iWatch

[Merneith]

I could be in the market for a smart watch, but not at that price or that size. I get why they wouldn’t want to go smaller than 38 millimeters (and maybe even can’t) but I think that would look to big for my wrist. And I know they say that it’s going to be scratch resistant but banging around on my wrist has historically not been a safe place to be.

I don’t know. I suspect this might be a product to wait for the second gen to come out.

[suranyi]

@tellyworth

It seems like they got a bunch of details right. The size in particular - 38mm is about the biggest you’d want to wear on a small wrist. And they’ve put a lot of thought into the finer details of the UI. If it’s properly waterproof and the battery life is sufficent, then it’s a technical success.

I don’t think the price is an issue. Anyone buying a watch is going to spend either $20, or hundreds and up. And most of the $20 crowd probably don’t wear watches at all now that they have phones. A watch is a luxury item.

The thing is, how is it better than just pulling your phone out of your pocket? Sure, I can see a text message or alert. On a tiny screen. When I move my wrist up to my face. That’s something I’d do maybe once or twice a day. And I’d probably want to get my phone out to reply. I could make a phone call… what am I going to do, move my wrist back and forth between my mouth and ear?

That’s not a failure of the Apple watch, I think it’s just the nature of smart watches in general. I think what Apple might have succeeded at doing here is proving that they’re a niche product at best.

The health monitoring stuff is more interesting. It could make a useful gadget for training. But the Apple watch’s sensors don’t seem to be better than those already available in other devices. And I suspect the screen will mean that its battery life is marginal at best.

I was kind of hoping they’d announce not a watch, but something more like an ipod shuffle with fitness tracking sensors. Strap it on your arm when you go for a jog, listen to music, track everything. I might buy that. But probably not the watch.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket just to check the time is a pain, especially when I’m wearing tight jeans. Also, it’s impossible to do it surreptitiously. Glancing at my wrist is much easier. That’s why I still wear a watch most days. I’d be interested in the iWatch except it’s pretty expensive.

[tellyworth]

@suranyi

Pulling my phone out of my pocket just to check the time is a pain, especially when I’m wearing tight jeans. Also, it’s impossible to do it surreptitiously. Glancing at my wrist is much easier. That’s why I still wear a watch most days.

Sure, that’s why I wear a watch too. I look at it probably dozens of times a day. But a message? Anything more than a few words will be too small or fiddly to read. And are you going to reply from a tiny screen like that? You’re probably going to get your phone out anyway.

Is it really going to be much more useful than the simple “hey you got a message” indicator that we already have? Sure, you can immediately see who it’s from. But if reading and responding to the message is usually going to result in you getting your phone out anyway, then that seems a pretty marginal advantage.

I could be totally wrong. I don’t get that many messages. I’m sure there are situations where it’s useful. And I expect we’ll see some interesting new applications. I’ll be curious to see what they are, and how people actually use smart watches in practice.

[scr4]

@tellyworth

Sure, that’s why I wear a watch too. I look at it probably dozens of times a day. But a message? Anything more than a few words will be too small or fiddly to read. …

Is it really going to be much more useful than the simple “hey you got a message” indicator that we already have?

Absolutely. A smartwatch can show the sender, subject and maybe the first line of the e-mail. Glancing at this information is enough to let me know whether it’s an e-mail I need to read (on my phone) right now, or dismiss till I get back to my laptop. Same with text messages - a glance will tell me if I need to read the full message immediately.

And also, the phone can tell me “hey, you got a message” without disturbing anyone around me, even if my phone is in my backpack, coat pocket, or even another room in the house (depends on how far).

[Little_Pig]

@DChord568

BTW, the item in question is called the Apple Watch, not the iWatch.

What do I feel Apple was counting on this?

[Little_Pig]

I’m gonna sit on the side lines for this one. No doubt the new iPhones will be a hit. I see this as a kind of add-on. A nice add-on, no doubt but $350.00 as a starting price? (Am I right on the entry cost?) This is what I read, somewhere. Apple doesn’t list it yet.

I keep thinking what more can they add to the watch to sway me/you.

[Garula]

I find watches uncomfortable to wear. I can conceive of applications that would get me to wear a smart watch, and I actually rather like the idea of the thing being linked to my much more powerful phone, but I am lukewarm at best about the prospect at the moment.