The AVC Apple Watch Survey

With the Apple Watch available via pre-order, we are starting to get some data on how it is doing. I thought I’d take this opportunity to survey the AVC community, an early adopter crowd if there ever was one, about it. Please take a minute this morning to answer five short questions about your interest and intentions for Version 1.0 of the Apple Watch.
Take Our Survey

Click here to see the early results (roughly 700 responses at 9am eastern)

#mobile#Uncategorized

Comments (Archived):

  1. awaldstein

    Curious group of questions.No indication of why if I do or don’t I will or won’t buy it.That is more interesting to me rather that whether I’m an iphone user living in NY of a certain age.Left possible the most interesting part of it on the table.

    1. Anne Libby

      That’s what the comments are for.

      1. awaldstein

        maybe so then why create a survey at all as the information will be of little to no use.

        1. Anne Libby

          If AVC is Fred’s bar, I saw his survey as an expansion/starting point for a bar/dinner table conversation…not actionable data. Conversation points.And really, results here will be skewed by the very particular crowd we have here, on any given day.Apple and their analysts have their own ways of gathering data. Who needs what Fred’s gathering here?

          1. awaldstein

            I guess.I had huge success with survey marketing in the 90s. That was then.Peoples opinions useable in a digital format collectable in real time on our mobile devices have never been more valuable though.Surveys are to me conversation stoppers not starters.If Fred had simply asked what people thought he would have gotten this comment stream.Which btw is as useless as a survey for analyzing the information received.That’s the point. It needn’t be.

          2. Anne Libby

            Maybe Fred’s playing with the survey tool…AVC is his lab, too.

          3. awaldstein

            dunno.gathering information about what your customers and networks think is the single most valuable and most difficult information to gather.asking people questions is not the way to gather opinions. providing an environment, like these comments, but in a way where it is more real time, more mobile based, uni language and most important–more useable as data is the golden ring for everything from advertising to customer service.

          4. Anne Libby

            Looking forward to having a Fresh later today!

          5. David Semeria

            Bingo amico!

        2. fredwilson

          I agree with you both. At the end of an in person survey there is often a discussion to get more info out. Thats what the comments do here. The survey may have been poorly executed but even if it were done well the comments would add some insights

          1. awaldstein

            i have an agenda and a passion towards how we create feedback loops around ideas and products and services obviously.avc is the most wondrous corner case as a marketplace of ideas. expression just happens.not true for 90+% of products, restaurants, services.invariably companies are dieing for feedback and lean on the survey as a method and it fails time and again. and will continue to do so.both how we gather feedback (the survey) and the response to how questionable the positioning of the watch is are both huge thought balloons for me.thanks for this double shot of joe fred. work calls!

          2. David Semeria

            That works with the volume of comments you get here Fred, but as you know it doesn’t scale. Imagine asking people at home to suggest questions to be put to The President on TV in real time.That’s when automated crowd sourced opinion gathering comes into it’s own….

    2. fredwilson

      That is good feedback. I wanted something simple to complete and analyze. Given that what questions could I have asked?

      1. gregorylent

        do you feel the watch duplicates functions already on your phone?are “health” apps really that important to you?

        1. awaldstein

          think differently about this. certain messages belong in different places. see below.

        2. fredwilson

          Those a great suggestions

      2. awaldstein

        First the format (the platform) as @hymanroth:disqus suggests above can only give you answers to what you’ve already thought of. Veespo turns this on its head honestly.Rather than questions, these are answers I”m personally puzzled by about the watch. And why I’m going to buy it.-Is information at the right time fashion in itself? Wearables are cool but the information invariably is both divorced from the actions and one step removed from accessing.-Is the watch smart cause it bifurcates message access? I hate that I am glued to my phone for everything. Some stuff I simply want to be reminded of. A wearable makes sense for me just like when you are doing productions or on air you have an earpiece.-Can a small screen be the vehicle for a follow on message? Lots of stuff reminds you to do things. Where can you follow up?Thinking about the watch as a watch is shortsighted I think. Apple has done a poor job themselves on this and have not been able to distill this down.I’m interested in doing that myself.

        1. Chimpwithcans

          I would add this answer I’m puzzled by: – Am i ready for yet another device to make use of my life’s data more obviously and tangibly (off top of my head – medical data through skin touching sensors, payments through swiping actions/Apple pay) than ever before, as opposed to the sneaky, underworld sort of way in which I feel that data is collected and used at the moment through my smart phone?

          1. awaldstein

            perfect.this is the anti survey as currently defined.there are really interesting behavioral questions that experience with the device will unleash.i think it is potentially a great product unrealized even by the creator. we are simply not accustomed to this misstep from apple.

        2. William Mougayar

          Well, buy one and you will have these answers!

          1. awaldstein

            i intend to.

          2. William Mougayar

            me too.

        3. fredwilson

          Thanks Arnold

        4. markslater

          just like the phone? that thing in your pocket that you use as a phone for less than 10% of the time 😉

  2. William Mougayar

    Turning the survey back at you.What’s driving you to do this survey? Why do you see the Apple Watch specifically different from other i-watches?What did you have for dinner last evening?

