I'm speaking of hybrids; mechanical/quartz watches with embedded smart watch functionality....This to me would be a failed path for watch makers.
You may well be right. However, fashion is the aspect of this equation that never existed before for Apple, or other tech companies.
Quartz technology is hybrid technology. The watch industry already weathered this, and yet mechanical winding watches are still manufactured and are in demand.
In the end, if inconspicuous chips can be embedded into a traditional watch that duplicate many functions of a smart watch, why wouldn't they? A friend of mine just bought a fitbit, the one without any kind of status display. The only way to get info out of it is on her iPhone. She has no interest in the ?Watch. Mechanical watches already exist with hybrid digital displays for certain information for those who need it, yet despite the added benefit from the information those watches can additionally provide, they were not universally adopted by the watch wearing community.
So even on this very specific angle, I don't see the evidence that guarantees people are going to move en masse toward homogenous black square displays on their wrists, eschewing traditional watch designs, from a purely fashion perspective. I also don't see people completely ignoring many of the benefits smart watches bring to the table, thus demanding some kind of hybrid from the watchmakers, which they both have incentive and engineering skills to meet without being the total travesty of most hybrid products. Maybe this will be the end of the mass produced purely mechanical watches as we know it. But the traditional quartz mechanical watch will likely be around forever.
Again, you could be completely right about this. But I just don't see the evidence for it yet.
Nice post, and follows my train of thinking.
I would be more inclined to buy a traditional watch which has sensors and perhaps a chip embedded in it, but which has no digital display. All the information could be read on an iPhone or iPad. That way, people have access to an essentially infinite variety of design, whilst still getting the benefits of the sensors. One could even include haptic feedback. It's the oled screen which is such a turn-off for me. When a digital screen can faithfully replicate the appearance of a traditional watch face with no glare, then it will be attractive. I don't think we are close to that time, so a traditional wins.
In fact, your post (Mac 128) has provoked me into thinking that Apple should have released WatchKit instead of bringing out the full monty.
Like CarKit, which is Apple's way of integrating their software into all cars, WatchKit would be their way of incorporating their technology into all kinds of watches. It would mean that there would be no quandary of having to try and land upon one design to satisfy everyone. No doubt, designing in the sensors and chip is still quite a feat, but if there is no display, that must make it a lot simpler. Would they even need to be in the watch itself? Could you not incorporate them into the strap? Might be a lot easier. And without the display, battery life would be increased substantially.
When a digital screen can faithfully replicate the appearance of a traditional watch face with no glare, then it will be attractive. I don't think we are close to that time, so a traditional wins.
Exactly. The "App-ologists" all downplay the importance of battery life for the sucess of the ?Watch -- and I've no doubt that the watch will be sucessful. However, in what you propose, and with which I agree, battery life is going to be the single most important aspect of the smartwatch wholesale replacement of the mechanical watch, which even then it will thrive as a niche market.
"Tech" people who may or may not wear a watch currently, are going to accept the limitations of battery life as an indispensable tool for their daily use. However, I'm not convinced that the watch wearing community at large is going to be interested in charging their watch everyday, any more than they are interested in a watch they have to wind everyday, or replace its battery everyday. They are going to make a decision based on compromises of what the ?Watch offers and what they actually need in their day-to-day lives (with fashion being one of them). The reality is the watchmakers have likely already lost most of the watch wearers to the smart phone that will be he first to adopt the ?Watch, and are doing fine without them. The question is how many people who currently wear traditional watches are going to ditch them forever for the ?Watch.
Apple may surprise us, but I don't see battery life getting into the territory it needs to be in for several years. And that gives the watch industry plenty of time to test the market and see exactly what their customers want and need. And the good ones will do it with as much style and quality as Apple.
