- My week and a half wearing an apple watch has taught me one big lesson about watches. A watch is only secondarily used to tell time. Upon realizing this Apples’s whole advertising strategy around the watch suddenly made sense. The Apple Watch is not about utility, it is about the materials that make it up and the people who care about those materials. Watches are actually social signifiers more than time pieces, fitness trackers, or notification screens, they communicate the wealth and status of the wearer.
I mean, I guess. The Apple Watch sucks because it's fucking $349 or whatever. Compare that to my Pebble's $50. Is it still a luxury item? Yes. Would I buy it at $100? Probably not. Would I buy it again at $50? Hell yeah. I'll pay the Apple tax for a Macbook. Shit's been doing well for two years running now, so at least it feels worth it for its price (knocks on every piece of wood in the room). But if I'm gonna pay $349 for a watch, it better not be obsolete in the next year - which this thing will be, when the updated version comes out. If the Apple Watch isn't about utility, then it shouldn't be a smartwatch. It should just be a watch.
Maybe Apple Watch 2 will iron it out like the iPad 2 did and it'll also refuse to die. Apple is very careful about subsequent hardware iterations be evolutionary improvements on the prior generation. It drives some Windows fanboys crazy that new Macbook processors don't cause the computer to violate physical laws with their processor speed but Apple makes great products because they don't try to redefine a market or lead geek benchmarks every three months to a year. I do wish I had a Pebble though. It's such a better idea right now even if it isn't very sexy.
Yes, that's why I think the Apple Watch will be a dud with their current approach. They are trying to make it both a watch and a consumer electronic. There is a reason why all watches aren't digital, especially expensive ones. Expensive watches are luxury fashion items that age well. Consumer electronics have a much shorter lifespan than expensive watches. Laptops are expected to last a few years; you aren't going to give your grandson your thirty-year-old Macbook or your thirty-year-old Apple Watch as a wedding gift, but you would give him your thirty-year-old Longines. If the Apple Watch isn't a phone replacement, it needs to cost far less than one.
I think they're doing something a bit different here. This has traditionally been true of the luxury watch market. I don't think Apple is going after watch guys (and they are mostly guys). Many people don't realize this, but the Apple Watch has the lowest starting price of any new category in the history of the company. That's the Sport. With the Edition, (and regular Apple Watch), they aren't going after luxury watch collectors, -they're going after luxury goods buyers. Fashion, jewelry, and yeah it's also the most capable fully featured smartwatch on the consumer gadget side too. There are a ton of wealthy people who spend well over a grand on a jacket they wear a handful of times. High end consumers, not high end watch guys. And this is just V1. It's going to get cheaper and more capable. But as it stands with the number they sold already (est), they're on track for this to be a 1 billion dollar profit in year 1 alone. A rounding error compared to their other categories, but a number that other companies would kill for and objectively wildly profitable for a V1 product that is only going to improve in every way. I don't think I would call its current incarnation a dud functionally or business-wise, and I think this category is only going to be more compelling as technology progresses. A $10 casio is more accurate than a $10,000 rolex. I'd wager that Apple watch delivers more functionality, fashion and design for the buck in the minds of its buyers than just about any watch on Earth.Expensive watches are luxury fashion items that age well...you aren't going to give your grandson your thirty-year-old Macbook or your thirty-year-old Apple Watch as a wedding gift
Not to use, but I'd take an original Macintosh because they look neat and are a part of history. And a Lisa. And a Newton. I'd even look at a Pippin very intently for a couple minutes.you aren't going to give your grandson your thirty-year-old Macbook
YES YES YES. People buy $1000 watches all the time - or even more. But to buy one that will be obsolete in 1-3 years? no thanks. Most expensive watches appreciate with time. This one will be a well designed paperweight. Kinda sad really. but good luck taking my iPhone or my macbook away. I get about 5-8 years out of my machines before moving on. Seriously. I don't see it as a tax. I see it as an investments. YMMV.