    1. fredwilson

      I went to see Nets Bulls at Barclays with my daughter. We had beer and barbeque at the arenaI am trying to figure out how much personal headspace I should allocate to the watch

      1. William Mougayar

        Are you thinking about getting one and having “first hand” experience with it? (as an experiment)

        1. fredwilson

          No. Thats why I’m trying other things. I hate watches so I’m not a good judge of this personally

          1. William Mougayar

            but it’s not a watch :)terrible name for a mini-smartphone.

          2. fredwilson

            It is a watch. You wear it on your wrist. I have put other things on my wrist over the years mostly watches and occasionally bands of one sort or another. I dislike the feeling of having things on my body, particularly my wrist. The only thing I’ve been able to keep on my body is my wedding band

          3. markslater

            i really dont feel like its a watch. I spend less that 2% of my time using my iphone as a phone – i’ll posit that something similar will happen with this device.

          4. William Mougayar

            …and the LG bluetooth neck headset. Maybe after one of your kids starts raving about the Apple Watch, we’ll see; just like they lured you into Snapchat 😉

          5. fredwilson

            i’ve stopped wearing the headset to be honesti think it gave me tinnitus

          6. William Mougayar

            Oh sorry about that. Had to look up what it means…affects 20% of people. Hmm

          7. markslater

            not a terrible name – very clever. I agree its not a watch. The iphone is not a phone…..but its a branding familiarity launch point to gain consumer adoption.

          8. William Mougayar

            true, – the smartphone/iphone isn’t really a phone anymore.

          9. William Mougayar

            you hated the iphone (sort of), but ended-up getting one to experiment and find out first hand. i predict you will change your mind and try an Apple or other i-watch, even for a month. peer pressure 🙂

          10. William Mougayar

            what are “other things”?

          11. fredwilson

            A survey

          12. LE

            Your survey is asking people to weigh in on how they see the world based on what they know now. Not how the world will be when they finally use the device and see what it can do for them. [1]As such it’s essentially a false negative or positive, depending on how you want to frame the questions. Really doesn’t matter much what they say.[1] There are two things that I swore I would never like. One was taking a cruise and the other was playing golf. When I finally was dragged on a cruise I ended up loving it and took more. It totally clicked with me because I had experiences that I couldn’t imagine. Golf I ended up hating. But mainly because I wasn’t able to experience the things that many others see as a benefit. Essentially business gain. If I was able to experience that there is no question that I would have liked golf. Because it would have been more than just “getting the stupid ball in the hole”.

          13. markslater

            i think you need to start by wiping clean the notion that this should be compared with what we have come to know as a “watch”.The iphone is really only a phone in name. The iwatch will really only be a watch in name.A suggested start point might be….. Lightweight wearable smart device abstraction on your wrist.Like you i don’t wear a watch…..haven’t for years. Its my guess that the way we use this device will be nothing like the way we use a watch.

          14. fredwilson

            if it is strapped to my wrist and annoys me constantly, its a watch or a bracelet or a band. that’s my #1 issue. i hate things on my body

          15. markslater

            just as you typed that the CTO of woosports walked by and i asked him the same thing…..he had the same answer – nothing on his body! i get that.

          16. LE

            Basic principle: People are not annoyed by things that provide some benefit that rises above the annoyance. [1] The Apple Watch if it manages to become widely adopted as a platform will do this. [2]It’s the reason I shlep two laptops and other gear when I travel. It’s not like I am not bothered by the extra weight it’s that the benefit I get outweighs that annoyance. (Avoidance of anxiety essentially…)If you told a ball player that wearing a nose ring would allow him to improve his batting average by X% what would he say? Sorry, I’m not going to wear a nose ring forget it.[1] Why do people live in NYC? Why do they put up with getting packed into subway cars and living in micro apartments and high prices? Because the benefits to them of being in NYC nullify that annoyance to a degree that renders it insignificant and unimportant juxtaposed to the benefits.[2] There is always the chance of failure to execute but Apple has a good track record here.

          17. LE

            Another example of “annoys” to go along with my other comment. Before our first child was born I swore that I didn’t want anyone in the house to take care of the child because I really don’t like aliens or strangers in the house. Or my inlaws. But once our first child was born it was different. The “alien” (and the inlaws) removed much of the dredge work of taking care of the child that might have fallen on some of my shoulders. So all the sudden the negative became a positive. And I reacted with delight each time they came through the door.

          18. SubstrateUndertow

            I hate phones too but I love handheld network-computers :-)I hate watches even more unless they could somehow turn them into some kind of wrist-worn network-computer.

