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I think the friction can come across to some customers as good service, and help launch a category. The Apple Watch was initially sold at fitting appointments

I think the friction can come across to some customers as good service, and help launch a category. The Apple Watch was initially sold at fitting appointments in store, and I think that was important in establishing it as a normal thing to wear and even a fashionable thing to wear in some cases, and helped cement the product in the mainstream. Tailored suits is another case where there’s a premium price, premium service, but a lot of friction. It’s not always bad. They’re also probably supply constrained enough that the friction doesn’t matter for the first version or two.

kibwen 3y ago
> I think that was important in establishing it as a normal thing to wear Apple did not need to normalize the wearing of watches. Watches have been luxury fashion items for hundreds of years.
- danpalmer 3y ago
  Apple absolutely needed to normalise the idea that a £300 black puck was Luxury Fashion. See what happened to Google Glass for when a company fails to make a wearable product fashionable, and we've been wearing expensive glasses for hundreds of years. Watch nerds still shun it today, although Apple has managed to break through as much as they needed to make it a success.
  - user_named 3y ago
    No, they didn't
    - WastingMyTime89 3y ago
      They absolutely did. Smartwatches were mostly seen as tacky before the Apple Watch. That’s part of why they chose a different form factor and partnered with luxury brands for bracelet. For Apple to make wearing them seems normal was not a given at all.
      - user_named 3y ago
        Absolutely did not. Only thing they needed to convince people of is accepting less than a days worth of battery life.
        Gigachad 3y ago
        The Pebble was absolutely seen as tacky. Only worn by people who cared more about tech than visuals.
      - evandale 3y ago
        The Moto 360 was out before the Apple watch. I know that for a fact because I got one on the release date. They were pretty hard to find when they came out. Apple was late to the game with smartwatches and didn't do a single thing to convince people to wear them.
        WastingMyTime89 3y ago
        > The Moto 360 was out before the Apple watch. And it was seen as a toy for geeks and software developers who think t-shirts are an acceptable office attire despite being the most watch-like of the smartwatches. I would never have gone to the office wearing a moto360. People would have given me funny looks all day. Meanwhile you can wear an Apple Watch with your suit and everyone finds that acceptable.
        evandale 3y ago
        > And it was seen as a toy for geeks and software developers who think t-shirts are an acceptable office attire despite being the most watch-like of the smartwatches. Source please! That's not how I remember the release, I recall it was very well recieved and sold out everywhere with the battery life being the biggest complaint. > I would never have gone to the office wearing a moto360. People would have given me funny looks all day. Meanwhile you can wear an Apple Watch with your suit and everyone finds that acceptable. I doubt you'll find a source, this entire paragraph is you projecting your own insecurities onto everyone else. Your opinion is not the general consensus or a source for anything so find a reliable 3rd party to back you up that isn't a random blogpost by Joe nobody.
    - danpalmer 3y ago
      Before the Apple Watch, no mainstream celebrities were photographed wearing smart watches. After the Apple Watch, celebrities are regularly photographed wearing just one type of smart watch – the Apple Watch. Whether you like it or not, for most people, celebrity culture drives luxury culture, and even in the top end markets it's still a leading indicator even if it's not driving it. I'm open to hearing constructive arguments against this, but it seems very clear to me.
      - saiya-jin 3y ago
        some people wear them, most of them clueless I-wear-it-too crowd. I see a lot of people around me / commuting wearing Garmin watches (ie fenix 7 pro), now that's a conversation starter.

kibwen 3y ago

> I think that was important in establishing it as a normal thing to wear Apple did not need to normalize the wearing of watches. Watches have been luxury fashion items for hundreds of years.

danpalmer 3y ago
Apple absolutely needed to normalise the idea that a £300 black puck was Luxury Fashion. See what happened to Google Glass for when a company fails to make a wearable product fashionable, and we've been wearing expensive glasses for hundreds of years. Watch nerds still shun it today, although Apple has managed to break through as much as they needed to make it a success.
- user_named 3y ago
  No, they didn't
  - WastingMyTime89 3y ago
    They absolutely did. Smartwatches were mostly seen as tacky before the Apple Watch. That’s part of why they chose a different form factor and partnered with luxury brands for bracelet. For Apple to make wearing them seems normal was not a given at all.
    - user_named 3y ago
      Absolutely did not. Only thing they needed to convince people of is accepting less than a days worth of battery life.
      - Gigachad 3y ago
        The Pebble was absolutely seen as tacky. Only worn by people who cared more about tech than visuals.
    - evandale 3y ago
      The Moto 360 was out before the Apple watch. I know that for a fact because I got one on the release date. They were pretty hard to find when they came out. Apple was late to the game with smartwatches and didn't do a single thing to convince people to wear them.
      - WastingMyTime89 3y ago
        > The Moto 360 was out before the Apple watch. And it was seen as a toy for geeks and software developers who think t-shirts are an acceptable office attire despite being the most watch-like of the smartwatches. I would never have gone to the office wearing a moto360. People would have given me funny looks all day. Meanwhile you can wear an Apple Watch with your suit and everyone finds that acceptable.
        evandale 3y ago
        > And it was seen as a toy for geeks and software developers who think t-shirts are an acceptable office attire despite being the most watch-like of the smartwatches. Source please! That's not how I remember the release, I recall it was very well recieved and sold out everywhere with the battery life being the biggest complaint. > I would never have gone to the office wearing a moto360. People would have given me funny looks all day. Meanwhile you can wear an Apple Watch with your suit and everyone finds that acceptable. I doubt you'll find a source, this entire paragraph is you projecting your own insecurities onto everyone else. Your opinion is not the general consensus or a source for anything so find a reliable 3rd party to back you up that isn't a random blogpost by Joe nobody.
  - danpalmer 3y ago
    Before the Apple Watch, no mainstream celebrities were photographed wearing smart watches. After the Apple Watch, celebrities are regularly photographed wearing just one type of smart watch – the Apple Watch. Whether you like it or not, for most people, celebrity culture drives luxury culture, and even in the top end markets it's still a leading indicator even if it's not driving it. I'm open to hearing constructive arguments against this, but it seems very clear to me.
    - saiya-jin 3y ago
      some people wear them, most of them clueless I-wear-it-too crowd. I see a lot of people around me / commuting wearing Garmin watches (ie fenix 7 pro), now that's a conversation starter.