Luxury watches have copyrightable design and style in everything from their fixed watch faces to their bezel designs, ridges, textures, et al.
There is absolutely NOTHING unique about Apple's watch mimimalist design worthy of copyright, except possibly the placement and function of the digital crown. Unlike the iPhone, Apple cannot claim anybody else copied their unique design, because by all appearances, Apple copied theirs.
links please, or you're just making things up again.
I had posted on this idea of obsolescence months earlier...it may not be as much of an issue as many are opining.
First, the Watch is designed to leverage the power of the iPhone...so unless the current watch is "slow" transferring the required data back and forth to the iPhone, which I doubt, or unless the screen is inferior in some way (which I doubt), much of the improvement of the experience, if any is to be had, would likely come when you buy a new iPhone. Fairly brilliant actually.
The other area will be sensor technology. Are there new sensors that are required beyond what the watch can do know? It won't prick your skin for a blood sample, and it will never weigh you...so likely, the sensors that are there now will serve for some time into the future. Further it is not know how these sensors are designed, and what can be changed with firmware updates over time. Further, the back sensors appear to be part of a disc shaped component that might not be so difficult to update if required
We are already in the space where newer tech is less and less required, as most everything we do is far exceeded by current technological performance, and other levels of quality (screen, manufacturing, etc).
More than anything, there perhaps will certainly be new styles, but that's the same issue that faces any watch buyer
And it will still look like a featureless block of metal and black glass most of the time. But among ?Watch users it will certainly be impressive.
However, I still maintain it's the best investment in Apple technology a person can make. In 2 years when the technology is obsolete, you can probably melt it down and the appreciated gold will be worth more than the price of the latest Edition watch.
At $15K that is enough to buy 13 oz / of Gold. If gold is going to appreciate you would be a bit better off with 13 oz of gold rather than the watch which won't have 13oz of gold in it..
I wouldn't be so sure those apps will run in any meaningful way.. How are they going to communicate with the Internet or APIs? Indeed I'm not even sure it'll ne able to know the time! It won't even know which country and time zone it's in
As an Apple fan and mild-tech-geek, even after this event, I still don't understand the appeal of the watch.
Your thinking of it only as a watch?
I haven't worn a watch in over 12 years. My circle of friends and family are all in the middle-to-upper income bracket and none of the men under the age of 60 even wear watches.
If all you are looking for is telling time, then it's probably not a compelling reason to wear one. It's why I too don't wear a watch today. But I can't wait to get an Apple watch.
First, getting the phone out to check time is stupid. We've gone back in time to the days of the pocket watch - I sometimes wear a cheap watch when I know I'm going to be in boring meetings but want to be at least somewhat discreet so the concept of a wristwatch is not without merit merely as a timekeeping only construct.
Second I hate people who have the audio of their phones on and let their stupid phones beep, chime and carry on. My phone is always on silent. But even with the better vibrator in the iPhone 6 I still miss calls and notifications I care about. Reliable silent notifications are the thing I'm looking for the most and would be happy if that's all they offered on the watch. That more people might also adopt the Apple Watch and foster more silence is tantalizing indeed.
But that's not all it will do. Frankly we have no idea exactly where the upper bound on usefulness for the Apple Watch is - we have seen this with the other iDevices due to the developer community. If someone scratches that itch for you too, then all of the sudden the whole value proposition changes and you may move from the don't get to get column.
That people forgot the same comments were made about every Apple product until people had their own "ah ha" moment is always amusing.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I've yet to hear a great rebuttal against the core issue of: the upgrade cycle/lack of timelessness of this product??
What is there to upgrade? Seriously? You upgrade your apple watch by upgrading your phone since most of the "smarts" is in the phone it's tethered too. The Apple watch is a fancy wireless display with a minimal amount of local processing that's probably not going to change much until batteries change in a significant way, which likely isn't to happen for a while.
And its tech, not an investment. The Edition will have a trade in or something - to think otherwise is just daft.
I really want this product to succeed but, maybe my loss, I'm in the "still don't 'get-it' camp."
LOL - luckily products don't need to be powered on wants or everyone getting it. If enough people get it, it will be successful. I'm confident this product will be wildly successful.
Gold Rolex are NOT an investment. Unless its a super limited edition (like $100k versions) they depreciate in value. A 10 year old gold Rolex is probably worth 30% of its original value.
maybe because you never wore the real deal before.
That is just silly. I just think the Edition is both pretentious and a bad investment, since it will be obsolete in a year. Besides, I have a gold watch already and yes it is solid, 14k. I just don't like it for a few different reasons.
If I wanted to wear gold chains and 3 ct. diamond earring studs and a gold Rolex, I could look just like those nouveau riche sports stars. That just isn't my style. I like the SJ style which is what I wear almost everyday except not the mock turtle. I don't remember Steve ever wearing a gold watch although I'd be willing to bet he owned one.
