Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch • Hacker News Board

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

#41

Post by minthd » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 12:28 PM UTC

Htsthbjig wrote: post #24

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…

Apple surely did know that apps would be a hit.That's why they gave monopoly on the iPhone to at&t - the weaker carrier at the time, in exchange for(among others) full control over the app store.

And i'm sure if you've asked in a place like HN at the time - they would have talked about some killer app ideas and a marketplace.

And let's not forget - we've already had android wear for some time(and the pebble before) ,and yet no great ideas, even just as prototypes or discussions.

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

#42

Post by graffitici » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 12:29 PM UTC

I've had a Pebble for a little while, and I'm extremely happy with it. I bought it last fall for under $100 on Black Friday. My main goal was to give this smartwatch craze a try before the Apple Watch came out. The Pebble also has some apps, although in much smaller quantities, and with fairly elementary UX. But the main thing for me was the notifications. That's the killer app for me.

It's hard to understand the value of this unless you use one. I frequently used to miss text messages, or even phone calls because I wouldn't feel my iPhone vibrating in my pocket. With the Pebble, I have the phone on "Do Not Disturb" at all times, and never miss any notification of importance. It's gotten to the point that the idea of having a device in your pocket broadcasting a loud noise to the entire surrounding seems like the stone age.. A little vibration on the wrist, and I know something happened. Then I can choose to take out my phone to react on it, or just postpone that.

I actually found that this increases the battery life on my phone (despite Bluetooth being turned on). Since I used to miss notifications (and would look at the time..), I would frequently take out my phone, unnecessarily lighting up the screen. No more!

So my idea of the perfect smartwatch is one that can provide decent notifications, and has a long battery life. I'd appreciate it if it looked good.. :)

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

#43

Post by Retric » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 12:35 PM UTC

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.

Your not buying a new watch every month.

Sure, watches don't last forever, but let's assume you buy a new one every ~2 years on average. Well $30/ month * 24 months = 720$ every 2 years.

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

#44

Post by microtonal » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 12:40 PM UTC

threeseed wrote: post #27

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…

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…

There already is a killer app: notifications.

I like my Moto 360, but I disabled notification vibrations (I have it in silent mode all the time). It is terribly annoying when you are working or are having family time and something on your wrist vibrates all the time.

About 30 seconds on the phone.

Get a phone with active display (e.g. [1]).

[1] https://www.motorola.com/us/Moto-X-Features-Active-Display/m...

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

#45

Post by steaminghacker » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 12:52 PM UTC

Is there a name for the phenomenon that people tend to push back against new technology they don't have, and then once they get that technology, they're raving about how good it is.

This is connected with the way people discover personal uses for new tech in ways they didn't foresee beforehand.

I'm a firm believer that wearable smart devices will eventually go mainstream. A bit like mobile phones did. In 5 years everyone will wear a smart device and there will be a choice of different platforms.

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

#46

Post by Grue3 » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 12:56 PM UTC

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…

>then why not get a smartwatch

Not having to charge it every day. Charging a smartphone every day is annoying enough. Charging a watch every day just isn't worth the hassle.

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

#47

Post by psionides » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 1:15 PM UTC

doodyhead wrote: post #21

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.

I don't know if I want a small or a big one though, and I can't just go to an Apple Store to try both on... As soon as I have a chance of checking how they feel on my wrist, I'll think about ordering them through some unofficial channels.

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

#48

Post by MeNotMe » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 1:16 PM UTC

1stop wrote: post #39

MeNotMe wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not sure how your example adds something to "many think".

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

#49

Post by JohnTHaller » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 1:21 PM UTC

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…

Most of the 'fitness' the phone tracks can done far better by a specialized device like the Fitbit, which is outselling the Apple Watch, or just by your phone. The major thing that people buy fitness trackers for... counting steps... can already be done by quite well by your phone since it's the thing that has GPS already (which is what your smartwatch uses) and your phone already has all the sensors to be a pedometer.

If you're the type that doesn't have their phone on you all the time, it's better done by a lightweight, lower-cost Fitbit which start at about 60 bucks as opposed to the $350/$400 starting point of the Apple Watch.

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

#50

Post by JohnTHaller » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 1:23 PM UTC

sageabilly wrote: post #40

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…

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 t…

The purpose-built fitness trackers are also more accurate than an Apple Watch as confirmed by multiple tests. They're FAR cheaper: $60 for an entry level Fitbit vs $349 for the entry-level smaller Apple Watch. And Fitbit is outselling Apple Watch every week again now after the initial Apple Watch sales.