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No it's not. While it's definitely a nice piece of tech all the smartphone addicts who heavily use Whatsapp, Instagram, an email client, etc want a device with

No it's not. While it's definitely a nice piece of tech all the smartphone addicts who heavily use Whatsapp, Instagram, an email client, etc want a device with a large screen, virtual keyboard and a camera. Don't tell us that AI and voice commands will replace this. The Apple watch will dominate all health and fitness based use cases though.

bspn 9y ago
Exactly. I've had an LTE Android watch for a few months now, and while it's great for quick tasks and staying connected when I'm out for a walk or run I still find myself pulling out my phone whenever I need to do anything meaningful. The watch is great for notifications, but the screen is too small for it to replace the phone for daily use.
- 0x4f3759df 9y ago
  LTE Andoid has a separate phone number doesn't it? One of the big wins for the Apple system is it uses the same number as your phone
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - bspn 9y ago
    I believe that's a network thing vs anything unique to Apple. I'm a T-Mobile customer and I can use a single line across multiple devices today via their Digits service. I believe AT&T has a similar offering.
HorizonXP 9y ago
I agree with you, but I don't think that's what the author's point was. You'll still probably carry your iPhone with you, but it'll probably stay in your pocket or bag more often than not. And you're right, the Apple Watch will never replace the functions you cited. I've been using smartphones for years, and I'm definitely someone that's very tied to e-mails and phone calls. Yet I'd rather remove the distraction. I don't need to be 100% available all day, everyday. The Watch will let me respond to e-mails, messages, and phone calls without pulling out my phone. If it's something more involved, I can pull out my phone. Beyond that, I can wait until I get back to my desk. The Watch + AirPods won't completely replace the iPhone, it will complement it. Just like the iPad and MacBook does. None of those verticals are particularly large for Apple, and will never touch the iPhone. They simply mop up the periphery users like me that will actually use it. Everyone else is perfectly served by the iPhone.
- pjmlp 9y ago
  I surely won't pay 300 euros just to avoid taking my phone out of the pocket.
  - melling 9y ago
    “In the future...” We are having one of those conversations about the future with current technology at current prices? Again...
  - rayiner 9y ago
    For me that feature has been worth every penny. I'm constantly getting emails; if one comes in after business hours, 95% of the time it can wait until the next morning. But 5% of the time it can't, so I've always got to pull out my phone to check. With the watch, I can just glance quickly and go back to whatever I was doing. (I'm somewhat resentful of journalists always interjecting the narrative in articles about the Watch that it's an underlying symptom of people being addicted to their phones. For a lot of people, being available is part of the job. The Apple Watch is the modern equivalent of a pager.)
    - yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
      Can you not have your phone only buzz for messages matching some pattern?
      - rayiner 9y ago
        Not in any way that I’d trust.
  - matwood 9y ago
    For fitness and heart rate tracking it's pretty nice. Add in alerts and other integrations and the AW quickly become something I was skeptical of, to something I wear every day. And while minor, the geek in me smiles every time my MBP logs me in automatically using the AW.
melling 9y ago
Yeah, I want a virtual keyboard, not one on glass. https://atap.google.com/soli/ https://atap.google.com/soli/
sliverstorm 9y ago
> The Apple watch will dominate all health and fitness based use cases though. Compared to GPS sports watches? How do you figure?
- matwood 9y ago
  Because it already has? If you look at watches (not the fitbit step counter band type devices), the AW has outsold everyone one else. I see AWs all the time. Non-techie friends who I play bball with are showing up with AWs now, and these are people who never would have tried any other sport type band. The common theme among these people is that the health tracking drew them in, but all the other features with alerts, etc... end up being really useful.
  - sorenjan 9y ago
    AW could mean both Apple Watch and Android Wear. I understand what you mean by context, but please be more careful with acronyms. Regarding your point, I think it's probably right. Just like compact cameras are better at taking pictures than smartphones are, a lot of people will probably settle for good enough and use a device that can do lots of things pretty well.
  - sliverstorm 9y ago
    Huh, certainly not where I live. Everyone has a Garmin, or maybe a Fitbit GPS, it's practically cliche. Better metrics, miles better battery life, and nobody I've talked to cares about email on their wrist...
- revelation 9y ago
  I love how OP is dismissing the grand claim in the title only to immediately go on to make another, equally silly one. Garmin is selling more of their watches than ever before. This has the same useless HR, no external sensors and battery won't last through a marathon. It's an expensive gadget for people who like to think they are exercising by doing 10 repeats of 5 kg weights and 5 minutes of social media in between.
hyperpallium 9y ago
There's long term dynamics: just as people first prefered a small phone over a large tablet, and now buy near-tablet sized phones (iPhone X is 5.8") that better match their usage today... watches may well grow in size and features (camera) in the future. Fitness-specific devices (e.g. fitbit) seem more popular than the general-purpose apple watch... at least, so far. BTW non-screen control (eg voice control, buttons on headphones) seem logical for watches, but apple experimented with this already with the iPod shuffle, but removed it in the next version.
canes123456 9y ago
Is this a satire? Because you are framing this exactly the same as command line vs GUI and hardware keyboard vs touch screen debates. I don't think apple has the watch figured out but something will replace the phone.

bspn 9y ago

Exactly. I've had an LTE Android watch for a few months now, and while it's great for quick tasks and staying connected when I'm out for a walk or run I still find myself pulling out my phone whenever I need to do anything meaningful. The watch is great for notifications, but the screen is too small for it to replace the phone for daily use.