I wear exactly one piece of jewelry, a wedding ring, which is gold, but it doesn't say anything about my wealth. The same reason I drive a conservative 535 BMW, gray with black not the orange/gold M5 that was in the show room, which I could totally afford but I don't want people looking at me like I was boasting.
I'm still undecided on even the Sport model watch.
I'm saying in 40 years no one with HALF a brain will expect the AppleWatch1 to have much functionality compared to AppleWatch40. But it does not matter. It will still tell time JUST LIKE A ROLEX as long as you have a fresh battery.
How do you think you'll set the time? It will need a 40 year old iPhone to get the correct time once you change the battery. I would be surprised if a 40 year old iPhone would even have the ability to connect to what would be the internet 40 years from now.
It'll be obsolete in ONE year. There'll probably be substantial trade in credits.
That's just silly, like the babble of one year's iPhone being "obsolete" simply because a newer model is released for sale. Or the odd concept that my 2011 MBP is somehow "obsolete" with the release of this years 15"?
I'm saying in 40 years no one with HALF a brain will expect the AppleWatch1 to have much functionality compared to AppleWatch40. But it does not matter. It will still tell time JUST LIKE A ROLEX as long as you have a fresh battery.
Its just like a classic car. You down own a classic car for practical reasons. You won't be driving your 57 chevy classic to work every day. Same with the AppleWatch in 2060. You won't wear it every day, but treat it like the collectors item it is and wear it on special occassions.
Again the Rolex will tell time in 40 years and you will spend close to $6000 maintaining it.
The AppleWatch will tell time in 40 years and you will spend less than $2000 buying new batteries.
Well, exactly, but you yourself asserted that Apple will sell upgrades to the watch. I assumed that no upgrade will be necessary for the watch to tell time, so you must have been referring to the apps. You even put a price point on it: $400. I've trying to understand (1) whether you're asserting that the watch will be upgradable or not, and (2) if so, where you're getting that information. Apple hasn't even announced a battery replacement policy or plan, much less an internals upgrade program, so far as I've seen.
That's just silly, like the babble of one year's iPhone being "obsolete" simply because a newer model is released for sale. Or the odd concept that my 2011 MBP is somehow "obsolete" with the release of this years 15"?
Yeah, not really.
The MBP is a mature product but the Watch is version 1.0. Anyone wealthy enough to buy the Edition isn't going to walk around with outdated tech on their wrist. Just like the iPhone original was pretty much obsolete in one year or at least two. I'd bet within two years the Watch will be half of its current thickness which would make it look a lot better in my opinion.
and even Gruber was over-priced on the low-ends... $549 for the steel aint too shabby. looks like steel for me, sport for her.
The black steel has possibilities, unless the silver is a lot more brushed than the images make it appear to be. Otherwise the gray Aluminum to keep with the not-shiny theme...
Coupled with the black band and, if ever I felt the whimsy, the silver steel one is available as an accessory....
Thats the offer price. Does not mean it will sell at that price. And what is 20 years of inflation, plus cost of repairs and maintence you won't be making much at all. It really isn't an investment.
Good points all. But even if I break even, I'm doing better than most of the crap I buy!
The MBP is a mature product but the Watch is version 1.0. Anyone wealthy enough to buy the Edition isn't going to walk around with outdated tech on their wrist. Just like the iPhone original was pretty much obsolete in one year or at least two. I'd bet within two years the Watch will be half of its current thickness which would make it look a lot better in my opinion.
They're selling more than the edition and frankly anyone eyeing a ten to twelve thousand dollar wearable isn't all that price sensitive in the first place, if they were they'd get the one of the ones at five percent that sticker. Gazelle is more likely to get inquiries about the low end of the tier that "normal people" won't want gathering dust in the back of a drawer...
Beyond that "obsolete" isn't interchangeable with "out of date" as you injected there. Progress with newer designs doesn't impact previous models at all: except in the minds of those who want to have "the newest", which is far different from the real world of does the device still perform it's original functions?
"make it look a lot better" doesn't actually impact previous models functionality either.
Apple needs to add one more feature to that $10,000+ line of watches—free upgrades to the guts for about five years or so.
Yet anyone popping ten or twelve thousand on those isn't really focused on the performance: which is achievable at under five percent of that price....
At those levels they screw you MORE, not less. though, sure, Apple may very well be thinking differently... One swapout would be a nice gesture, and a fraction of the initial purchase price.
Comments
Luxury watches have copyrightable design and style in everything from their fixed watch faces to their bezel designs, ridges, textures, et al.
There is absolutely NOTHING unique about Apple's watch mimimalist design worthy of copyright, except possibly the placement and function of the digital crown. Unlike the iPhone, Apple cannot claim anybody else copied their unique design, because by all appearances, Apple copied theirs.
links please, or you're just making things up again.
