It is a flop! I don't want one. Well, okay, just not quite yet. Almost, but it needs just a couple of more features that are important to me. Probably 2019 or 2020 for me.
Also: - how crazy is it that this report compares the output of a new watch company to an entire industry/group of companies?
Or looked at another way, that it compares a company with an unparalleled record at producing pricey, electronic bling to which owners are emotionally attached to an industry that has traditionally had (only some) of the same emotional attachment to its products (e.g. marketing with "My dad had one," and so on).
I know nothing about marketing or selling high-end products, but my impression is that they are a statement of wealth and status, and you don't need a whole lot of advertising to make that happen. The wealthy and powerful are aways on the lookout for ways to make that statement, either garishly when nouveau riche or "tastefully" when trying to impress the other members of the club.
It is a flop! I don't want one. Well, okay, just not quite yet. Almost, but it needs just a couple of more features that are important to me. Probably 2019 or 2020 for me.
Start running and you won't be able to live without it. Or not.
Yeas and it is a blip. In a few years everybody wil forget iWatch. Swiss watches will be there for people with taste for traditionalism. Want to bet?
Yeah? The same analogy: In a few years everybody will forget iPhone. Landline phones will be there for people with taste for traditionalism. I'll bet you that the Apple watch will continue to evolve into the next decade. Wanna bet?
Yeas and it is a blip. In a few years everybody wil forget iWatch. Swiss watches will be there for people with taste for traditionalism. Want to bet?
Yeah? The same analogy: In a few years everybody will forget iPhone. Landline phones will be there for people with taste for traditionalism. I'll bet you that the Apple watch will continue to evolve into the next decade. Wanna bet?
The original Apple computers were duds and solving a problem for a market that didn't exist. Macs were just overpriced toys no one wanted. Even the MacBook Air was a pointless design, at least until Intel started marketing the very chipsets they had designed and shelved until Apple came knocking and then they created the ultrabook market to compete with the MBA. And let's not forget that no one was every going to give up the ODD. Then we have the iPod as a dud, and buying music on iTunes was bound to fail. Then we have the iPad being a failure for not including macOS the way Windows did for decades without any success. And on and on and on…
The only thing accurate about his comment is that everyone will forget the "iWatch" because there's no such product.
I really appreciate the narrative that everything Apple does is a failure, because if you time it right, you can buy Apple stock on the cheap once the negative rumors circulate, the "supply side checks" are reported, and the analysts downgrades are reported. Kaching!
1) I wondered if and when AI was going to get to this story. This is massive… especially since Apple Watch is an abject failure. /s
2) As we know from Android- and Windows-based vendors, unit sales means squat without other factors. I'm curious how the Swiss watch makers are doing. I assume their high-end and low-end products aren't suffering, but that their mid-tier products—where I think they make the bulk of their revenue and profits—would be heavily affected by the Apple Watch
3) As I've said for nearly 3 years now, the Apple Watch is "unnecessary, yet indispensable" and that still holds true today, if not more so, since it now allow me to keep my iPhone off my person more often as I now have the cellular Watch, and I wear it to bed to monitor and record my sleep patterns, only charging during mybis in dieablutions.
Re #2. This observation (mid-tier Swiss is in the cross-hairs) is entirely right. For more on this, see this regarding Apple's pricing strategy.
Thanks for the link.
- finally - if mid-range Swiss watches are the gateway to higher end, this is a disaster for the swiss makers.
With high collectability, status symbol, and huge price variance for the high-end (thousands to millions of dollars), I have to assume that they’re fairly insulated from smartwatches as a whole.
One could look at Vertu as an example of how they will ultimately fall to the (modern) smartwatch, but I would say that’s not a good comparison since Vertu is first-and-foremost a cellphone (i.e.: CE).
Yup, we have only one wrist (upon which most people will chose to wear a watch). When every watch in your collection merely tells time and a selection of other chronological functions, it’s easy to swap from one to another based on your activity; formal night out versus sporting activity, for example. But the smart watch changes this.
By becoming your car key, house key, workplace access card, hotel key, wallet, health monitor, notification center, and a growing list of other essentials, it sweeps away the old paradigm of watch as purely fashion and status. You might change bands in that future, but you’ll be far less likely to unstrap it, strap on a Rolex, et al, and fill your pockets with traditional keys and credit cards. A new generation will leave the old paradigm behind, and think it as antiquated as phones with rotary dials. That’s the threat, and the traditional watch industry is powerless in its wake.