I am a watch Luddite. For me personally, I want a watch that tells the time and which requires no input or effort from me. I am not even terribly fussed about how it looks. I have a Citizen eco-drive that has been running near continuously for 30 years. I don't have to make any special effort to charge it, it has never malfunctioned and of course being solar powered, it has never needed a battery replaced. All I ever have to do is change the time due to daylight saving nonsense or time zone changes.
There won't be a single first gen ?Watch that still functions 30 years from now due to battery degradation and a lack of spares.
It doesn't mean that the watch will become an indispensable tool, however, and given the daily charging requirement, may sit on the charger more than it's used. I'm convinced that is going to be an issue for current watch wearers no matter how many other conveniences it offers.
I put away my mechanical watches at the end of the day, into my watch box where it gets wound with the rest of my watches (yes, my watches are fine with it being in a winder all the time). My quartz watch gets put into my drawer. How is this different than putting my future Apple Watch on a charging stand? Seriously, people need to stop dwelling on this.
How is this different than putting my future Apple Watch on a charging stand?
For you it's not. When I wore my titanium Citizen chronograph, I never took it off. Wore it in the shower, swimming, surfing, gym, etc. And I even wore it while sleeping on occasion. It charged via sunlight, so never had to worry about it runnin out of power ever. And that's exactly why I bought it, so I never had to worry about it. For me, it's one more thing I have to remember to charge everyday. And I won't even get into how that's gonna work with sleep monitoring features some people will be eager to use.
So, are you planning on getting rid of all your mechanical and Quartz watches when the Apple watch comes out? Because if you aren't, that's more to my point than whether you have to charge it every day. Being forced to charge it once a day was only mentioned in respect to those who will continue to wear traditonal watches, and use the ?Watch for specific activities since they do have to charge it. If you're running late to work and forgot to charge your watch the night before, then you're out of luck. I forget to charge my phone all the time, but fortunately I have a charger in my car, and my office, which is one solution. The other is just grabbing that Quartz watch laying in the drawer that needed no special attention after the last time you took it off, and forget about it the rest of the day except when you need it.
When I did wear watches, I would have never purchased a watch I had to wind every night in a winder -- well there was a period where I would have done that, but it wouldn't have lasted long. And that's the difference between you and me, and you and all the people you assert have to "stop dwelling on this". For some it's going to be an issue. For others like you it will be one more methodical, programmed task in a list of tasks you already perform daily. Seems to me those who have no problems with this arrangement need to stop dwelling on those who find it an inconvenience. Like it or not, it's going to be an issue for some. We shall see how many, and how many find it a deal breaker vs. how many adapt to the limitations.
For you it's not. When I wore my titanium Citizen chronograph, I never took it off. Wore it in the shower, swimming, surfing, gym, etc. And I even wore it while sleeping on occasion. It charged via sunlight, so never had to worry about it runnin out of power ever. And that's exactly why I bought it, so I never had to worry about it. For me, it's one more thing I have to remember to charge everyday. And I won't even get into how that's gonna work with sleep monitoring features some people will be eager to use.
So, are you planning on getting rid of all your mechanical and Quartz watches when the Apple watch comes out? Because if you aren't, that's more to my point than whether you have to charge it every day. Being forced to charge it once a day was only mentioned in respect to those who will continue to wear traditonal watches, and use the ?Watch for specific activities since they do have to charge it. If you're running late to work and forgot to charge your watch the night before, then you're out of luck. I forget to charge my phone all the time, but fortunately I have a charger in my car, and my office, which is one solution. The other is just grabbing that Quartz watch laying in the drawer that needed no special attention after the last time you took it off, and forget about it the rest of the day except when you need it.
When I did wear watches, I would have never purchased a watch I had to wind every night in a winder -- well there was a period where I would have done that, but it wouldn't have lasted long. And that's the difference between you and me, and you and all the people you assert have to "stop dwelling on this". For some it's going to be an issue. For others like you it will be one more methodical, programmed task in a list of tasks you already perform daily. Seems to me those who have no problems with this arrangement need to stop dwelling on those who find it an inconvenience. Like it or not, it's going to be an issue for some. We shall see how many, and how many find it a deal breaker vs. how many adapt to the limitations.