I had posted on this idea of obsolescence months earlier...it may not be as much of an issue as many are opining.
First, the Watch is designed to leverage the power of the iPhone...so unless the current watch is "slow" transferring the required data back and forth to the iPhone, which I doubt, or unless the screen is inferior in some way (which I doubt), much of the improvement of the experience, if any is to be had, would likely come when you buy a new iPhone. Fairly brilliant actually.
The other area will be sensor technology. Are there new sensors that are required beyond what the watch can do know? It won't prick your skin for a blood sample, and it will never weigh you...so likely, the sensors that are there now will serve for some time into the future. Further it is not know how these sensors are designed, and what can be changed with firmware updates over time. Further, the back sensors appear to be part of a disc shaped component that might not be so difficult to update if required
We are already in the space where newer tech is less and less required, as most everything we do is far exceeded by current technological performance, and other levels of quality (screen, manufacturing, etc).
More than anything, there perhaps will certainly be new styles, but that's the same issue that faces any watch buyer
Apple have jumped the shark.
Alas, the Apple Watch represents an ominous direction for this once-great company.
I remember the Apple of Steve Jobs with fondness and sadness.
hey since you knew Jobs so well and can now channel his ghost, you should get into celebrity-troll-senances...youll be a hit.
And it will still look like a featureless block of metal and black glass most of the time. But among ?Watch users it will certainly be impressive.
However, I still maintain it's the best investment in Apple technology a person can make. In 2 years when the technology is obsolete, you can probably melt it down and the appreciated gold will be worth more than the price of the latest Edition watch.
At $15K that is enough to buy 13 oz / of Gold. If gold is going to appreciate you would be a bit better off with 13 oz of gold rather than the watch which won't have 13oz of gold in it..
I didn't go through the entire thread to check but it had to be said:
ITS OVER 9000!!!
I wouldn't be so sure those apps will run in any meaningful way.. How are they going to communicate with the Internet or APIs? Indeed I'm not even sure it'll ne able to know the time! It won't even know which country and time zone it's in
Your thinking of it only as a watch?
If all you are looking for is telling time, then it's probably not a compelling reason to wear one. It's why I too don't wear a watch today. But I can't wait to get an Apple watch.
First, getting the phone out to check time is stupid. We've gone back in time to the days of the pocket watch - I sometimes wear a cheap watch when I know I'm going to be in boring meetings but want to be at least somewhat discreet so the concept of a wristwatch is not without merit merely as a timekeeping only construct.
Second I hate people who have the audio of their phones on and let their stupid phones beep, chime and carry on. My phone is always on silent. But even with the better vibrator in the iPhone 6 I still miss calls and notifications I care about. Reliable silent notifications are the thing I'm looking for the most and would be happy if that's all they offered on the watch. That more people might also adopt the Apple Watch and foster more silence is tantalizing indeed.
But that's not all it will do. Frankly we have no idea exactly where the upper bound on usefulness for the Apple Watch is - we have seen this with the other iDevices due to the developer community. If someone scratches that itch for you too, then all of the sudden the whole value proposition changes and you may move from the don't get to get column.
That people forgot the same comments were made about every Apple product until people had their own "ah ha" moment is always amusing.
What is there to upgrade? Seriously? You upgrade your apple watch by upgrading your phone since most of the "smarts" is in the phone it's tethered too. The Apple watch is a fancy wireless display with a minimal amount of local processing that's probably not going to change much until batteries change in a significant way, which likely isn't to happen for a while.
And its tech, not an investment. The Edition will have a trade in or something - to think otherwise is just daft.
LOL - luckily products don't need to be powered on wants or everyone getting it. If enough people get it, it will be successful. I'm confident this product will be wildly successful.
Gold Rolex are NOT an investment. Unless its a super limited edition (like $100k versions) they depreciate in value. A 10 year old gold Rolex is probably worth 30% of its original value.
Not entirely true. The sea-dweller that I bought more than 20years ago for about $2000.00 goes for about $6000.00 today. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mens-Vintage-ROLEX-SEA-DWELLER-Stainless-Steel-Watch-Ref-16660-Circa-1984-/281620189140?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4191df0fd4
maybe because you never wore the real deal before.
That is just silly. I just think the Edition is both pretentious and a bad investment, since it will be obsolete in a year. Besides, I have a gold watch already and yes it is solid, 14k. I just don't like it for a few different reasons.
If I wanted to wear gold chains and 3 ct. diamond earring studs and a gold Rolex, I could look just like those nouveau riche sports stars. That just isn't my style. I like the SJ style which is what I wear almost everyday except not the mock turtle. I don't remember Steve ever wearing a gold watch although I'd be willing to bet he owned one.
