Will you buy an Apple Watch?

[TheForce]

I wonder when I forgot how to use a slip stick. Probably about 5 minutes after I got a good calculator.

I think that white plastic slide is still in a drawer somewhere around here.

Does ANYBODY remember how to use one?

How many ever used a circular slide rule?




I guess it's time for me to read up on what an Apple Watch actually does.

My first job as an engineer my new boss saw me using the "slip stick" He said, what is that thing? Snatched it out of my hands and tossed it in the trash can. Then he handed me a small circular slide rule and said those sticks are for architects, not for chemical engineers. The circular fit in my shirt pocket which I liked and discovered it was the same length in circumference as my "slipstick" so had the same accuracy, plus had many conversion factors on a chart on the back. I never went back to the slipstick. I only tossed my circular sliderule when I bought a HP-45 calculator. Now that was some real calculating power, especially since it used RPN formula for better efficiency in complex calculations than those TI calculators.

 

[TheForce]

What I've found: It does nine tents of nothing that I can't already do with my iPhone 6+.

So, you wear your iphone 6+ on your wrist? I've got to see that. The whole point of the Apple Watch is to have all that stuff on your wrist so you don't need to extract that mini ipad out everytime you get a call, e-mail, text, track other data, look at weather radar map and all sorts of other stuff too.

The wrist watch variety is not marketing hype. There are probably a million designs of wrist watches and any one maker will come out with a variation every month! The reason is that these things are personal, closer to jewelry, than a phone or computer. As such, Apple is venturing into the new industry of fashion in a jewelry item that combines lifestyle convenience with the function of a remote for the phone.

And hard to see any wide appeal.
Again, have I missed something?

If your observation is of poor homeless people, no they do not have wrist watches or smart phones unless they found it in the trash. But 99% of the people I see every day wear a watch and most now have a watch that does more than just tell time. Very young crowd are less prone to wear a watch today. But if you look at them, they are seen walking down the street "wearing" a phone in their two hands face down staring at the screen and tapping out text
messages. Saw one this morning so fixed on that phone they walked in front of a car never looking to see if the intersection was clear and they had the light. Thank god the driver wasn't busy texting too. he probably had a watch.


Kraven- you're either a homeless person or just weird. I think the latter.



Here's a good example- This morning I had to go to the DMV and renew my auto tags because I forgot to do it in a timely manner earlier by mail. The waiting is long, over an hour. Then there is a sign that says to assist others waiting, please refrain from using your phone in this waiting room. If you use your phone, you will go to the end of the line. So, I have a watch and don't need to go to the end of the line since I can see what time it is without having to pull out my phone. Now here's where it gets really interesting. My smart watch has an app I can trade stocks, among other things. I did a trade from my watch, never having to pull out my phone and be punished for that. I checked my e-mail, rejected a couple inbound calls. Answered with a text, "Busy, call later today" etc. So what could I have done? I guess stare at the TV screen with some ads on how efficient the DMV is plus a side bar calling out the next ticket number. I suppose you would have brought along a paperback to read as several others were doing.

 

[navychop]

I still have my fluorescent tube calculator with RPN. Loved it. Everyone else hated it. I did not have to worry about someone swiping my (then expensive) calculator.

I wear my 6+ in a inside vest pocket. I was wearing it on my belt clip, until I broke it. Very handy. Must try to repair.....

 

[mike123abc]

Again, have I missed something?

So far it looks like it is as you describe. But, so was the first iPhone, many saw it and just yawned thinking it was just another phone.

I can make calls just fine from my free flip phone, why would I ever need that expensive iPhone?

I am not intending to buy one for what it seems to be doing now, but for the potential of what it might become. If it fails it is a $400 fancy text message reader.

The real question is if Apple is still able to create whole markets for things you never thought you needed, but when you see it you know you have always wanted and needed it.

 

[TheForce]

Smart watches have been around for several years now. All the Apple watch will do is more than a fancy text message reader for the iphone. If that's all you think it is then you don't understand the purpose of a smart watch at all, much less what an Apple Watch will add to the Smartwatch concept. If the public rejects what this will do ( extremely unlikely) then for those of us who have one will still be able to do far more than just a fancy text reader.

I see a huge number of early adopters right out of the gate. As people become educated in this concept, they will get on board over the next few years, same as people did with ipod, ipad, and iphone. Apple didn't create the market for any of this stuff and hasn't created the market for the smart watch. What Apple does is take those existing emerging markets, and makes a much more elegant and robust product that takes the public by storm.

We had Bag phones, satellite phones, then walkie talkies that connected to the phone lines, then we had the small flip phone; but these were just phones. Enter the first smart phone, the Hewlett Packard IPAQ. How long did it take before Apple refined the smart phone and introduced the iphone?

We had small cassette players with earphones you wore on your belt, long before we had MP3 players, then Apple came into that market with a far more elegant offering, the ipod.

Apple doesn't invent any market, they just introduce a more elegant solution that makes the market a hit.

 

[Ilya]

Don, I think Apple Watch is pretty much guaranteed to be a quick hit, unless some major flaw is discovered. Here is why.

