 watch

[Fallen god]

Apples main market is the US and to them the iPhone costs $200, it amazes me how many people think this. For those same poeple I think $350 is going to cost a lot for a watch that will upgrade more often then normal.

£350 I think its a tad much too, most watches last forever as long as you take care off them, how long will an aWatch last, 2 years, maybe 3 before it starts to get seriously out classed. This is what makes the biggest difference, if its another device that you need to upgrade then I think it needs to be a bit cheaper.

 

[Flukester]

Apples main market is the US and to them the iPhone costs $200, it amazes me how many people think this. For those same poeple I think $350 is going to cost a lot for a watch that will upgrade more often then normal.

£350 I think its a tad much too, most watches last forever as long as you take care off them, how long will an aWatch last, 2 years, maybe 3 before it starts to get seriously out classed. This is what makes the biggest difference, if its another device that you need to upgrade then I think it needs to be a bit cheaper.

I agree, you can't treat it like a watch, it's simply technology that you happen to wear and will be obsolete in 2 years max.

It's worth the £350 if you can justify the expense either through the functionality it will bring you or if you just have the spare cash and like technology for the sake of it ....I hate to say I often fall into the latter as I like gadgets

 

[ShakenNstirred]

Apple act as if they invented this link to phone watch .
lots going on about the price, its from apple what do they expect
nothing is cheap from them

 

[iamtheoneneo]

What a dire piece of tech wrapped up in awful cosmetics. I'm sure people will buy them just like the andriod watches but this is a fad that needs to die soon as it feels like one big r+d money sink for all the companies involved whilst actually getting us nothing overly useful in return.

And Switzerland was supposed to be scared of this? I think there be just fine.

 

[Flukester]

What a dire piece of tech wrapped up in awful cosmetics. I'm sure people will buy them just like the andriod watches but this is a fad that needs to die soon as it feels like one big r+d money sink for all the companies involved whilst actually getting us nothing overly useful in return.

And Switzerland was supposed to be scared of this? I think there be just fine.

It won't die or go away. I predict what will happen is eventually all phone functionality will actually be in the watch. Goodbye phone / Phablet.

Give it 5-10 years though

 

[Raymond Lin]

What they could've done is watch that is like


- an adjustable bracelet.
- With a screen 360 degrees
- A gyro knowing which side is up so info will be display on the top side, so you don’t need to turn your wrist to read the info. It also means you can maximise screen estate you can display, to around 150 degrees possibly.
- With all that physical space behind the screem you can put in a bigger battery, possible a way to recharge itself like an automatic/Kinetic watch
- With the entire surface being touch screen, you can even use the other part of the watch like a touch pad to scroll if you want to for flicking up and down. No need for that crown design.

 

[Somnambulist]

Apple act as if they invented this link to phone watch.

Not really. What they're saying is what they said for the iPad. With that, there was no consumer market for tablets, because all of them were trying to jam the desktop PC experience onto something where it didn't work, so nobody bought them. Everyone then rushed out to copy them when they cracked it. Lots of people said nobody 'needs' and iPad, and look where we are now.

With the Watch, the difference this time is that based off rumours Apple were making a smart watch everyone has tried to 'get there first' but hasn't set the world on fire. Apple are just reiterating that you can't just take x (the typical smartphone touch OS) and wack it into y (a wearable for your wrist) and expect an intuitive/useful/easy to use experience.

Whether they have actually cracked it remains to be seen, but at least they're making an effort trying to think about ways to make it work better.

Also as an aside, a couple of the features that weren't obvious from the presentation:

You can send soundbites to other Watch owners using the internal mic/speaker, not just doodles/haptic taps.

Can control the camera on the iPhone (e.g display a live preview of what the camera sees, take the photo, or set the timer).

 

[Deku]

As a long time apple user I trust them to get it right.

I will not be getting the 1st gen but will have my eyes peeled a year from now.

 

[Nexus]

Custom wrist straps is just a power play by apple and sucks, everyone else sticks to the standard.

I disagree.
Apple knows full well and from what they have already said themselves that a watch is about being more than just another computer. It's a personal item and people want personality. It's one thing to have the same phone as everyone else, but if its something that you are going to wear, it needs to have personalisation so you don't end up looking like everyone else.

I personally think the strap is going to be a key part of what is likely to make this a success. I'm sure there are already top fashion brands lining up to be able to design them. That might not interest you, but for many it will.

I also really don't get the point of some of the 'features'. Why would you want/need to send your pulse to someone? I don't think the drawing message thing is very useful either. It's quicker to just get your phone out and send a text.

Simply put, with Snapchat users sending over 700 million "snaps" a day, they are pandering to the market demographic that enjoy communicating this way. They are also trying to attach something tangible to being able to 'touch' somebody you are communicating with more than has been achievable before... Is it cheesy... most certainly.... but its certainly going to popular with young people and couples.

 

[Burned_Alive]

This will be interesting, because what really drives phone sales generally is the ability for people to buy them on contract (zero or nominal upfront). That's not going to be the case with this.

 

[spoffle]

I just want something that just works and works beautifully, something that only Apple can do.