0x4f3759df 9y ago
LTE Andoid has a separate phone number doesn't it? One of the big wins for the Apple system is it uses the same number as your phone
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- bspn 9y ago
  I believe that's a network thing vs anything unique to Apple. I'm a T-Mobile customer and I can use a single line across multiple devices today via their Digits service. I believe AT&T has a similar offering.

HorizonXP 9y ago

I agree with you, but I don't think that's what the author's point was. You'll still probably carry your iPhone with you, but it'll probably stay in your pocket or bag more often than not. And you're right, the Apple Watch will never replace the functions you cited. I've been using smartphones for years, and I'm definitely someone that's very tied to e-mails and phone calls. Yet I'd rather remove the distraction. I don't need to be 100% available all day, everyday. The Watch will let me respond to e-mails, messages, and phone calls without pulling out my phone. If it's something more involved, I can pull out my phone. Beyond that, I can wait until I get back to my desk. The Watch + AirPods won't completely replace the iPhone, it will complement it. Just like the iPad and MacBook does. None of those verticals are particularly large for Apple, and will never touch the iPhone. They simply mop up the periphery users like me that will actually use it. Everyone else is perfectly served by the iPhone.

pjmlp 9y ago
I surely won't pay 300 euros just to avoid taking my phone out of the pocket.
- melling 9y ago
  “In the future...” We are having one of those conversations about the future with current technology at current prices? Again...
- rayiner 9y ago
  For me that feature has been worth every penny. I'm constantly getting emails; if one comes in after business hours, 95% of the time it can wait until the next morning. But 5% of the time it can't, so I've always got to pull out my phone to check. With the watch, I can just glance quickly and go back to whatever I was doing. (I'm somewhat resentful of journalists always interjecting the narrative in articles about the Watch that it's an underlying symptom of people being addicted to their phones. For a lot of people, being available is part of the job. The Apple Watch is the modern equivalent of a pager.)
  - yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
    Can you not have your phone only buzz for messages matching some pattern?
    - rayiner 9y ago
      Not in any way that I’d trust.
- matwood 9y ago
  For fitness and heart rate tracking it's pretty nice. Add in alerts and other integrations and the AW quickly become something I was skeptical of, to something I wear every day. And while minor, the geek in me smiles every time my MBP logs me in automatically using the AW.

melling 9y ago

Yeah, I want a virtual keyboard, not one on glass. https://atap.google.com/soli/ https://atap.google.com/soli/

sliverstorm 9y ago

> The Apple watch will dominate all health and fitness based use cases though. Compared to GPS sports watches? How do you figure?

matwood 9y ago
Because it already has? If you look at watches (not the fitbit step counter band type devices), the AW has outsold everyone one else. I see AWs all the time. Non-techie friends who I play bball with are showing up with AWs now, and these are people who never would have tried any other sport type band. The common theme among these people is that the health tracking drew them in, but all the other features with alerts, etc... end up being really useful.
- sorenjan 9y ago
  AW could mean both Apple Watch and Android Wear. I understand what you mean by context, but please be more careful with acronyms. Regarding your point, I think it's probably right. Just like compact cameras are better at taking pictures than smartphones are, a lot of people will probably settle for good enough and use a device that can do lots of things pretty well.
- sliverstorm 9y ago
  Huh, certainly not where I live. Everyone has a Garmin, or maybe a Fitbit GPS, it's practically cliche. Better metrics, miles better battery life, and nobody I've talked to cares about email on their wrist...
revelation 9y ago
I love how OP is dismissing the grand claim in the title only to immediately go on to make another, equally silly one. Garmin is selling more of their watches than ever before. This has the same useless HR, no external sensors and battery won't last through a marathon. It's an expensive gadget for people who like to think they are exercising by doing 10 repeats of 5 kg weights and 5 minutes of social media in between.

hyperpallium 9y ago

There's long term dynamics: just as people first prefered a small phone over a large tablet, and now buy near-tablet sized phones (iPhone X is 5.8") that better match their usage today... watches may well grow in size and features (camera) in the future. Fitness-specific devices (e.g. fitbit) seem more popular than the general-purpose apple watch... at least, so far. BTW non-screen control (eg voice control, buttons on headphones) seem logical for watches, but apple experimented with this already with the iPod shuffle, but removed it in the next version.

canes123456 9y ago

Is this a satire? Because you are framing this exactly the same as command line vs GUI and hardware keyboard vs touch screen debates. I don't think apple has the watch figured out but something will replace the phone.