Some of the media tweets showing up in my Twitter feed are driving me nuts. Jake Tapper from ABC tweeted that the Watch "launched" to sparse crowds and no lines. Of course people who don't know (i.e. lots of people) that the Watch doesn't actually go on sale today will think the product launch is a flop.
On one of the watches, when the sales assistant and myself both tried to change the straps the locking mechanism to attach the new strap don't not work. In the end by repeatedly sliding back and forth the strap we did finally lock it into position. Hopefully this is a one off and not a design or manufacturing issue.
Wow I'm surprised they switched the bands, everything I've read prior to this suggested that you would not be able to switch bands. Was this the Edition? Did you get a good look at the watch itself? Any diagnostic ports?
Interestingly enough, the Financial Industry doesn't like this to ever happen, so sometimes, even without your input, they will increase your credit line. My guess is that you aren't testing your limit often enough to spur them to do this.
This from an Industry that calls people that pay off their balances each month, deadbeats.
I wonder if the 4-6 week estimate will shorten up considerably quite quickly? That seems more like s supply issue and I could see some people being turned off with 4-6 week wait times; that's not end of April. I wonder if there are manufacturing issues with some models?
That seems reasonable that Apple is being conservative about how quickly they can produce new models. However, with all the people here saying they ordered two and will cancel one after they see them in the stores, I would expect a sudden surpluss available in about a week.
But this is a mess. I was optimistic and supportive of Apples plan thinking they really had this worked out, but they didn't. I feel like an idiot now suggesting to people that Apple would not have offered online ordering and previews on the same day knowing that this is a device many customers need to see first, so there would be adequate time to pre-order witin at least the first several days.
Nope. So to all of those who suggested Apple should have offered a week of preview/fitting appointments before pre-orders started, I'm sorry. You were right. This is a mess.
Sorry, but having constrained supplies means that people that order first get deliveries first, whether they get to try on the watch or not. In this respect, the people that were more certain about the SKU that they wanted had the advantage.
In the overall scheme of things, there aren't any good solutions to a constrained supply, but it does reduce the chaos at the stores, and I believe that was the intent.
Most of those ordering today won't need to visit the store at all.
EDIT:
It may be true that there will be allocations to retail stores in the near future that will be able to be sold on site to customers, but that isn't the case today.
But this is a mess. I was optimistic and supportive of Apples plan thinking they really had this worked out, but they didn't. I feel like an idiot now suggesting to people that Apple would not have offered online ordering and previews on the same day knowing that this is a device many customers need to see first, so there would be adequate time to pre-order witin at least the first several days.
Nope. So to all of those who suggested Apple should have offered a week of preview/fitting appointments before pre-orders started, I'm sorry. You were right. This is a mess.
From many of the posts I've seen on MacRumors the try-on process seems to be working quite well. Perhaps pre-orders should have been pushed out a week. But I have a feeling these shipping dates are going to change. I've had that happen to me with iPhone before; initially I got quoted 3-4 weeks and then a few days later it changed to 1-2 weeks.
That seems reasonable that Apple is being conservative about how quickly they can produce new models. However, with all the people here saying they ordered two and will cancel one after they see them in the stores, I would expect a sudden surpluss available in about a week.
That almost certainly isn't common behavior, so don't expect all that much "overbuying" to increase future supply very much.
Given that no one really knows what's happening, it's all just reactionary speculation based on auto-generated order information right now.
Consider this: I was one of the very first people to preorder the iPhone 5 (about one minute after the online store opened). After a few hours, shipping times for preorders slipped and everyone was complaining. And yet, on the day it was became available in the retail store, many people were able to get ahold of it well before it even shipped to my door.
I'm guessing it'll be a similar experience with the Apple Watch: they have a certain amount of stock reserved for preorders and a certain amount for the retail stores. The preorder stock will dwindle, but there will always still be the retail store stock if you're willing to wait (and go to a retail store, which is what I want to do before I choose to buy).