I wear exactly one piece of jewelry, a wedding ring, which is gold, but it doesn't say anything about my wealth. The same reason I drive a conservative 535 BMW, gray with black not the orange/gold M5 that was in the show room, which I could totally afford but I don't want people looking at me like I was boasting.
I'm still undecided on even the Sport model watch.
I'm saying in 40 years no one with HALF a brain will expect the AppleWatch1 to have much functionality compared to AppleWatch40. But it does not matter. It will still tell time JUST LIKE A ROLEX as long as you have a fresh battery.
How do you think you'll set the time? It will need a 40 year old iPhone to get the correct time once you change the battery. I would be surprised if a 40 year old iPhone would even have the ability to connect to what would be the internet 40 years from now.
It'll be obsolete in ONE year. There'll probably be substantial trade in credits.
That's just silly, like the babble of one year's iPhone being "obsolete" simply because a newer model is released for sale. Or the odd concept that my 2011 MBP is somehow "obsolete" with the release of this years 15"?
Yeah, not really.
I'm saying in 40 years no one with HALF a brain will expect the AppleWatch1 to have much functionality compared to AppleWatch40. But it does not matter. It will still tell time JUST LIKE A ROLEX as long as you have a fresh battery.
Its just like a classic car. You down own a classic car for practical reasons. You won't be driving your 57 chevy classic to work every day. Same with the AppleWatch in 2060. You won't wear it every day, but treat it like the collectors item it is and wear it on special occassions.
Again the Rolex will tell time in 40 years and you will spend close to $6000 maintaining it.
The AppleWatch will tell time in 40 years and you will spend less than $2000 buying new batteries.
Well, exactly, but you yourself asserted that Apple will sell upgrades to the watch. I assumed that no upgrade will be necessary for the watch to tell time, so you must have been referring to the apps. You even put a price point on it: $400. I've trying to understand (1) whether you're asserting that the watch will be upgradable or not, and (2) if so, where you're getting that information. Apple hasn't even announced a battery replacement policy or plan, much less an internals upgrade program, so far as I've seen.
That's just silly, like the babble of one year's iPhone being "obsolete" simply because a newer model is released for sale. Or the odd concept that my 2011 MBP is somehow "obsolete" with the release of this years 15"?
Yeah, not really.
The MBP is a mature product but the Watch is version 1.0. Anyone wealthy enough to buy the Edition isn't going to walk around with outdated tech on their wrist. Just like the iPhone original was pretty much obsolete in one year or at least two. I'd bet within two years the Watch will be half of its current thickness which would make it look a lot better in my opinion.
and even Gruber was over-priced on the low-ends... $549 for the steel aint too shabby. looks like steel for me, sport for her.
The black steel has possibilities, unless the silver is a lot more brushed than the images make it appear to be. Otherwise the gray Aluminum to keep with the not-shiny theme...
Coupled with the black band and, if ever I felt the whimsy, the silver steel one is available as an accessory....
Thats the offer price. Does not mean it will sell at that price. And what is 20 years of inflation, plus cost of repairs and maintence you won't be making much at all. It really isn't an investment.
Good points all. But even if I break even, I'm doing better than most of the crap I buy!
Apple needs to add one more feature to that $10,000+ line of watches—free upgrades to the guts for about five years or so.
The MBP is a mature product but the Watch is version 1.0. Anyone wealthy enough to buy the Edition isn't going to walk around with outdated tech on their wrist. Just like the iPhone original was pretty much obsolete in one year or at least two. I'd bet within two years the Watch will be half of its current thickness which would make it look a lot better in my opinion.
They're selling more than the edition and frankly anyone eyeing a ten to twelve thousand dollar wearable isn't all that price sensitive in the first place, if they were they'd get the one of the ones at five percent that sticker. Gazelle is more likely to get inquiries about the low end of the tier that "normal people" won't want gathering dust in the back of a drawer...
Beyond that "obsolete" isn't interchangeable with "out of date" as you injected there. Progress with newer designs doesn't impact previous models at all: except in the minds of those who want to have "the newest", which is far different from the real world of does the device still perform it's original functions?
"make it look a lot better" doesn't actually impact previous models functionality either.
Apple needs to add one more feature to that $10,000+ line of watches—free upgrades to the guts for about five years or so.
I suspect anyone springing for the top tier watch will be well treated by Apple for future purchases.
Apple needs to add one more feature to that $10,000+ line of watches—free upgrades to the guts for about five years or so.
Yet anyone popping ten or twelve thousand on those isn't really focused on the performance: which is achievable at under five percent of that price....
At those levels they screw you MORE, not less. though, sure, Apple may very well be thinking differently... One swapout would be a nice gesture, and a fraction of the initial purchase price.
So how long before the pass new laws that you can't use one while driving?