How many are getting an Apple watch?

[Ichigo]

Lol Pebble. Like wearing a Palm Pilot on your wrist. The screen is that ugly.

Regardless of whether or not the Apple Watch is useful (I don't think it is), the simple fact that your wives, girlfriends, and female coworkers will never buy the Samsung Gear or whatever LG's watch is called. Quite a few of them will consider the Apple Watch though. End of the day, a watch is an accessory and it has to be fashionable and Apple is certainly good at being fashionable.

You can apply all kinds of logic to why you think it'll fail but Apple knows their market and this won't.

 

[Midwayman]

didn't tablets take a nose dive with the popularity of phablets exploding. Have your 6"+ phones replaced the the need for a tablet?

More or less. Most people would rather pay for one device that is a half ass phone and a half ass tablet than something optimized for each experience. I have to wonder how it has impacted the 7" vs 10" tablet markets. I could see a lot less 10" users wanting to give that up.

 

[Blackjack200]

There is truth to that. I have a huge phone (iP6+) and tiny laptop (MBA 11") but I would still love to have a tablet. I think there were rumors of larger screened iPad, that would really tempt me.

 

[Crono]

For my interests, the Microsoft band is the closest to what I want out of a wearable. It just needs another 2-3 revisions to polish and improve upon what is essentially a production prototype right now. It's wedged between a dumb fitness monitor band a fully functional smart watch. Plus it actually does... stuff.... without needing to be tied to your phone and is cross OS compatible.

I love the fact that it has GPS built in for run/bike tracking as well as a host of vitals sensors for helping you train better. Plus it's got enough notifications to do what I want a smart device to do. Mainly, if I have my phone on my pocket send a haptic buzz to my wrist when it rings or a text is sent. That's the real value to me for a wearable. So many times I have my phone in my pocket on my walk to the car or out and about and I simply don't hear the ringer or feel the vibration in my pocket. Or I'll be at home and forget to turn on the ringer and have the phone on my desk and miss a call. Or be mowing the yard and miss a call because I couldn't hear the phone. That's useful stuff for me and if I can get that in a compact, comfortable $150 band then I'm interested.

I would have impulse-bought one by now if they were readily available. I've read on a couple sites that Best Buy may be stocking them soon, but if not I'll probably wait for the next iteration (if there is one).

 

[Commodus]

Lol Pebble. Like wearing a Palm Pilot on your wrist. The screen is that ugly.

Regardless of whether or not the Apple Watch is useful (I don't think it is), the simple fact that your wives, girlfriends, and female coworkers will never buy the Samsung Gear or whatever LG's watch is called. Quite a few of them will consider the Apple Watch though. End of the day, a watch is an accessory and it has to be fashionable and Apple is certainly good at being fashionable.

You can apply all kinds of logic to why you think it'll fail but Apple knows their market and this won't.

To be fair, we should also add "guys with thin wrists..." and when it comes to the Gear S / Gear Live, people who have any sense of good taste.

One of the smartest things Apple did was to use reasonable case sizes. The 38mm Watch is one of the first "real" smartwatches I've seen (not narrow-purpose models like the Withings Activite) that doesn't look comically oversized on a large chunk of the human population. I like the Moto 360, but that 46mm case is big even on my average adult male wrist -- it looks like Flavor Flav's clock on the arm of an average woman. Even the 42mm Watch seems smartly restrained in comparison.

 

[Radeon962]

http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/11/rose_gold/

For a whole different perspective from The Gold Apple Watch Is Perfect For Douchebags
Posted yesterday by Kevin Rose (@kevinrose)

 

[blairharrington]

I think the first-gen Apple Watch is VERY limited in what it offers. For example you are confined to canned responses or voice dictation to reply to text messages. Anything beyond requires you to use your iPhone. And emails offer no reply support whatsoever.

Apple hasn't had a misstep in a while and people are quick to point this out when you doubt anything new they make. However I really do question the appeal of the first-gen Apple Watch. It's highly reliant on an iPhone and even then it's limited in what it offers IMO.