I'm not complaining about the pre-orders themselves. This is all business as usual. Nothing you can do about supply and demand on launch day.
What I'm upset about is the people who said Apple should have offered a week of previews/fittings, by appointment before the pre-order day. By doing it this week, customers who needed to see it in person to chose were shut out on day one. For a product that's meant to be worn, this is ridiculous.
Instead you have people ordering multiple watches, intending to cancel orders after they have a chance to visit the store. You have people who weren't that devious who will likely return them after they get to the store, and this only encourages scalpers who don't need to see them, to strike quickly buy up supplies and offer at a premium on the street.
And what upsets me personally is that for everyone who complained about the preview/preorder who suggested Apple should have held off until after a week of previews and were shut down by the usual mouthy fan bois on this site with defenses like 'you think you know more than apple? They have already thought of this and have a plan.', and this time I joined that chorus.
Here's an odd scenario. So I placed my order using my iPhone, the Apple Store app, and Apple Pay. It went through fine. However, the receipt got emailed to my work email address and included my work phone number. Neither of these two pieces of information are stored in my Apple ID or Apple Pay accounts. I have never associated them with my Apple ID.
Any ideas what's going on? I went back into my Apple account and verified that everything is using my personal information.
From many of the posts I've seen on MacRumors the try-on process seems to be working quite well. Perhaps pre-orders should have been pushed out a week. But I have a feeling these shipping dates are going to change. I've had that happen to me with iPhone before; initially I got quoted 3-4 weeks and then a few days later it changed to 1-2 weeks.
I hope you're right.
Again it's not the online pre-order process that bothers me, that's no different than it's ever been, in fact it may be running smoother than most.
But still, considering this is Apple's most personal product ever, and I've never met anybody who didn't try on a watch before they bought it, you'd think giving the eager public a chance to try the watch on and know which one they wanted before they throw everyone into a lottery skewed to the dedicated willing to pounce the moment orders go online seems short sighted to me. Especially when some of the watches have been pushed out until August. And yes I've gotten those updates with iPhones in the past, but I would have really hoped that Apple would have gotten better with those algorythms by now, especially considering how they decided to handle this rollout.
When I logged in and made my selection (42mm sport space gray and black band) at 12:07 AM Pacific, the shipping indicated 4-6 weeks. It took me a few minutes to grab my wallet (my wife woke me up to place my order, had to shake some sleep off), so by the time I was at the pay screen shipping was June. Thirty minutes of sleep cost me a few weeks of wait time...
Started trying the Apple store on both the phone and the Mac at 2:58. No joy as 3:01 rolled by. Finally got into the app at 3:06 and ordered the 42 Milanese. Delivers "April 24 - May 5." Attempted to use Apple Pay.. because well you know.. it's an Apple service. My address would not verify. For any of the 5 cards I have in Apple Pay. Had to manually enter the CC info with the same address Apple Pay was showing. This crap would not have flown 5 years ago. Back then stuff HAD to work. (BTW the online store finally came up around 3:11 EDT)
I'm not complaining about the pre-orders themselves. This is all business as usual. Nothing you can do about supply and demand on launch day.
What I'm upset about is the people who said Apple should have offered a week of previews/fittings, by appointment before the pre-order day. By doing it this week, customers who needed to see it in person to chose were shut out on day one. For a product that's meant to be worn, this is ridiculous.
Instead you have people ordering multiple watches, intending to cancel orders after they have a chance to visit the store. You have people who weren't that devious who will likely return them after they get to the store, and this only encourages scalpers who don't need to see them, to strike quickly buy up supplies and offer at a premium on the street.
And what upsets me personally is that for everyone who complained about the preview/preorder who suggested Apple should have held off until after a week of previews and were shut down by the usual mouthy fan bois on this site with defenses like 'you think you know more than apple? They have already thought of this and have a plan.', and this time I joined that chorus.
