5 ms·

>> "Watches? Tried that." I don't understand how people think they've tried the watch and failed. They've put out ONE version. The first iPod was Mac only and

>> "Watches? Tried that." I don't understand how people think they've tried the watch and failed. They've put out ONE version. The first iPod was Mac only and therefore didn't sell very well. When the iPhone launched you had to buy the device outright - no subsidy and it was lacking features that other phones had for quite a while. It was a few versions before it really took off. I think people shrugging off the watch are being incredibly short sighted (and I say this as someone who had one and sold it). It's not perfect for a mass market now but it can be. The software changes in watchOS 3 are really going to help towards that but in the long term this thing could become essential to your health and from interviews Tim Cook has done in the past it sounds like that's the direction they want to go once they've got the basic software and form factor down.

ktRolster 10y ago
FWIW the apple watch sold fairly well: http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-watch-with-sizable-sales-cant-shake-its-critics-1461524901 http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-watch-with-sizable-sales-c... Expectations of course are ridiculously high.
- geomark 10y ago
  My impression is that the watch sold mainly because of Apple branding not because it solved a real problem or opened up an entire new market. People are hoping/expecting Apple's next big thing to become a viral hit lke the iPhone. The watch isn't that.
  - zghst 10y ago
    People bought it because they thought it solved an issue. Apple branding around other products have not made them successful (Apple Maps 2012, Ping, MobileMe, Newton, etc.)
    - curt15 10y ago
      But services have never been a core strength of Apple. They've always been at most "good enough". On the other hand, Apple has built up an enviable reputation for delivering well planned and executed physical devices with highly polished user interfaces. See also https://stratechery.com/2016/its-a-tesla/ https://stratechery.com/2016/its-a-tesla/
  - zepto 10y ago
    The watch is selling well and continuing to grow at a rate greater than the iPhone did over the same period.
    - aetherson 10y ago
      What's your source?
kkhire 10y ago
inherent problem with the watch is that it's not a standalone device, its an extension of the phone. but you're right, there's alot of revisionist history when it comes to apple product success during Jobs era. iPhone didn't become this massive product til 2010 when the 4 was released. that device changed everything for them
- k-mcgrady 10y ago
  Agreed. I think they will be able to make it more and more standalone as the technology for that becomes available (battery life is probably the main reason they can't now). I see it as similar to the iPod being Mac only at the start.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    Nah, the iPod thing was managerial, not technical.
    - k-mcgrady 10y ago
      It was both. You could only manage it using a Mac and developing iTunes for Windows was a technical roadblock. With the Watch you can only manage it using iOS and opening it up to other phones or making it work standalone is technical.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  But MSM was hyping it all the way.
- freyr 10y ago
  > iPhone didn't become this massive product til 2010 when the 4 was released If we ignore the iPhone 3G, which was the top-selling mobile phone of 2008. Revisionist history indeed. The original 2007 iPhone was hugely successful out of the gate within the smartphone category, which it shaped and then dominated for the next few years. 2010 was a tipping point for people abandoning feature phones for smartphones, and there wasn't yet a comparable Android competitor. But the seeds were sown years earlier.
coldtea 10y ago
>I don't understand how people think they've tried the watch and failed. They've put out ONE version. The first iPod was Mac only and therefore didn't sell very well. When the iPhone launched you had to buy the device outright - no subsidy and it was lacking features that other phones had for quite a while. It was a few versions before it really took off. Besides, this one version of the watch, outsold all competitor smart-watches 10 to 1 or more...
saurik 10y ago
(When the iPhone was first released the price actually was subsidized by AT&T, who got rather screwed by it because it was based on a "trust our security" model, and people would take it home and put it on T-Mobile. It is absolutely true that the first iPhone sucked vs. a normal phone, though. It wasn't until iPhoneOS 3 and the iPhone 3G[S] that the device started getting good.)

ktRolster 10y ago

FWIW the apple watch sold fairly well: http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-watch-with-sizable-sales-cant-shake-its-critics-1461524901 http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-watch-with-sizable-sales-c... Expectations of course are ridiculously high.

geomark 10y ago
My impression is that the watch sold mainly because of Apple branding not because it solved a real problem or opened up an entire new market. People are hoping/expecting Apple's next big thing to become a viral hit lke the iPhone. The watch isn't that.
- zghst 10y ago
  People bought it because they thought it solved an issue. Apple branding around other products have not made them successful (Apple Maps 2012, Ping, MobileMe, Newton, etc.)
  - curt15 10y ago
    But services have never been a core strength of Apple. They've always been at most "good enough". On the other hand, Apple has built up an enviable reputation for delivering well planned and executed physical devices with highly polished user interfaces. See also https://stratechery.com/2016/its-a-tesla/ https://stratechery.com/2016/its-a-tesla/
- zepto 10y ago
  The watch is selling well and continuing to grow at a rate greater than the iPhone did over the same period.
  - aetherson 10y ago
    What's your source?

kkhire 10y ago

inherent problem with the watch is that it's not a standalone device, its an extension of the phone. but you're right, there's alot of revisionist history when it comes to apple product success during Jobs era. iPhone didn't become this massive product til 2010 when the 4 was released. that device changed everything for them

k-mcgrady 10y ago
Agreed. I think they will be able to make it more and more standalone as the technology for that becomes available (battery life is probably the main reason they can't now). I see it as similar to the iPod being Mac only at the start.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Nah, the iPod thing was managerial, not technical.
  - k-mcgrady 10y ago
    It was both. You could only manage it using a Mac and developing iTunes for Windows was a technical roadblock. With the Watch you can only manage it using iOS and opening it up to other phones or making it work standalone is technical.
digi_owl 10y ago
But MSM was hyping it all the way.
freyr 10y ago
> iPhone didn't become this massive product til 2010 when the 4 was released If we ignore the iPhone 3G, which was the top-selling mobile phone of 2008. Revisionist history indeed. The original 2007 iPhone was hugely successful out of the gate within the smartphone category, which it shaped and then dominated for the next few years. 2010 was a tipping point for people abandoning feature phones for smartphones, and there wasn't yet a comparable Android competitor. But the seeds were sown years earlier.

coldtea 10y ago

>I don't understand how people think they've tried the watch and failed. They've put out ONE version. The first iPod was Mac only and therefore didn't sell very well. When the iPhone launched you had to buy the device outright - no subsidy and it was lacking features that other phones had for quite a while. It was a few versions before it really took off. Besides, this one version of the watch, outsold all competitor smart-watches 10 to 1 or more...

saurik 10y ago

(When the iPhone was first released the price actually was subsidized by AT&T, who got rather screwed by it because it was based on a "trust our security" model, and people would take it home and put it on T-Mobile. It is absolutely true that the first iPhone sucked vs. a normal phone, though. It wasn't until iPhoneOS 3 and the iPhone 3G[S] that the device started getting good.)