Having said that, if the Watch gets a Google Play Music and Pocket Casts watch app, which would potentially allow me to keep my iPhone in my gym locker while being able to access my media and receive phone calls and texts, then I would seriously consider purchasing so I don't have to carry around my iPhone at the gym.

 

[Blackjack200]

I have to say, I don't understand why people are so bothered by the fact that it needs the phone for communication functions. How much are you really away from your phone? It works on Wi-Fi, so as long as your phone is within wifi range at home, that's good enough, and it's pretty rare for me to be away from my phone when I'm out of the house.

 

[blairharrington]

I have to say, I don't understand why people are so bothered by the fact that it needs the phone for communication functions. How much are you really away from your phone? It works on Wi-Fi, so as long as your phone is within wifi range at home, that's good enough, and it's pretty rare for me to be away from my phone when I'm out of the house.

Making it so reliant on an iPhone brings up the question if it's worth owning in the first place. I'd argue it's pretty limited even with an iPhone connection.

For example the Gear S can receive/place phone calls, compose and receive texts and emails, all without a connected phone, plus it has a keyboard.

I'd love to see those features eventually make it to the Apple Watch.

 

[Commodus]

I think the first-gen Apple Watch is VERY limited in what it offers. For example you are confined to canned responses or voice dictation to reply to text messages. Anything beyond requires you to use your iPhone. And emails offer no reply support whatsoever.

Well, that's still a step beyond what Android Wear does... if you can reply to something at all, it's live voice dictation only. I'm curious to see how the walkie talkie-style chat and taps/drawing work in real life, too.

 

[ControlD]

Well, that's still a step beyond what Android Wear does... if you can reply to something at all, it's live voice dictation only. I'm curious to see how the walkie talkie-style chat and taps/drawing work in real life, too.

Really? That's surprising to me if Wear is so limited. Even the Pebble allows responses to most types of notifications directly from the device and I thought part of that was done by tapping into the Wear system. Maybe I was mistaken on that, but Pebble made a big point of mentioning that with the last update.

 

[Commodus]

Really? That's surprising to me if Wear is so limited. Even the Pebble allows responses to most types of notifications directly from the device and I thought part of that was done by tapping into the Wear system. Maybe I was mistaken on that, but Pebble made a big point of mentioning that with the last update.

At least in my experience, that's the case. If I get a Hangouts message, for example, tapping "reply" starts listening for my voice. Handy if your hands are full and you're in a relatively quiet area, but there aren't any canned responses.

 

[ControlD]

At least in my experience, that's the case. If I get a Hangouts message, for example, tapping "reply" starts listening for my voice. Handy if your hands are full and you're in a relatively quiet area, but there aren't any canned responses.

That's good to know. I'm surprised it works that way but I have only a tiny amount of time spent with an actual Wear device so I have no real experience with them.

 

[Ichigo]

1st gen iphone/ipod touch was extremely limited with no custom apps being the biggest issue amongst a host of others

1st gen Macbook air was extremely limited in having no wired connectivity, no optical drive, etc.

If Apple can cross the bridge from a smartwatch being lame, useless, and ugly to just "fairly useless", I think that's a success already and sets themselves up well for the next round.

 

[ControlD]

1st gen iphone/ipod touch was extremely limited with no custom apps being the biggest issue amongst a host of others

1st gen Macbook air was extremely limited in having no wired connectivity, no optical drive, etc.

If Apple can cross the bridge from a smartwatch being lame, useless, and ugly to just "fairly useless", I think that's a success already and sets themselves up well for the next round.

That hasn't changed either.

 

[Commodus]

That's good to know. I'm surprised it works that way but I have only a tiny amount of time spent with an actual Wear device so I have no real experience with them.

This is why it's a bit funny when people claim that the Apple Watch doesn't do anything new, or is even a step backward. Android Wear is great for Google Now and the sheer variety of devices you can create with it, but it very much feels like a first-generation product. Lots of "really, you can't do that?" moments and a seemingly backward attitude toward apps (like it was trying to hide them). The Apple Watch may still have a ways to go, but it fills in a lot of gaps.

