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I've been studying these trends closely for the last five years given our startup's survival depends on the outcome. In short, I don't agree. It's looking more

by robg 10y ago

I've been studying these trends closely for the last five years given our startup's survival depends on the outcome. In short, I don't agree. It's looking more and more to me that we're in the middle of the Palm and flip phones era of wearables. If you track Fitbit closely, we're actually close to the first crash with momentum generating for wearables 2.0. The watch industry is adding these features but given their prior existential crisis with quartz, I see a very mature industry taking their time and not feeling threatened at all. The biggest drawback to smartwatches remains their screens and battery life. There they aren't competitive at all with very nice mechanical watches for the most basic function - showing the time. The more I've used the Apple watch, the more I've found it pointless with a battery that dies and I don't notice for hours. I'll learn more at Basel this week, I doubt any one there is fearful the way they were even two years ago. Furthermore, I'm still amazed that none of these devices have changed mobile phone user experiences at all. When that happens we'll be talking about wearables 2.0, there's a lot of fodder there for deep integrations.

digi_owl 10y ago
Frankly the only thing that could make them change anything is by them being able to tell us more about or bodily state at a glance. And i am not talking about something superficial as pulse, but something deeper. Frankly smartwatches are stuck in the same stats game as phones have been since Apple kept hammering built in storage. We need more like the CAT S60, and less "higher numbers on stat X, Y and Z". It is the only recent phone that could even get close to the often touted comparison between smartphones and tricorders. Because tricorders were first and foremost a sensors package, telling the away team things about their surroundings that their senses could not.
logicallee 10y ago
I agree with everything you've written. Emphatically, Apple haven't gotten it right. But that doesn't mean the game wouldn't change if they did. They are moving a lot of units on what is not a great and must-have product yet - imagine if the product were a must-have one that got the things you've mentioned right instead of wrong. That would change the game. It's not beyond them that they might do so in the future, and, again, they are moving a lot of units as it is. Celebrities are wearing them.
- robg 10y ago
  I agree on that Apple sentiment and where clearly they have a huge head start on what comes next.

by robg 10y ago

digi_owl 10y ago

Frankly the only thing that could make them change anything is by them being able to tell us more about or bodily state at a glance. And i am not talking about something superficial as pulse, but something deeper. Frankly smartwatches are stuck in the same stats game as phones have been since Apple kept hammering built in storage. We need more like the CAT S60, and less "higher numbers on stat X, Y and Z". It is the only recent phone that could even get close to the often touted comparison between smartphones and tricorders. Because tricorders were first and foremost a sensors package, telling the away team things about their surroundings that their senses could not.

logicallee 10y ago

I agree with everything you've written. Emphatically, Apple haven't gotten it right. But that doesn't mean the game wouldn't change if they did. They are moving a lot of units on what is not a great and must-have product yet - imagine if the product were a must-have one that got the things you've mentioned right instead of wrong. That would change the game. It's not beyond them that they might do so in the future, and, again, they are moving a lot of units as it is. Celebrities are wearing them.

robg 10y ago
I agree on that Apple sentiment and where clearly they have a huge head start on what comes next.