No, no it isn't.

My old S4 is crying plastic slimy tears looking at those IP6s

Samsung = Android, right?!

 

[Deep]

Ok to some people it's a lot (I think Joe Average income is around £28k ish), but for a piece of technology seems a fair price to me. To me it looks like it's worth the money considering how much R&D has gone into it.

Lets face it most of us are walking around with £500 handsets, have £300+ tablets... where is the difference. There isn't, you pay through the nose for tech and that's a choice you take.

btw, to me, £350 is not a lot of money.. I'm not rich, far from it..but if I feel it will provide functionality and justify that price tag I'll pay it. It's what consumers do

You can't knock Apple because something costs money

At 28k take home pay will be around £1700 a month, £350 is around 21‰ of their salary. It's a lot in one single purchase.

Which phones you have to remember that the cost is done by monthly payments not the full whack in one go. I buy a phone outright when I want one as my contract is perfect and cheap. I know a lot of people cannot afford to do that though.
I'm similar to you £350 isn't really a lot to me either, but that doesn't stop me being fairly careful with money.

I'm not knocking Apple, it was a silly statement to make.
Tbh I'm not a fan of smart watches at all, I really cannot see what they offer

 

[SDK^]

I really don't get these watches. For years some people have been saying 'why bother with a real watch when the time is on your phone'. Now we have phone functionality on watches.

So, we check our phones for the time and our watches for our text messages.

LOL

I'll stick to my Swiss time piece.

 

[Fallen god]

I disagree.
Apple knows full well and from what they have already said themselves that a watch is about being more than just another computer. It's a personal item and people want personality. It's one thing to have the same phone as everyone else, but if its something that you are going to wear, it needs to have personalisation so you don't end up looking like everyone else.

I personally think the strap is going to be a key part of what is likely to make this a success. I'm sure there are already top fashion brands lining up to be able to design them. That might not interest you, but for many it will.

Are you trying to claim that Apple has more custom straps then the entire watch market?

If they stuck to the standard strap size then you could literally buy any strap on the market and attach it too your watch, making it much much more customisable then the 6 Apple offers you.

IT is clearly a power play to not only control it all, but get that "Made for Apple Watch" sticker on them so they can get a bit of money will making sure no other watch can use those straps. Its a great business plan but sucks for everyone.

 

[Nexus]

Are you trying to claim that Apple has more custom straps then the entire watch market?

No, that's not a claim that I've made.

If they stuck to the standard strap size then you could literally buy any strap on the market and attach it too your watch, making it much much more customisable then the 6 Apple offers you.

IT is clearly a power play to not only control it all, but get that "Made for Apple Watch" sticker on them so they can get a bit of money will making sure no other watch can use those straps. Its a great business plan but sucks for everyone.

'Standard strap size' and that is what exactly?
Do you mean the ones which look like the most stereotypical design of watch strap in existence? The ones which you can pick up for £10 in a cobblers?

Just look at the array of watches out there, especially high end ones by the swiss manufacturers and tell me that they aren't all using their own custom designs, different widths and screw types.... thus nothing is truly standard and you are effectively locked down to the brand you bought it from.

Like Apple's other products, there are all sorts of manufacturers creating companion products for their devices, catering for all kinds of consumer and wallet size, regardless of whether it has an official 'works with Watch' or similar stamp on it.

The watch straps will be no different to iPhone/iPad cases, but given that its a fashion/jewellery product, it's going to be even more significant.

 

[DeathStorm]

I agree, you can't treat it like a watch, it's simply technology that you happen to wear and will be obsolete in 2 years max.

What's going to be obsolete about it in 2 years? The big limitations as far as I can see are UI design and battery life. The former can be fixed at anytime and the latter is unlikely to change much anytime soon.

 

[Somnambulist]

I'm sure there'll be some neat 3rd party straps. I like the fact you're not tied down to a single strap either, so you'd be able to have one for sports/work/play etc.

I don't get the pulse thing, other than as a cute gimmick (hey bbz, can u feel my heart beating 4u? xoxo), but I love the idea of very quickly getting someone's attention or working out some sort of non-verbal code with people you know - they say the majority of communication in real life is non-verbal, so having some tech that lets people communicate digitally in non-speech related ways could be pretty cool; the Emoji thing was kind of daft but that's because writing on it's own doesn't always convey how you feel and it acts as it's a sort of handy approximation.

 

[DeathStorm]

It won't die or go away. I predict what will happen is eventually all phone functionality will actually be in the watch. Goodbye phone / Phablet.

Give it 5-10 years though

I'd agree for the most part but even on a decently sized phone some tasks like browsing the web can be tedious and on a watch sized screen...

 

[Bonjour]

What's going to be obsolete about it in 2 years? The big limitations as far as I can see are UI design and battery life. The former can be fixed at anytime and the latter is unlikely to change much anytime soon.

The first generation ipad was obsolete within 2 years of release.

The first gens of Apple devices tend to fair worse in this respect, as their devices don't generally mature until the 3rd gen.

 

[darubio]

I dont see the point of the watch however iPhone 6 looks amazing