You seem to aspire to be the least adaptable person on the planet. As a defense of your interest in mechanical watches, I would find this last line of defense, that you are unable to adapt to the rigors of charging, to be a bit unsettling.
You are aware that one device is a wrist computer with many known, unknown, and future capabilities, including a time piece and well known capabilities to remind, and the other is a for all practical purposes, merely a timepiece.
You seem to aspire to be the least adaptable person on the planet. As a defense of your interest in mechanical watches, I would find this last line of defense, that you are unable to adapt to the rigors of charging, to be a bit unsettling.
When all else fails, turn to hyperbolic personal attacks eh?. You are aware your inferences are your own, and not reflective of me, or society at large? I at least included a link to an article of someone else who had similar issues with Apple's first attempt at a watch. Where is your article that says 99.99% of people won't have an issue with charging their ?Watch everyday?
Not that I need to defend myself from your baseless attack, but if I find something particularly useful, I will certainly adapt my routines to accommodate it. I've done that with my iPhone, certainly. But the biggest problem with your assumptions is that they stem from a place that assumes everyone will want to spend at least $350 to put one of these little Apple miracle devices on their wrist, whether or not they currently wear watches. Not everyone wants everything an ?Watch can do. And not everyone will be willing to accept its current limitations. Why do you think they make watches that don't have to be wound? Why do you think they make watches with solar powered rechargeable batteries?
One thing is for certain, if you think not wanting to wind a watch on a daily basis as a reason not to buy a mechanical watch is an "unsettling ... last line of defense", then I can rest assured I am in good company worldwide.
When all else fails, turn to hyperbolic personal attacks eh?. You are aware your inferences are your own, and not reflective of me, or society at large? I at least included a link to an article of someone else who had similar issues with Apple's first attempt at a watch. Where is your article that says 99.99% of people won't have an issue with charging their ?Watch everyday?
Not that I need to defend myself from your baseless attack, but if I find something particularly useful, I will certainly adapt my routines to accommodate it. I've done that with my iPhone, certainly. But the biggest problem with your assumptions is that they stem from a place that assumes everyone will want to spend at least $350 to put one of these little Apple miracle devices on their wrist, whether or not they currently wear watches. Not everyone wants everything an ?Watch can do. And not everyone will be willing to accept its current limitations. Why do you think they make watches that don't have to be wound? Why do you think they make watches with solar powered rechargeable batteries?
One thing is for certain, if you think not wanting to wind a watch on a daily basis as a reason not to buy a mechanical watch is an "unsettling ... last line of defense", then I can rest assured I am in good company worldwide.
Yet you keep comparing mechanical watches to the Apple Watch, which is a wrist computer, and therein lies the rub.
Certainly some of those interested in the Apple Watch will own mechanical watches, but even if all of these buyers are not current watch owners or users, they will still have to adapt to the necessity of daily charging. I'm speculating that near 100% of those buyers will be able to adapt to the Apple Watch charging regimen given the utility of the Apple Watch. Some of course will not, yet many of these buyers will also have a regimen of daily charging for their iPhones, so it doesn't appear to require any massive change in behavior to charge the Apple Watch daily.
Frankly, Hybrids are going to be in a much worse position than smartwatches in that there will be the necessity of adding bulk to the base mechanical watch, yet you seem to downplay that, or opt for limited capabilities, i.e., compromise. That may be acceptable to you and other mechanical watch owners, but I see the Apple Watch, and smartwatches in general as showing utility that will be rapidly adopted inspite of the charging requirement.
If you don't find the utility of smartwatches important enough to give up the mechanical watch on your wrist, I understand and accept that, but stop with your line of argument that daily charging will be a barrier to adoption of smartwatch; it will only be a barrier for those that aren't willing to adapt.