1) I wondered if and when AI was going to get to this story. This is massive… especially since Apple Watch is an abject failure. /s
2) As we know from Android- and Windows-based vendors, unit sales means squat without other factors. I'm curious how the Swiss watch makers are doing. I assume their high-end and low-end products aren't suffering, but that their mid-tier products—where I think they make the bulk of their revenue and profits—would be heavily affected by the Apple Watch
3) As I've said for nearly 3 years now, the Apple Watch is "unnecessary, yet indispensable" and that still holds true today, if not more so, since it now allow me to keep my iPhone off my person more often as I now have the cellular Watch, and I wear it to bed to monitor and record my sleep patterns, only charging during mybis in dieablutions.
Re #2. This observation (mid-tier Swiss is in the cross-hairs) is entirely right. For more on this, see this regarding Apple's pricing strategy.
Thanks for the link.
- finally - if mid-range Swiss watches are the gateway to higher end, this is a disaster for the swiss makers.
With high collectability, status symbol, and huge price variance for the high-end (thousands to millions of dollars), I have to assume that they’re fairly insulated from smartwatches as a whole.
One could look at Vertu as an example of how they will ultimately fall to the (modern) smartwatch, but I would say that’s not a good comparison since Vertu is first-and-foremost a cellphone (i.e.: CE).
Yup, we have only one wrist (upon which most people will chose to wear a watch). When every watch in your collection merely tells time and a selection of other chronological functions, it’s easy to swap from one to another based on your activity; formal night out versus sporting activity, for example. But the smart watch changes this.
By becoming your car key, house key, workplace access card, hotel key, wallet, health monitor, notification center, and a growing list of other essentials, it sweeps away the old paradigm of watch as purely fashion and status. You might change bands in that future, but you’ll be far less likely to unstrap it, strap on a Rolex, et al, and fill your pockets with traditional keys and credit cards. A new generation will leave the old paradigm behind, and think it as antiquated as phones with rotary dials. That’s the threat, and the traditional watch industry is powerless in its wake.
Well said.
I hadn't really thought of what the AppleWatch has replaced.
Good show!
I'm very close to giving my Series 0 to my GF (What a guy!) and getting the LTE version to pair with my AirPods. Mainly, to leave my iphone at home more.
Often, I go through my list of stand-alone devices the iPhone has replaced. I.e., snapshot cameras, video cameras, radios, CD players, GPS devices, maps, PDA's, To Do lists, and on and on, etc., etc., et al. (Oh, and 'phones!')
Interesting as all the negative people who said this wouldn't work. Just like the Apple Home Pod speaker right now. When will people learn that its Apple slow march to perfection that makes their products so good? Never enough credit for their accomplishments...
The Apple Watch is a good product. I don't have one because I don't wear a watch, but if I did I'd have an Apple Watch.
HomePod is not a good product. That's the difference.
It’s not useful to compare Apple Watch with $100,000 custom made watches, nor is it useful to compare them to Seiko cheapies. It’s a different category of device which is able to occupy the limited arm space available. Should Apple Watches also be compared with gold bracelets? I think not.
Actually, it is useful. The $100k watch and the $10 watch do the same thing, tell you the time. The $10 watch does a better job of it because it's more accurate, being a quartz watch rather than an antiquated mechanical watch, but they're essentially the same product, just a watch. A smart watch is inherently a much better product than either one, because it does more in the same wrist space, and the Apple Watch is currently the best smart watch. Because almost nobody is going to wear two watches, the Apple Watch is in competition with the $10 watch and the $100k watch. No watch competes with a bracelet, they're not the same product at all.
It’s not useful to compare Apple Watch with $100,000 custom made watches, nor is it useful to compare them to Seiko cheapies. It’s a different category of device which is able to occupy the limited arm space available. Should Apple Watches also be compared with gold bracelets? I think not.
Actually, it is useful. The $100k watch and the $10 watch do the same thing, tell you the time. The $10 watch does a better job of it because it's more accurate, being a quartz watch rather than an antiquated mechanical watch, but they're essentially the same product, just a watch. A smart watch is inherently a much better product than either one, because it does more in the same wrist space, and the Apple Watch is currently the best smart watch. Because almost nobody is going to wear two watches, the Apple Watch is in competition with the $10 watch and the $100k watch. No watch competes with a bracelet, they're not the same product at all.
