kenaustus

gregg thurman said:

sycamoregrad said:

Plus, the original iPhone wasn’t “shipped to customers” on launch day. You could only buy it, in person, at an Apple Store or AT&T. It wasn’t like today where you can preorder to receive it on launch day.

I stooid in line for 4 hours to get mine at an ATT store in Spokane WA.  The entire time I was in line it drizzled rain.  I can't remember being so happy to get a product as I was then.  Several iPhones since and I'm still very happy.

Apple4 "introduced" the iPhone 6 months before it's ship date because they had to file details with the FCC for approval, which would have eliminated any surprise in June.  That January introduction also gave customers of competitive products a heads up on the iPhone, allowing them to decline to renew their contract.  On 2 year contracts it would mean 25% of existing customers would have the heads up.  That probably contributed to the lines outside of Apple Stores on launch day. 

radarthekat said:

Had the technology for a digital watch existed right from the start, it would have been absurd to create a round watch body/face, as there simply would have been no imperative to create a form so inefficient to the function of the timepiece.  Apple has simply set aside that im

ents and the circular watch face those impose.  Today, traditional round watch faces are a cultural tradition, but culture evolves and so do forms and the fashions that reflect them.  Apple will not build round smartwatches, as they are not the appropriate form for the smartwatch paradigm.  It's just that simple.  The rest are doing so in order to differentiate from Apple and to take advantage of the existing cultural dogma.  The future will take care to correct their error."

Considering how long there has been circular watches/clocks I don't believe that a digital design would be available for a very long time.  Just think of Big Ben on the Tower of London.  Circular is the best design for traditional time pieces - digital would look really dorky on the Tower of London.

Another feature of the traditional circular hand design is that it tells. us how long after the hour it is and how long until the next hour.  If you can glance at a traditional watch and see it is, say, 5:40 you also simultaneous see it is 20 minutes to 6:00.  That "time until" can often be as important as the "time past".  Might be one reason why Apple provides for the traditional round watch face as the new era digital. 

As far as the Watch 4 goes, my fo us is going to be advances/enhancements in the Health area.  I'll be 74 when it is released andI'm going to want all the information I can get.  

I can remember all the screaming when the Sydney Opera House design was released.  Same in Paris when the Glass Pyramid was announced.

 If public opinion was ruling approval of the plans that design would never have been built,  Apple pushes the envelope in their designs and sometimes it takes time to get used to it.

Here is the simple reality on health care costs:  people without insurance go to the ER and their costs are shifted to those who can pay for insurance,  If you want to cur costs you need to stop Cost Shifting.   That means that everyone has a means of treatment without their costs being shifted.  There are various approaches, but my preference is Australia's approach, mainly because I had to but private insurance there when I was there on business throughout the year.

Australia has a private/public system.  You pay a 3% Medibank contribution, or 2% if you have private insurance.  You get your Medibank card and use it for deep drug discounts, and free public hospitals.  

An example of the quality of private insurance was when I had an abscess while in Sydney.  I went to a dentist who lived in the apartment hotel I stayed at, was told to get to the office at 3 pm.  He did the root canal using advanced technology.  He then gave me a receipt for the AUD 800 that I had paid with my credit card..  On the way back to my apartment I passed a Medibank Private office so I went in and asked what I needed to do with the receipt,  I was told to go the counter, fill out a form and take it to the cashier.  A fast check that my membership card was valid and current and the cashier started counting out the AUD 800.

No deductions
No discounting
No waiting - I was paid immediately.

Compare that to how your insurance in the US would work.

i'm 72 which gives me a long list of conditions that can benefit from advanced sensors in an iPhone or Apple Watch.        

While sensors for pulseox or glucose is needed I believe that sensors for chemical levels that can help determine the needed  medications.  Ewe see the start of that now where generic testing can help determine the best treatment.   Expand that to a wide range of conditions and you have an explosive  potential of a market.