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the watch was a leap? the only people I know who have them are Apple stans, and unlike the iPhone they certainly didn't kick off a new category of must have eve

the watch was a leap? the only people I know who have them are Apple stans, and unlike the iPhone they certainly didn't kick off a new category of must have everyday item heck, after growing tired of having one more thing with a rechargeable battery, I went back to an analog watch

Mistletoe 2y ago
Every person I see working retail has an Apple Watch. Think it’s some weird mix of they can’t have their phone and also rampant materialism through exposure at work. I loved my $30 EBay Apple Watch as a cheap running watch with GPS before the battery got so weak it wouldn’t even do my 1.5 hour runs anymore. Apple wasn’t helpful about a battery replacement and encouraged me to buy a new one (starting at $249) and said they couldn’t replace the battery since it was so old, when I met a Genius at the Apple Store. That soured me quite a bit on the whole thing.
surfingdino 2y ago
They shot themselves in the foot with eSim for Apple Watch (Samsung did he same with Galaxy Ultra watch). You have to buy a contract for both your iPhone and your watch, because you cannot put your Apple Watch on a pay as you go plan. This is a big obstacle in Europe where PAYG plans are popular. It's not going to change, because operators like it and LTE smartwatches do not cut into smartphone sales.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  I know a bunch of people with some apple watch at this point but I never met anyone who pays for cellular for it
  - ghaff 2y ago
    I did for a bit but I'm just not really in circumstances where I need smartwatch connectivity and my phone isn't on me somewhere. I have an Apple Watch Ultra and, honestly, hiking is pretty much the only thing I use it for.
    - kjkjadksj 2y ago
      Most of the hikes I take don’t even have cell service
- dangus 2y ago
  The market leader who captured more than half of all smartwatch revenue shot themselves in the foot? I don’t think Apple cares whether you activate the watch on cellular or not. The product doesn’t really need it.
  - surfingdino 2y ago
    I'm talking about the LTE watches. They will not let them become untethered from the iPhone, which contradicts the marketing that convincing you the LTE watches are not reliant on the iPhone. Technically they are not, but you cannot use LTE on them without having a contract tied to the iPhone.
    - dangus 2y ago
      And that is shooting themselves in the foot how? Apple would much rather sell you both an iPhone and a watch. Untethering them from each other destroys that upsell. I don’t think Apple ever claimed in “the marketing” that you didn’t need an iPhone to use your watch. Just that you can leave it at home if you’re going out for a run or something like that. Whether you and I think that’s consumer-friendly is a completely different story. I certainly don’t think it is. But it’s been an extremely good business model for Apple.
      - surfingdino 2y ago
        Cutting off VMOs like GiffGaff with its 4M customers is leaving money on the table https://www.cityam.com/giffgaff-hungry-for-more-as-it-looks-to-extend-portfolio-and-review-prices/ https://www.cityam.com/giffgaff-hungry-for-more-as-it-looks-... Also, they could allow Apple Watch to be activated/paired with/managed from LTE iPads.
        dangus 2y ago
        I think, for one thing, Apple makes essentially zero dollars from these cellular activations on Apple Watches. But also, think about the kind of customer who believes their cellular bill costs too much and goes with an MVNO instead to save money. For that kind of customer there is no price that will make a smart watch cellular activation worth the money. I think all the hardware companies know that smartwatch cellular plans are somewhat of a niche product that isn’t really a “killer app” for the smartwatch experience. Almost nobody is willing to leave their phone at home and I think the futuristic idea that the smartwatch could replace the phone is dying or dead. The whole industry seems to know it. Hell, Google gives smartwatch data away for free on their MVNO and that’s because they want to make money selling Pixel Watch hardware. They know that they won’t get anyone to pay $5 or $10 a month for smartwatch connectivity because, why bother, my phone is right there. Apple really doesn’t really give a hoot about 4 million lower spend GiffGaff customers who use MVNOs instead of big carriers. Someone who is too frugal to spend on a big name carrier plan probably doesn’t want to spend $400+ on a cellular Apple Watch in the first place, they’re going tog get the Apple Watch SE or maybe something WearOS in the $200 range. It’s important to remember that in capitalism, not all customers have the same value. Apple traditionally hasn’t fought hard for the bottom 50% customers who simply have less disposable money to give to them.
semireg 2y ago
After 3 years my Apple Watch needed a battery replacement. I went a week without it. There were times I missed an important call or text because I don’t have any habit of checking my phone and I refuse to use audible alerts. Overall, the Apple watch is less distracting because you can quickly glance and ignore most notifications, or filter notifications based on who it is, time, etc. But if I had to think harder … another reason I love the Apple Watch is getting stripe sales notifications. Someone halfway around the world buys a thing of yours and you get a tap on the wrist as a reward. I’m not sure I’ll ever turn that off.
dangus 2y ago
Kinda weird to say that only Apple stans have them when they are the global marketshare and revenue leader. Sticking to objective facts will make your point more effective.