Yet you keep comparing mechanical watches to the Apple Watch, which is a wrist computer, and therein lies the rub....but stop with your line of argument that daily charging will be a barrier to adoption of smartphone; it will only be a barrier for those that aren't willing to adapt.
Ah, now I see your position:
I don't keep comparing mechanical watches to the ?Watch ... the media, these articles, and other members of this forum are doing that ... I'm just discussing it. I'm fully aware that the ?Watch is not a wristwatch and I have stated as much in defense of the watch industry.
I'm also not saying the daily charging is a "barrier to adoption". But it will be an issue to some, and they will weigh the benefits vs. the inconvenience of battery life, as well as everything else the watch offers vs. what a particular customer wants from a device they wear on their wrist.
As long as the arguments on these forums are that the ?Watch is going to decimate the watch industry as a whole, then my arguments are perfectly valid, because just as you point out the ?Watch is not a watch, then it cannot address all the reasons people choose to wear watches (or not), including the inconvenience of having to charge it daily.
Comments
Nice post, and follows my train of thinking.
I would be more inclined to buy a traditional watch which has sensors and perhaps a chip embedded in it, but which has no digital display. All the information could be read on an iPhone or iPad. That way, people have access to an essentially infinite variety of design, whilst still getting the benefits of the sensors. One could even include haptic feedback. It's the oled screen which is such a turn-off for me. When a digital screen can faithfully replicate the appearance of a traditional watch face with no glare, then it will be attractive. I don't think we are close to that time, so a traditional wins.
Like CarKit, which is Apple's way of integrating their software into all cars, WatchKit would be their way of incorporating their technology into all kinds of watches. It would mean that there would be no quandary of having to try and land upon one design to satisfy everyone. No doubt, designing in the sensors and chip is still quite a feat, but if there is no display, that must make it a lot simpler. Would they even need to be in the watch itself? Could you not incorporate them into the strap? Might be a lot easier. And without the display, battery life would be increased substantially.
Exactly. The "App-ologists" all downplay the importance of battery life for the sucess of the ?Watch -- and I've no doubt that the watch will be sucessful. However, in what you propose, and with which I agree, battery life is going to be the single most important aspect of the smartwatch wholesale replacement of the mechanical watch, which even then it will thrive as a niche market.
"Tech" people who may or may not wear a watch currently, are going to accept the limitations of battery life as an indispensable tool for their daily use. However, I'm not convinced that the watch wearing community at large is going to be interested in charging their watch everyday, any more than they are interested in a watch they have to wind everyday, or replace its battery everyday. They are going to make a decision based on compromises of what the ?Watch offers and what they actually need in their day-to-day lives (with fashion being one of them). The reality is the watchmakers have likely already lost most of the watch wearers to the smart phone that will be he first to adopt the ?Watch, and are doing fine without them. The question is how many people who currently wear traditional watches are going to ditch them forever for the ?Watch.
Apple may surprise us, but I don't see battery life getting into the territory it needs to be in for several years. And that gives the watch industry plenty of time to test the market and see exactly what their customers want and need. And the good ones will do it with as much style and quality as Apple.
I am a watch Luddite. For me personally, I want a watch that tells the time and which requires no input or effort from me. I am not even terribly fussed about how it looks. I have a Citizen eco-drive that has been running near continuously for 30 years. I don't have to make any special effort to charge it, it has never malfunctioned and of course being solar powered, it has never needed a battery replaced. All I ever have to do is change the time due to daylight saving nonsense or time zone changes.
There won't be a single first gen ?Watch that still functions 30 years from now due to battery degradation and a lack of spares.
It doesn't mean that the watch will become an indispensable tool, however, and given the daily charging requirement, may sit on the charger more than it's used. I'm convinced that is going to be an issue for current watch wearers no matter how many other conveniences it offers.