1) The Apple Watch also has much more accurate time than quartz since it links to atomic clocks.
2) There is a benefit to mechanical watches that are (self) winding over a quartz watch with a multi-year battery, just as there is a benefit to those watches over a smartwatch or fitness tracker that needs to be charged daily, weekly, or monthly. That isn't to say that the Apple Watch doesn't have an excessive number of benefits as compared to that one obvious shortcoming since it requires more power, or that it's mostly a moot point because we already charge our iPhones daily so having to charge Watch every couple days isn't a big deal when looking at the big picture, but for the sake of being fair that should be noted. Note, I was able to get several days on a hiking trip through the mountains with my original Apple Watch by disabling the radios and raise to wake.
3) Bracelets could very well compete for the same space, depending on the wearer. I've seen bracelets that include analog clocks in them because watches are also a fashion statement, which I think will keep the high-end watch makers going far into the future.
For Apple Watch, contrasted with some other products where they seem tentative and hesitant, Apple's R&D functions have performed exceptionally well. Like the iPhone, the AW was a great product right out of the gate -- but then Apple has continued to make it substantially better with each successive release. A LOT better...
While I complain that Apple has not fully exploited its potential, particularly in the health, fitness and exercise arena, the Apple Watch remains a truly exceptional product. And, best of all, it is a product that continues to improve almost exponentially year by year....
I have recently gotten myself an Watch (Series 3 with LTE) through T-Mobile. I thought it would be a good thing to have, plus make a fashion statement. Now that I have been using it regularly, I hav noticed that I have become a bit more active, I am not staring at my phone as often, and my notifications are definitely more private. An added bonus (that I completely forgot about initially) is that my Watch now automatically logs me in. All in all, I am very happy with my purchase.
Comments
This is why "ME FIRST!1!" and throwing shit at a wall isn't the best plan…
I subscribe to WSJ and every other Saturday they feature some mustachioed dinosaur's review of 'collectible' Swiss/French watches.
Wearing those watches on your wrist would be like hanging two lanterns on your car!
Oh well, to each his own.
P.S. Good for Apple.
She said, 'Oh, jeez!"
I told her, I'll get her one for her birthday! /s
What a Dad!
I'll bet you that the Apple watch will continue to evolve into the next decade. Wanna bet?
The only thing accurate about his comment is that everyone will forget the "iWatch" because there's no such product.
By becoming your car key, house key, workplace access card, hotel key, wallet, health monitor, notification center, and a growing list of other essentials, it sweeps away the old paradigm of watch as purely fashion and status. You might change bands in that future, but you’ll be far less likely to unstrap it, strap on a Rolex, et al, and fill your pockets with traditional keys and credit cards. A new generation will leave the old paradigm behind, and think it as antiquated as phones with rotary dials. That’s the threat, and the traditional watch industry is powerless in its wake.
I hadn't really thought of what the AppleWatch has replaced.
Good show!
I'm very close to giving my Series 0 to my GF (What a guy!) and getting the LTE version to pair with my AirPods. Mainly, to leave my iphone at home more.
Often, I go through my list of stand-alone devices the iPhone has replaced. I.e., snapshot cameras, video cameras, radios, CD players, GPS devices, maps, PDA's, To Do lists, and on and on, etc., etc., et al. (Oh, and 'phones!')
Best
HomePod is not a good product. That's the difference.
2) There is a benefit to mechanical watches that are (self) winding over a quartz watch with a multi-year battery, just as there is a benefit to those watches over a smartwatch or fitness tracker that needs to be charged daily, weekly, or monthly. That isn't to say that the Apple Watch doesn't have an excessive number of benefits as compared to that one obvious shortcoming since it requires more power, or that it's mostly a moot point because we already charge our iPhones daily so having to charge Watch every couple days isn't a big deal when looking at the big picture, but for the sake of being fair that should be noted. Note, I was able to get several days on a hiking trip through the mountains with my original Apple Watch by disabling the radios and raise to wake.
3) Bracelets could very well compete for the same space, depending on the wearer. I've seen bracelets that include analog clocks in them because watches are also a fashion statement, which I think will keep the high-end watch makers going far into the future.
While I complain that Apple has not fully exploited its potential, particularly in the health, fitness and exercise arena, the Apple Watch remains a truly exceptional product. And, best of all, it is a product that continues to improve almost exponentially year by year....