Apple's recipe to success has always been a combination of top-notch design and engineering with aesthetic appeal, the "coolness factor". And I think the smart watch market is a gold mine in that respect. While phones have become fashion items not too long ago (with Apple being one of the major reasons), watches have always been fashion items! You don't really need a golden watch to keep track of time. A cheap $5 watch can easily do the job. But people are accustom to spending much more on watches because it's a fashion accessory, not just a functional device. Apple realizes that very well, and that's why it's coming out with so many different styles and combinations from the start. I think it's pretty much a given that a lot of people will be buying Apple Watch this year if nothing else, just because it's cool. But whether it will become a lasting trend - that will largely depend on the app developers, on how appealing the phone apps and features will be. That can spell a difference between a shot-lived fad and a must-have device that we won't want to live without. We'll find out soon enough.

 

[TheForce]

Let us know how that turns out.

typical- The bids ran up fast near the end and got too close to retail discounted price. These watches are too popular, I guess.

 

[mike123abc]

Apple doesn't invent any market, they just introduce a more elegant solution that makes the market a hit.

Apple did not invent the portable music player or the smartphone. What they did was figure out what was wrong with all the existing devices and "fix it". Apple "fixed" the media player by figuring out that iTunes was needed to sell music and manage people's music collections. The iPhone had a useful interface without any keys combined with an app store that worked. A company like Xerox may have something revolutionary sitting around (like a mouse) but not be able to sell it, make it easy enough to use, or market it. Just because Apple did not "invent" the device, they can "invent" the market for it.

 

[tigerfan33]

I have friends that buy Apple products just because it's Apple. At the same time I have friends that won't touch Apple because it's Apple.
I'm in the middle as I believe most are. If I want a product and want it because it's a good product and or can help me make life easier, I will get it.
I have iPhone, iPad and will get a Watch. I don't have a Mac or Apple TV as I have other devices that make more sense to me.

 

[TheForce]

We bought an imac for the kitchen because it looked slick and added to the decor. The fact that it satisfies my wife's need for a desktop computer was secondary. Getting used to the way it works was a bit of a struggle for both of us, but now we're used to it.

 

[TheForce]

A company like Xerox may have something revolutionary sitting around (like a mouse) but not be able to sell it, make it easy enough to use, or market it.

It may be before your time so you are not aware but Xerox did not invent the Mouse. It was invented by a company named Palo Alto Research Corporation, that bought the company, wholly owned, becoming Xerox PARC. Since PARC needed funding as it was not able to sell it's ideas they took funding and Xerox was ripe for a group like PARC to work on their copier problem. Xerox could have marketed the Mouse if they wanted to but at that time was tapped out doing it's own thing trying to refine the photocopier. PARC was strictly a research company, not interested in any product production. When Xerox out of Rochester funded their research into NMRI (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging ) in the early 70's the distance between Xerox headquarters in NY and Palo Alto, CA gave them lots of freedom to create other technologies, like a GUI and the Mouse and object oriented programming, WYSIWIG, and the ethernet. The only technology Xerox ever did market was a Xerox computer but was not very successful. I'm pretty sure PARC as a corporation was also funded by and wholly owned by Xerox it's whole history until after 2000 when Xerox parted ways and now it is just known as "PARC." There were rumors that both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs stole the Mouse technology from X-PARC but the truth is PARC invited them both in to show off the GUI and the mouse was part of it. PARC was interested in just bragging about their stuff and hoped the two personal computer developers would just use it to give PARC credibility. The rest is history but today, few know the true inventor of many of these things we use came from PARC. Not good businessmen, just comfortable scientists happy to have their research funded by anyone who would do that and happy to give away their work to anyone who would use it.

 

[navychop]

I have friends that buy Apple products just because it's Apple. At the same time I have friends that won't touch Apple because it's Apple.
I'm in the middle as I believe most are. If I want a product and want it because it's a good product and or can help me make life easier, I will get it.
I have iPhone, iPad and will get a Watch. I don't have a Mac or Apple TV as I have other devices that make more sense to me.

So - WHY will you get the watch? Any particular reason, or just to extend the Apple/iPhone or ????

 

[tigerfan33]

For work and workout out and fitness.
If the Watch works as reported, I'll be able to connect to my iPhone and get text messages without my phone being too close by. I miss texts daily that I need with people thinking I have my phone on me all day.
Several hours later I check my phone and then it's too late. Costing me $.
Fitness part of the Watch is not a must have for me like the notifications. It's a big bonus. Doesn't need to be accurate to a t for me to get something out of it.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I don't know how they did it, but iFixit got and tore down and Apple Watch.

 

[Foxbat]

Beat me to it! https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+Watch+Teardown/38659

 

[stimpson]

Ha!!!!

 

[TheForce]

April Fools!

 

[TheForce]

This was just put up on YT:

 

[tigerfan33]

Thanks Don.
Apple has put up several learning videos in the guided tour section for the Watch. Shows you how to customize your watch face, send messages and so on.
Other videos are going to be released showing you the workout app and a few others probably will be ready leading up to this Friday.

Also of note. Apple Care+ for the Watch $79 and Sport $59. Covers for two years plus two broken glass face.
$999 for the Edition.

 

[TheForce]

I will be traveling on the 10th so I will not be able to see it on the first day. But I should be in Vegas where they have 4 Apple stores on the 12th. Is it better to order a new release item at the store for later delivery to the home or better to go online and order through the web site for delivery? In other words, on preorders, is there a different delivery time or does Apple usually handle preorders first placed first shipped? When you preorder at a store, do they require you to pick up at the store or do they ship to another state?