 

[ControlD]

This is why it's a bit funny when people claim that the Apple Watch doesn't do anything new, or is even a step backward. Android Wear is great for Google Now and the sheer variety of devices you can create with it, but it very much feels like a first-generation product. Lots of "really, you can't do that?" moments and a seemingly backward attitude toward apps (like it was trying to hide them). The Apple Watch may still have a ways to go, but it fills in a lot of gaps.

Well, technically the Pebble already does those things but I see your point.

I am betting the Apple Watch will be pretty good. Is it $350+ good? That is going to be the question.

As was mentioned earlier in the thread, I hope the Apple Watch is good. It hope it's great. Not because I am an Apple user, but to move the technology along. I was a big doubter in the beginning with smart watches but I find that I really like it now that i have one. And we are still in the very early stages.

 

[Imported]

I have to say, I don't understand why people are so bothered by the fact that it needs the phone for communication functions. How much are you really away from your phone? It works on Wi-Fi, so as long as your phone is within wifi range at home, that's good enough, and it's pretty rare for me to be away from my phone when I'm out of the house.

I hate going on a run with a phone and an armband.. if a watch could provide me music via BT, GPS and activity trackers.. I'd consider it.

Making it so reliant on an iPhone brings up the question if it's worth owning in the first place. I'd argue it's pretty limited even with an iPhone connection.

For example the Gear S can receive/place phone calls, compose and receive texts and emails, all without a connected phone, plus it has a keyboard.

I'd love to see those features eventually make it to the Apple Watch.

This might be what I'm looking for in a smartwatch.. spec wise it does what I want.

 

[uallas5]

To the "Why do I need a watch I have a phone?" crowd.

I wear a watch. I carry a smart phone. I use the watch to tell me the time, that's all I need it to do and it does it beautifully. NOTHING invented does this so well.

WATCH - One quick flick of the wrist is all I need.

PHONE - Put my hand in my pocket. Pull out the phone. Hit the power button to activate the screen. See the time. Hit the power button again to turn off the screen. Put the phone back in my pocket.

If I'm carrying something, add additional steps to the phone process. Usually I can see my watch even while carrying something. (The only exception that comes to mind is a full martini, that would require me to switch my drink to the left hand if I'm carrying it with my right. Anything in a tumbler, schooner or snifter is fine though.)

Back on topic - No, I won't be getting an Apple watch, it's too ugly. It's also too expensive for what I would consider a disposable watch being that, a year from now, most of the people buying them will be replacing them with the latest version.

 

[touchstone]

Lol Pebble. Like wearing a Palm Pilot on your wrist. The screen is that ugly.

Regardless of whether or not the Apple Watch is useful (I don't think it is), the simple fact that your wives, girlfriends, and female coworkers will never buy the Samsung Gear or whatever LG's watch is called. Quite a few of them will consider the Apple Watch though. End of the day, a watch is an accessory and it has to be fashionable and Apple is certainly good at being fashionable.

You can apply all kinds of logic to why you think it'll fail but Apple knows their market and this won't.

totally agree, and I'm not a fan of Apple at all. this is actually one of the few products they make besides the ipad that I would even consider, sadly I don't use iOS.


apple knows how to herd their sheep. this watch is way, way better looking than the Galaxy gear and its also a lot smaller, check it out:

http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/12/look-how-much-sleeker-apple-watch-is-compared-to-android-wear-watches/


even the bigger apple watch is smaller than any of the android wear watches. the Asus comes close but is much less functional. if they open up the apple watch to android i think it could be really cool. i like sheep. baaah. baaaaah

 

[nOOky]

Wouldn't buy one. I don't have an Apple phone. I also hate watches, the only time I wear one is when it's a Garmin used for running or biking.

I was an early adopter and had a Motoactv, which to date still seems like the best option for people like me, except it wasn't water-proof and battery life sucked.

