Apple Watch - I'm unimpressed

[Childs]

The Moto 360 has a circular display. Unfortunately my OCD prevents me from buying it since the bottom of the circular display is cropped off.

Heh, thats kinda cool. Definitely would prefer round.

 

[Eug]

So basically, you weren't interested in a smart watch, had no plans to buy one, but hoped you could be convinced.

Pretty much... and I suspect I'm pretty representative of the the vast majority of the population - not convinced the Apple Watch is worth spending money on.

 

[TreVader]

Soon to come: Apple Sundial and Apple sextant: for all your longitude finding needs.


Edit: I have a feeling the nicer versions of this watch will be quite expensive. $349 for any sapphire bezel watch is cheap then they have an 18k gold version?

 

[Intervenator]

Seems a lot of people online are not too impressed with it. It's a very gimmicky device made (IMO) because Samsung did it.

The fact that it needs the iPhone to function means it isn't anything really revolutionary. It's exactly the same as every other "smart watch", just with a couple more bells and whistles.

Honestly Im fairly certain Samsung made their smartwatch in anticipation for the iWatch (I still think it should not be called the Apple Watch), not the other way around. We all knew it was coming, years ago, and so did Samsung. Did you actually think it a coincidence that all the major smartphone companies are suddenly throwing smartwatches at consumers? This is why.

 

[Aikouka]

While watching the presentation through Ars's Live Blog, I wasn't all that impressed with the look of the Apple Watch. Although, after looking at Ars's Apple Watch Gallery, I think that's mostly because Apple chose poor reference images in most cases. I like the look of it when it has the fairly normal-looking linked, metal armband: 1 (right), 2, 3. I think that the pastel ones have way too much of a childish look, but I bet the hipsters will eat that up.

Will I get one? I don't know. I'd like to learn more about it first, or maybe even try one out. I don't want to just write it off yet as it may be one of those things where it seems useless until you try it out.

 

[Rakehellion]

I don't think so. I believe they specifically said the case was made of 18K. Presumably if it were plated they would not bother to specify the purity of the gold.

EDIT: Yeah, the case is made of 18K - http://www.apple.com/watch/apple-watch-edition/

Kardashians. That's who will wear it and no one else. Gold with a pink wristband.

 

[Rakehellion]

Yeah, it looks like Apple is getting rid of the "i" trademark for something more distinctive. Like when they dropped "Power" from all Mac computers.

 

[Rakehellion]

Maybe he was hoping to store music or stream music on the device to go out on a jog or something without having to take the phone along. Also if it had it's own wireless data it could do maps and navigation. Without the phone can it do any of that?

Are there any other watches with GPS and motion capabilities?

 

[Eug]

Are there any other watches with GPS and motion capabilities?

A lot of the fitness oriented ones, but they're not meant to be fashion accessories.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Yeah, it looks like Apple is getting rid of the "i" trademark for something more distinctive. Like when they dropped "Power" from all Mac computers.

I have read one theory that the reason they didn't use the "i" prefix for the watch is that, as with the AppleTV, they don't intend to update the watch every year. Makes sense to me.

 

[ultimatebob]

I still don't understand why I would want a smartwatch, considering that I haven't worn a watch since I've owned a smartphone.

That said, it looks cool but it's insanely overpriced. In other words, it's your typical first generation Apple product. We all know that the next gen model will be thinner, faster, and only cost $199... but the diehard Apple fans will buy a first gen unit for bragging rights anyway

 

[Eug]

I still don't understand why I would want a smartwatch, considering that I haven't worn a watch since I've owned a smartphone.

That said, it looks cool but it's insanely overpriced. In other words, it's your typical first generation Apple product. We all know that the next gen model will be thinner, faster, and only cost $199... but the diehard Apple fans will buy a first gen unit for bragging rights anyway

I get the impression this thing won't be updated that often.

 

[ultimatebob]

I get the impression this thing won't be updated that often.

Really? I'd kinda expect it to be like the iPod. They'll release a new model every year or so until they've hit market saturation. Hell, even the Apple TV got regular updates until they kinda gave up on the product.

That said, I highly doubt that these will ever sell at iPod sales volumes.

 

[TheStu]

I think it's ridiculous, and I still sort of want one. But at $350, forget it. Also, it looks uncomfortably thick, so I'll see what the gen 2 looks like.

 

[HN]

2

I think the first thing that gets reworked on the interface is the clusterfuck of icons in #2.

Here's a long hands-on video of actually using the watch instead of just showing it going through the demo mode http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rwv-3wZocK4

 

[TuxDave]

I have read one theory that the reason they didn't use the "i" prefix for the watch is that, as with the AppleTV, they don't intend to update the watch every year. Makes sense to me.

My conspiracy theory is that when the rumors arose that Apple wanted to build a watch, everyone and their mother locked down the name iWatch left and right in hopes of forcing Apple to buy the name (aka iPhone trademark round 2). So the lawyers at Apple probably threw their hands up and just advised them to go with Apple Watch.

 

[fr]

Many of the things said in this thread I remember reading when they announced the iPad.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Many of the things said in this thread I remember reading when they announced the iPad.

I was thinking the same but feel like this is different. We'll know soon enough.

 

[Kaido]

They didn't really sell me on it. What does it DO?

They completely glossed over the health features of it, I think partly because it still requires your phone to tether to for GPS & wifi, so you can't ditch the brick for a run. I'm trying to think what else I would use it for...Spritzing for sure (speed-reading app), smarthome stuff...telling time? The Bluetooth speakerphone call feature would be handy sometimes Notifications, I guess.

 

[ControlD]

They didn't really sell me on it. What does it DO?

This.

I am not disappointed by the looks / battery life / etc. nearly as much as I am by the simple fact the even Apple is unable to tell me why I need this new, revolutionary device. Same as every other smart watch maker out there.

So, I can see information relayed from my phone ... as long as I have my (Apple only of course) phone on me. Wow ... I guess that saves me the three seconds it takes to wake my phone up and look at it.

I can use my smart watch to track my runs? Cool. As long as I have my phone on me. Awesome. That is better than my Garmin exactly how?

I fully expected Apple to show everyone why this is a must have device. It appears that even they don't know what to do with it.

 

[saratoga172]

There were some cools things. It seemed they really touted it as a complementary device which makes sense since it requires an iphone. Thins like messages and mail. The note writing back and forth is kind of cool but two people much have one.

They missed a lot of people on price on this one. 349 is too much for something I don't use now. I see application for this and overall came away impressed but there isn't anything killer I need it for. I think they are really waiting for devs on that one, hence the early 2015 launch. Time for work out the remaining bugs and get devs on board before launching.

 

[Red Storm]

One thing to remember with smartwatches is that they are companion devices, you need the phone to use the watch, and because of that Apple has no real competition unless Android Wear somehow comes to iOS.

 

[vi edit]

I just noticed it, but the "Sport" models don't have Sapphire glass. Just the normal "ionized glass" that the phones use.

Not sure that anyone really cares about that...but something I found interesting.

 

[Red Storm]

I just noticed it, but the "Sport" models don't have Sapphire glass. Just the normal "ionized glass" that the phones use.

Not sure that anyone really cares about that...but something I found interesting.

That is weird, you'd think the "sport" model would be the one made to withstand more punishment.

 

[Eug]

Indeed. That's lame.