Mistletoe 2y ago

Every person I see working retail has an Apple Watch. Think it’s some weird mix of they can’t have their phone and also rampant materialism through exposure at work. I loved my $30 EBay Apple Watch as a cheap running watch with GPS before the battery got so weak it wouldn’t even do my 1.5 hour runs anymore. Apple wasn’t helpful about a battery replacement and encouraged me to buy a new one (starting at $249) and said they couldn’t replace the battery since it was so old, when I met a Genius at the Apple Store. That soured me quite a bit on the whole thing.

surfingdino 2y ago

They shot themselves in the foot with eSim for Apple Watch (Samsung did he same with Galaxy Ultra watch). You have to buy a contract for both your iPhone and your watch, because you cannot put your Apple Watch on a pay as you go plan. This is a big obstacle in Europe where PAYG plans are popular. It's not going to change, because operators like it and LTE smartwatches do not cut into smartphone sales.

kjkjadksj 2y ago
I know a bunch of people with some apple watch at this point but I never met anyone who pays for cellular for it
- ghaff 2y ago
  I did for a bit but I'm just not really in circumstances where I need smartwatch connectivity and my phone isn't on me somewhere. I have an Apple Watch Ultra and, honestly, hiking is pretty much the only thing I use it for.
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    Most of the hikes I take don’t even have cell service
dangus 2y ago
The market leader who captured more than half of all smartwatch revenue shot themselves in the foot? I don’t think Apple cares whether you activate the watch on cellular or not. The product doesn’t really need it.
- surfingdino 2y ago
  I'm talking about the LTE watches. They will not let them become untethered from the iPhone, which contradicts the marketing that convincing you the LTE watches are not reliant on the iPhone. Technically they are not, but you cannot use LTE on them without having a contract tied to the iPhone.
  - dangus 2y ago
    And that is shooting themselves in the foot how? Apple would much rather sell you both an iPhone and a watch. Untethering them from each other destroys that upsell. I don’t think Apple ever claimed in “the marketing” that you didn’t need an iPhone to use your watch. Just that you can leave it at home if you’re going out for a run or something like that. Whether you and I think that’s consumer-friendly is a completely different story. I certainly don’t think it is. But it’s been an extremely good business model for Apple.
    - surfingdino 2y ago
      Cutting off VMOs like GiffGaff with its 4M customers is leaving money on the table https://www.cityam.com/giffgaff-hungry-for-more-as-it-looks-to-extend-portfolio-and-review-prices/ https://www.cityam.com/giffgaff-hungry-for-more-as-it-looks-... Also, they could allow Apple Watch to be activated/paired with/managed from LTE iPads.
      - dangus 2y ago
        I think, for one thing, Apple makes essentially zero dollars from these cellular activations on Apple Watches. But also, think about the kind of customer who believes their cellular bill costs too much and goes with an MVNO instead to save money. For that kind of customer there is no price that will make a smart watch cellular activation worth the money. I think all the hardware companies know that smartwatch cellular plans are somewhat of a niche product that isn’t really a “killer app” for the smartwatch experience. Almost nobody is willing to leave their phone at home and I think the futuristic idea that the smartwatch could replace the phone is dying or dead. The whole industry seems to know it. Hell, Google gives smartwatch data away for free on their MVNO and that’s because they want to make money selling Pixel Watch hardware. They know that they won’t get anyone to pay $5 or $10 a month for smartwatch connectivity because, why bother, my phone is right there. Apple really doesn’t really give a hoot about 4 million lower spend GiffGaff customers who use MVNOs instead of big carriers. Someone who is too frugal to spend on a big name carrier plan probably doesn’t want to spend $400+ on a cellular Apple Watch in the first place, they’re going tog get the Apple Watch SE or maybe something WearOS in the $200 range. It’s important to remember that in capitalism, not all customers have the same value. Apple traditionally hasn’t fought hard for the bottom 50% customers who simply have less disposable money to give to them.

semireg 2y ago

After 3 years my Apple Watch needed a battery replacement. I went a week without it. There were times I missed an important call or text because I don’t have any habit of checking my phone and I refuse to use audible alerts. Overall, the Apple watch is less distracting because you can quickly glance and ignore most notifications, or filter notifications based on who it is, time, etc. But if I had to think harder … another reason I love the Apple Watch is getting stripe sales notifications. Someone halfway around the world buys a thing of yours and you get a tap on the wrist as a reward. I’m not sure I’ll ever turn that off.

dangus 2y ago

Kinda weird to say that only Apple stans have them when they are the global marketshare and revenue leader. Sticking to objective facts will make your point more effective.