 

[Commodus]

totally agree, and I'm not a fan of Apple at all. this is actually one of the few products they make besides the ipad that I would even consider, sadly I don't use iOS.


apple knows how to herd their sheep. this watch is way, way better looking than the Galaxy gear and its also a lot smaller, check it out:

http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/12/look-how-much-sleeker-apple-watch-is-compared-to-android-wear-watches/


even the bigger apple watch is smaller than any of the android wear watches. the Asus comes close but is much less functional. if they open up the apple watch to android i think it could be really cool. i like sheep. baaah. baaaaah

Heh, I think you're being a bit too cynical. It's not that Apple knows its marketing (although it's definitely wry about this sort of thing), it's that it understands factors a lot of its rivals barely even think about.

Take Samsung: its philosophy has long been that having bigger numbers in the specs and a longer feature list always makes a product better, design be damned. The Gear S is the ultimate manifestation of that. It has the hugest screen! Built-in cellular! It's an independent device! Only... it's too big and ugly, and the app selection is terrible. It looks like someone melted a Galaxy S on your wrist, and you wouldn't be caught dead wearing it at a social function. The interface isn't very intuitive or responsive, and the device isn't really as independent as Samsung wants you to think it is.

The Apple Watch's design isn't for everyone, but it shows that specs aren't everything. It's small enough and well-designed enough that you shouldn't have to apologize for wearing it. It's designed for a lot of the things people really do care about, like customizable bands, watch faces and loads of quality apps. Cellular? That can come later -- I'd rather see a company nail the basics first.

 

[boomhower]

I'm an Apple Fanboy but sitting this one out. I am interested but this one hasn't sold me. I very well may jump on the second gen.

 

[touchstone]

Heh, I think you're being a bit too cynical. It's not that Apple knows its marketing (although it's definitely wry about this sort of thing), it's that it understands factors a lot of its rivals barely even think about.

Take Samsung: its philosophy has long been that having bigger numbers in the specs and a longer feature list always makes a product better, design be damned. The Gear S is the ultimate manifestation of that. It has the hugest screen! Built-in cellular! It's an independent device! Only... it's too big and ugly, and the app selection is terrible. It looks like someone melted a Galaxy S on your wrist, and you wouldn't be caught dead wearing it at a social function. The interface isn't very intuitive or responsive, and the device isn't really as independent as Samsung wants you to think it is.

The Apple Watch's design isn't for everyone, but it shows that specs aren't everything. It's small enough and well-designed enough that you shouldn't have to apologize for wearing it. It's designed for a lot of the things people really do care about, like customizable bands, watch faces and loads of quality apps. Cellular? That can come later -- I'd rather see a company nail the basics first.

well i am not saying they dont make a lot of really excellent stuff but i just cannot deal with apple having control over all the hardware and software and not allowing me to repair or upgrade, i really enjoy all that stuff about computers. apple is great but it takes all that away, with the exception of the mac pro.

i am impressed with the watch. a few months ago, when apple announced this, i literally scoffed! 'an apple watch, are they serious?' now it seems much more sane of them, and certainly no effort to be laughed at. still, the price is too much and they need to allow android to use it. i refuse to use software with nannies.

 

[Commodus]

well i am not saying they dont make a lot of really excellent stuff but i just cannot deal with apple having control over all the hardware and software and not allowing me to repair or upgrade, i really enjoy all that stuff about computers. apple is great but it takes all that away, with the exception of the mac pro.

i am impressed with the watch. a few months ago, when apple announced this, i literally scoffed! 'an apple watch, are they serious?' now it seems much more sane of them, and certainly no effort to be laughed at. still, the price is too much and they need to allow android to use it. i refuse to use software with nannies.

I don't think Apple is bad for making those closed, tightly integrated platforms... it's just different. It's making technology that's designed to get out of your way, for the person who may like tech but would rather spend their Saturday riding their bike than replacing video cards.

I wouldn't expect Apple to make the Watch compatible with Android... possibly ever. Part of the point is that it integrates tightly with iPhone features. For example, Handoff lets you start reading a message on your watch and finish on an iOS device or Mac. Android support would either require putting a lot of frameworks on Android (Maps, Siri and the like) or else creating a lowest common denominator situation where you'd only get the features that can easily be shared between platforms... which isn't a lot.