3 ms·
You can count me as a big fan of Apple products. For me, the Macbook Air is about the perfect laptop. Apple networking devices have served me pretty well over t
by cletus 12y ago
You can count me as a big fan of Apple products. For me, the Macbook Air is about the perfect laptop. Apple networking devices have served me pretty well over the years. I've used an iPhone for years (since the 4) and see no reason to change. My iPad is easily my most-used computing device at home.
However, I have no desire to get an Apple Watch and I just don't see it being a huge market.
Now you have a lot of people who don't wear watches. Are they suddenly going to start? I'm skeptical.
For those that do the reasons tend to boil down to need, desire and habit.
"Desire" is the easiest category. Many people like fine (generally Swiss) watches. Some just for the perceived "status". Others because they're geeks for watch movements. I can't see them buying into any smartwatch.
Normal watches aren't wind-up. Wind-up watches are wound daily. Watches with batteries can last years on a single battery. Self-winding watches last basically "forever" (wear in the movement means servicing every 5 years or so).
Who really wants a watch that you need to separately charge every day?
Let's look at the applications. And here Apple has taken an unusual approach in what I tend to call shotgun marketing. They tout 9 or so use cases. Usually Apple tends to focus on 1-2 key use cases and even then they talk about them in terms of experience. Go back and look at old iPod ads to see what I mean. Obviously an iPod is a single use device (ignoring the Touch) but the same applies for iPhone/iPad advertising.
Fitness is one such category. It's unclear if their heart rate sensors are suitable for, say, running. Fitness HRMs are almost exclusively done with a chest strap. It's much more accurate and reliable although less convenient. There are other devices that don't use a strap (like the Basis watch) but, for this reason, they're not suitable for exercise.
But I guess the HRM functions make it fine for tracking your general activity during the day.
Which is why Apple touts "medical research".
The whole heart rate "sharing" and tapping someone's arm strikes me as gimmicky, even creepy, but who knows? Maybe there's a market for that.
The sort of person who doesn't want to take their phone out to make a phone call is the kind of person who has a Bluetooth headset.
Being able to glance at texts or emails? Maybe... but is it something people will pay $500+ for and charge every day?
Wrist watches came to exist because seeing the time on your wrist had a lot of uses and is pretty convenient. The smartwatch movement is attempting to co-opt that form factor but really what is the killer use case(s)?
Apple is a pretty conservative company and doesn't tend to get into markets without good reason, which is the only reason I'm watching to see what happens. Anyone else and I'd simply dismiss it.
Apple have had other products without widespread appeal like the Apple TV. Sure it's sold millions of units but not, say, the 70M/quarter kind of numbers the iPhone is up to (I believe it's probably <20M over the life of the device) but Apple hasn't put their full weight behind Apple TV like they seem to be with the watch.
I'll be shocked if this turns into a major product line (in terms of revenue) for Apple.