficiency gain in mobile device usage (by not having to unpocket their phone all the time), many will find it worth it, and once they are hooked, well, we won't be having this conversation anymore. For the record, I don't have an Apple watch, but I do see them selling very well where I live.

I've been to Basel World before, and the "I'm rich watches" start at around 40K CHF. And they aren't even very good watches given their mechanical movements, it has nothing at all to do with functionality or features.

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

#37

Post by Fradow »

nhaehnle wrote: post #29
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…

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 bub…

Why not get a smartwatch? Well, there are actually several reasons:

- price. It is still going to be more expensive than a cheap dumb watch

- lifespan. Electronics generally won't live more than 3-5 years on average. A good watch can outlive you and your children.

- too much feature. The same way some people still buy dumb phones because they just want to phone and text, some people only want time out of their watch (recent threads about iPod sells explain that pretty well, albeit for a different product).

- fashion, as you said. Some people want to look good, and a smartwatch with a digital screen (gasp!) may be against their sense of aesthetics

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

#38

Post by endemic »

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…

The fact that the watch needs to be paired to a phone makes it a non-starter when evaluating fitness trackers.

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

#39

Post by 1stop »

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.

I run 60km+ per week, I use wearables to track performance and do accurate heart rate training. I compete with my friends for distances, speeds, segments, Nike fuel any other metric we think is fun.

I don't lack will power (when my wearables run out of battery I still run).

So your comment sounds way off base to me. Just to give you a perspective you may not have seen.

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

#40

Post by sageabilly »

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…

The issue with saying "Oh yeah the Apple Watch is killer for fitness!" is that everyone who is into fitness and who cares about tracking stuff already has a fitness tracker. And these fitness trackers are cheaper, smaller, hardier, less of a target for theft, don't need to be continuously paired with a phone, and don't interrupt a workout to notify of text or phone call.

Nobody's going to jump me on my morning run to steal my FitBit, but they damn well are gonna jump me for my Apple Watch. I'm not going to wear my Apple Watch doing something like Crossfit where it could easily get broken but I'll happily wear my Jawbone UP because I know it can handle it. Also, fitness wearables are simply more comfortable to wear while exercising compared to the Apple Watch because the watch is bigger with a much bigger band and watchface for sweat to get trapped behind plus it has to be worn tight to the skin to capture heart rate which greatly limits range of motion.

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