I put away my mechanical watches at the end of the day, into my watch box where it gets wound with the rest of my watches (yes, my watches are fine with it being in a winder all the time). My quartz watch gets put into my drawer. How is this different than putting my future Apple Watch on a charging stand? Seriously, people need to stop dwelling on this.
So, are you planning on getting rid of all your mechanical and Quartz watches when the Apple watch comes out? Because if you aren't, that's more to my point than whether you have to charge it every day. Being forced to charge it once a day was only mentioned in respect to those who will continue to wear traditonal watches, and use the ?Watch for specific activities since they do have to charge it. If you're running late to work and forgot to charge your watch the night before, then you're out of luck. I forget to charge my phone all the time, but fortunately I have a charger in my car, and my office, which is one solution. The other is just grabbing that Quartz watch laying in the drawer that needed no special attention after the last time you took it off, and forget about it the rest of the day except when you need it.
When I did wear watches, I would have never purchased a watch I had to wind every night in a winder -- well there was a period where I would have done that, but it wouldn't have lasted long. And that's the difference between you and me, and you and all the people you assert have to "stop dwelling on this". For some it's going to be an issue. For others like you it will be one more methodical, programmed task in a list of tasks you already perform daily. Seems to me those who have no problems with this arrangement need to stop dwelling on those who find it an inconvenience. Like it or not, it's going to be an issue for some. We shall see how many, and how many find it a deal breaker vs. how many adapt to the limitations.
But this has all happened before:
https://gigaom.com/2013/03/16/why-i-stopped-wearing-my-ipod-nano-as-a-watch/
For you it's not. When I wore my titanium Citizen chronograph, I never took it off. Wore it in the shower, swimming, surfing, gym, etc. And I even wore it while sleeping on occasion. It charged via sunlight, so never had to worry about it runnin out of power ever. And that's exactly why I bought it, so I never had to worry about it. For me, it's one more thing I have to remember to charge everyday. And I won't even get into how that's gonna work with sleep monitoring features some people will be eager to use.
So, are you planning on getting rid of all your mechanical and Quartz watches when the Apple watch comes out? Because if you aren't, that's more to my point than whether you have to charge it every day. Being forced to charge it once a day was only mentioned in respect to those who will continue to wear traditonal watches, and use the ?Watch for specific activities since they do have to charge it. If you're running late to work and forgot to charge your watch the night before, then you're out of luck. I forget to charge my phone all the time, but fortunately I have a charger in my car, and my office, which is one solution. The other is just grabbing that Quartz watch laying in the drawer that needed no special attention after the last time you took it off, and forget about it the rest of the day except when you need it.
When I did wear watches, I would have never purchased a watch I had to wind every night in a winder -- well there was a period where I would have done that, but it wouldn't have lasted long. And that's the difference between you and me, and you and all the people you assert have to "stop dwelling on this". For some it's going to be an issue. For others like you it will be one more methodical, programmed task in a list of tasks you already perform daily. Seems to me those who have no problems with this arrangement need to stop dwelling on those who find it an inconvenience. Like it or not, it's going to be an issue for some. We shall see how many, and how many find it a deal breaker vs. how many adapt to the limitations.
But this has all happened before:
https://gigaom.com/2013/03/16/why-i-stopped-wearing-my-ipod-nano-as-a-watch/
You seem to aspire to be the least adaptable person on the planet. As a defense of your interest in mechanical watches, I would find this last line of defense, that you are unable to adapt to the rigors of charging, to be a bit unsettling.
You are aware that one device is a wrist computer with many known, unknown, and future capabilities, including a time piece and well known capabilities to remind, and the other is a for all practical purposes, merely a timepiece.
You seem to aspire to be the least adaptable person on the planet. As a defense of your interest in mechanical watches, I would find this last line of defense, that you are unable to adapt to the rigors of charging, to be a bit unsettling.
When all else fails, turn to hyperbolic personal attacks eh?. You are aware your inferences are your own, and not reflective of me, or society at large? I at least included a link to an article of someone else who had similar issues with Apple's first attempt at a watch. Where is your article that says 99.99% of people won't have an issue with charging their ?Watch everyday?