Why penalize the decisive?
Sure, there are people that will game the system by buying two with intent to only purchase one, but in fact, many of those have intent to go to the retail store, and then afterwards adjust their order by removing the undesired SKU. Those fall back to available stock.
There will be people that will try on and ship back an SKU, but I suspect the numbers will be small; they are probably better off scalping those.
Of course there will be scalpers; there always are, but in this case, Apple has managed the crowds by only allowing people to try on watches in the store, not purchase them, so there is no advantage for scalpers to go to the store.
"All of you people?" So 30 people said they ordered one and that's floodgates to you? Man you're a bright one
"Floodgates"? When did I even use that term? I'm a "bright one"? What the **** is up with the ad hominem attack? It was a question, since most people that I've seen post that they got their pre-order in I have never seen post previously. It was a very valid inquiry. What exactly is it that offended you about my question?
I wonder how many buyers had selected and marked a favorite model in the Apple Store iOS app or online in recent days/weeks? I assume that, while Apple promoted marking favorites as a way to speed up ordering, they also would use this info to get a sense of demand for the different configurations.
Anyway, I'm glad I set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night and complete my order with the first rush. I was wondering whether I'd wake up later and find the same model still available with the same delivery date.
Comments
Interestingly enough, the Financial Industry doesn't like this to ever happen, so sometimes, even without your input, they will increase your credit line. My guess is that you aren't testing your limit often enough to spur them to do this.
This from an Industry that calls people that pay off their balances each month, deadbeats.
http://credit.about.com/od/usingcreditcards/a/deadbeatcredit.htm
wow. I thought people were supposed to pay their balance..
No. To the contrary.
But this is a mess. I was optimistic and supportive of Apples plan thinking they really had this worked out, but they didn't. I feel like an idiot now suggesting to people that Apple would not have offered online ordering and previews on the same day knowing that this is a device many customers need to see first, so there would be adequate time to pre-order witin at least the first several days.
Nope. So to all of those who suggested Apple should have offered a week of preview/fitting appointments before pre-orders started, I'm sorry. You were right. This is a mess.
Sorry, but having constrained supplies means that people that order first get deliveries first, whether they get to try on the watch or not. In this respect, the people that were more certain about the SKU that they wanted had the advantage.
In the overall scheme of things, there aren't any good solutions to a constrained supply, but it does reduce the chaos at the stores, and I believe that was the intent.
Most of those ordering today won't need to visit the store at all.
EDIT:
It may be true that there will be allocations to retail stores in the near future that will be able to be sold on site to customers, but that isn't the case today.
From many of the posts I've seen on MacRumors the try-on process seems to be working quite well. Perhaps pre-orders should have been pushed out a week. But I have a feeling these shipping dates are going to change. I've had that happen to me with iPhone before; initially I got quoted 3-4 weeks and then a few days later it changed to 1-2 weeks.
That seems reasonable that Apple is being conservative about how quickly they can produce new models. However, with all the people here saying they ordered two and will cancel one after they see them in the stores, I would expect a sudden surpluss available in about a week.
That almost certainly isn't common behavior, so don't expect all that much "overbuying" to increase future supply very much.
What I'm upset about is the people who said Apple should have offered a week of previews/fittings, by appointment before the pre-order day. By doing it this week, customers who needed to see it in person to chose were shut out on day one. For a product that's meant to be worn, this is ridiculous.
Instead you have people ordering multiple watches, intending to cancel orders after they have a chance to visit the store. You have people who weren't that devious who will likely return them after they get to the store, and this only encourages scalpers who don't need to see them, to strike quickly buy up supplies and offer at a premium on the street.
And what upsets me personally is that for everyone who complained about the preview/preorder who suggested Apple should have held off until after a week of previews and were shut down by the usual mouthy fan bois on this site with defenses like 'you think you know more than apple? They have already thought of this and have a plan.', and this time I joined that chorus.