Not that I need to defend myself from your baseless attack, but if I find something particularly useful, I will certainly adapt my routines to accommodate it. I've done that with my iPhone, certainly. But the biggest problem with your assumptions is that they stem from a place that assumes everyone will want to spend at least $350 to put one of these little Apple miracle devices on their wrist, whether or not they currently wear watches. Not everyone wants everything an ?Watch can do. And not everyone will be willing to accept its current limitations. Why do you think they make watches that don't have to be wound? Why do you think they make watches with solar powered rechargeable batteries?
One thing is for certain, if you think not wanting to wind a watch on a daily basis as a reason not to buy a mechanical watch is an "unsettling ... last line of defense", then I can rest assured I am in good company worldwide.
When all else fails, turn to hyperbolic personal attacks eh?. You are aware your inferences are your own, and not reflective of me, or society at large? I at least included a link to an article of someone else who had similar issues with Apple's first attempt at a watch. Where is your article that says 99.99% of people won't have an issue with charging their ?Watch everyday?
Not that I need to defend myself from your baseless attack, but if I find something particularly useful, I will certainly adapt my routines to accommodate it. I've done that with my iPhone, certainly. But the biggest problem with your assumptions is that they stem from a place that assumes everyone will want to spend at least $350 to put one of these little Apple miracle devices on their wrist, whether or not they currently wear watches. Not everyone wants everything an ?Watch can do. And not everyone will be willing to accept its current limitations. Why do you think they make watches that don't have to be wound? Why do you think they make watches with solar powered rechargeable batteries?
One thing is for certain, if you think not wanting to wind a watch on a daily basis as a reason not to buy a mechanical watch is an "unsettling ... last line of defense", then I can rest assured I am in good company worldwide.
Yet you keep comparing mechanical watches to the Apple Watch, which is a wrist computer, and therein lies the rub.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/18/us-apple-watch-poll-idUSKBN0ME2I420150318
Certainly some of those interested in the Apple Watch will own mechanical watches, but even if all of these buyers are not current watch owners or users, they will still have to adapt to the necessity of daily charging. I'm speculating that near 100% of those buyers will be able to adapt to the Apple Watch charging regimen given the utility of the Apple Watch. Some of course will not, yet many of these buyers will also have a regimen of daily charging for their iPhones, so it doesn't appear to require any massive change in behavior to charge the Apple Watch daily.
Frankly, Hybrids are going to be in a much worse position than smartwatches in that there will be the necessity of adding bulk to the base mechanical watch, yet you seem to downplay that, or opt for limited capabilities, i.e., compromise. That may be acceptable to you and other mechanical watch owners, but I see the Apple Watch, and smartwatches in general as showing utility that will be rapidly adopted inspite of the charging requirement.
If you don't find the utility of smartwatches important enough to give up the mechanical watch on your wrist, I understand and accept that, but stop with your line of argument that daily charging will be a barrier to adoption of smartwatch; it will only be a barrier for those that aren't willing to adapt.
I don't keep comparing mechanical watches to the ?Watch ... the media, these articles, and other members of this forum are doing that ... I'm just discussing it. I'm fully aware that the ?Watch is not a wristwatch and I have stated as much in defense of the watch industry.
I'm also not saying the daily charging is a "barrier to adoption". But it will be an issue to some, and they will weigh the benefits vs. the inconvenience of battery life, as well as everything else the watch offers vs. what a particular customer wants from a device they wear on their wrist.
As long as the arguments on these forums are that the ?Watch is going to decimate the watch industry as a whole, then my arguments are perfectly valid, because just as you point out the ?Watch is not a watch, then it cannot address all the reasons people choose to wear watches (or not), including the inconvenience of having to charge it daily.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/fashion/watches-are-rediscovered-by-the-cellphone-generation.html?_r=1