Here's an odd scenario. So I placed my order using my iPhone, the Apple Store app, and Apple Pay. It went through fine. However, the receipt got emailed to my work email address and included my work phone number. Neither of these two pieces of information are stored in my Apple ID or Apple Pay accounts. I have never associated them with my Apple ID.
Any ideas what's going on? I went back into my Apple account and verified that everything is using my personal information.
Samsung and LG and Moto hope now the Apple haters will get motivated to buy their watches.
Again it's not the online pre-order process that bothers me, that's no different than it's ever been, in fact it may be running smoother than most.
But still, considering this is Apple's most personal product ever, and I've never met anybody who didn't try on a watch before they bought it, you'd think giving the eager public a chance to try the watch on and know which one they wanted before they throw everyone into a lottery skewed to the dedicated willing to pounce the moment orders go online seems short sighted to me. Especially when some of the watches have been pushed out until August. And yes I've gotten those updates with iPhones in the past, but I would have really hoped that Apple would have gotten better with those algorythms by now, especially considering how they decided to handle this rollout.
When I logged in and made my selection (42mm sport space gray and black band) at 12:07 AM Pacific, the shipping indicated 4-6 weeks. It took me a few minutes to grab my wallet (my wife woke me up to place my order, had to shake some sleep off), so by the time I was at the pay screen shipping was June. Thirty minutes of sleep cost me a few weeks of wait time...
Five years ago, eh?
Do you remember Mobile Me?
That crap occurred under Steve Jobs' watch.
I'm not complaining about the pre-orders themselves. This is all business as usual. Nothing you can do about supply and demand on launch day.
What I'm upset about is the people who said Apple should have offered a week of previews/fittings, by appointment before the pre-order day. By doing it this week, customers who needed to see it in person to chose were shut out on day one. For a product that's meant to be worn, this is ridiculous.
Instead you have people ordering multiple watches, intending to cancel orders after they have a chance to visit the store. You have people who weren't that devious who will likely return them after they get to the store, and this only encourages scalpers who don't need to see them, to strike quickly buy up supplies and offer at a premium on the street.
And what upsets me personally is that for everyone who complained about the preview/preorder who suggested Apple should have held off until after a week of previews and were shut down by the usual mouthy fan bois on this site with defenses like 'you think you know more than apple? They have already thought of this and have a plan.', and this time I joined that chorus.
Why penalize the decisive?
Sure, there are people that will game the system by buying two with intent to only purchase one, but in fact, many of those have intent to go to the retail store, and then afterwards adjust their order by removing the undesired SKU. Those fall back to available stock.
There will be people that will try on and ship back an SKU, but I suspect the numbers will be small; they are probably better off scalping those.
Of course there will be scalpers; there always are, but in this case, Apple has managed the crowds by only allowing people to try on watches in the store, not purchase them, so there is no advantage for scalpers to go to the store.
Why penalize the decisive?
Unfortunately, indecision almost always has a cost, no?
Unfortunately, indecision almost always has a cost, no?
Absolutely.
Google Wallet saw an uptick in usage AFTER Apple Pay became available. There is no doubt something similar will happen with watches.
"All of you people?" So 30 people said they ordered one and that's floodgates to you? Man you're a bright one
"Floodgates"? When did I even use that term? I'm a "bright one"? What the **** is up with the ad hominem attack? It was a question, since most people that I've seen post that they got their pre-order in I have never seen post previously. It was a very valid inquiry. What exactly is it that offended you about my question?
I wonder how many buyers had selected and marked a favorite model in the Apple Store iOS app or online in recent days/weeks? I assume that, while Apple promoted marking favorites as a way to speed up ordering, they also would use this info to get a sense of demand for the different configurations.
Anyway, I'm glad I set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night and complete my order with the first rush. I was wondering whether I'd wake up later and find the same model still available with the same delivery date.