          19. LE

            This is not a watch anymore than an automobile is a horseless carriage. Or a vacation home is a place that you sleep.You need to be able to understand on a gut level what you don’t intuitively understand from your own experience, likes or dislikes. I am not a fan of music, sports or fine dining like you are. But I am fully aware and I am able to see why others are, and exactly what they see as having value and providing benefits. I can see it through the eyes of those who enjoy it. I can see why Arnold is so into wine even though I am not and I just buy the $10 bottle of the same stuff (currently a simple Riesling).The flip side of this is relying on what you like (music) has pushed you into making investments in that area because of your misinterpretation of the halo that you put around it as a result of your own bias. It would be like me assuming that everyone enjoys cars or computers and buys them like I do. (Note: I don’t know how those investments have worked for you just making a point..)I’ll end with this. Don’t let this be another Airbnb pass.

      2. pointsnfigures

        Mirotic has been on fire.

      3. JimHirshfield

        That’s the ticket: separating your professional interest from your personal gut check not to buy one. For instance, where does the smart watch take us in re mesh networks that the smart watch won’t?

      4. JLM

        .Pretty much every big problem the world faces can be brought into focus with beer and BBQ. Well played!Extra points if your daughter also had beer and BBQ.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

        1. Matt Zagaja

          We finally got a good BBQ place here in CT: http://www.nytimes.com/2014…Incredibly excited to try it next weekend.

          1. JLM

            .Looks like a good one, also. Enjoy but know it isn’t Texas BBQ. Close your eyes and think of the Lone Star state when you take your first bite.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

        2. fredwilson

          she did

          1. JLM

            .You may try to advance anecdotes and experiences that reflect favorably upon your parenting skills but nothing — NOTHING — will ever overshadow a loving daughter who accompanies a Dad to a basketball game and drinks beer and eats BBQ.Such a story needs no embellishment. It screams GREAT PARENTING! It shows, without having to resort to telling, LOVE.The force is powerful in this girl and you, my friend, are a very lucky man. You have done well.Daughters of the world, read, listen, learn. We Dads require so little. So pathetically little to be owned by our daughters.It goes without saying — WELL PLAYED!JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

      5. LE

        I am trying to figure out how much personal headspace I should allocate to the watchForget surveys, no need to think, you need to devote a portion of your head space to the watch.And there is no question in my mind about that.See this story about Disney Magic Bands (which I have mentioned before a few times):http://www.secureidnews.com…I used these recently at Disney. And I will repeat again that as soon as I did I immediately saw the future and Apple Watch potential. And guess what? I didn’t mind wearing a band that only did one thing either. And I haven’t worn a watch since college. Magic Band? Put it on every morning and loved not having to use a credit card, or fob, or card key to enter a room or theme park. The benefit was immediate and I loved it. As did everyone else on the trip.Also to point out that Jobs was on the board of Disney and almost certainly prior to his death was privy to information regarding development, studies and use of Magic Bands. The tie in is obvious. This is what drove them to do Apple Watch and it’s even possible that Jobs was key in Magic Band and saw the connection with iphone before that.

  3. JimHirshfield

    I’ve stated here that I don’t want a smart watch.Some how I ended up backing the Pebble Time.Go figure.

  4. Russell

    Completed – might want to add a question – do you know anyone who will buy one?

  5. eigerly

    Unavailable answer to Q.1: I will buy one, but not until Gen 2 or Gen 3 when the watch is more stand-alone.

    1. Mario Fornieles

      I agree, I think than an option for people who see the value of the product but are waiting for it to evolve should be added!

    2. fredwilson

      That’s why I said this was all about V1

  6. Seth Godin

    I’m flummoxed by their strategy. I’m rarely an Apple skeptic, and they are the most powerful brand in the history of the world (if powerful means using brand premium and awareness to drive significant change in the way we live), but…http://sethgodin.typepad.co…The watch hasn’t been a functional item for years, and it stopped being jewelry for the masses after Timex changed the equation. To reclaim the watch as a functional and beautiful luxury item is just incredibly audacious.All my instincts say that they need to create a significant social incentive to wear one, the very thing Google Glass missed on so badly. And I’m not seeing that happening.But I’ve been wrong before…

    1. fredwilson

      Me too Seth. Often wrong. Never in doubt!!!

      1. David Barnes

        Love that, can I steal it?

        1. Chimpwithcans

          Sure….(I just did)

        2. fredwilson

          Sure. I stole it from someone else

          1. Jake Baker

            My mom always used the phrasing “Not always right, never in doubt” which has a ring of assured confidence approaching arrogance that seems to elevate the saying even a touch more. Glad to see it in use in whatever formate.

    2. William Mougayar

      Well, we’ll need to stop thinking about it as a watch. It looks like a watch, tells time like watch, but it’s not a watch.

      1. Joe Cardillo

        To your point in that post about mindshare / branding…..and some of the comments above, I think this will work if they’re able to keep the perception and use just flexible enough to allow evolution. It doesn’t matter what people call it if it connects in a deep way.

        1. William Mougayar

          Exactly.

      2. SubstrateUndertow

        It just a game of watch and weight evolution 🙂

    3. David Barnes

      Clocks/watches followed this path:1. Fill a room2. On a desk3. In your pocket4. On your wristComputers have so far followed the same path to Stage 3. Why not 4?

      1. Eric

        The clock on your wrist could outright replace the clock in your pocket.There’s very little reason to think that a computer on your wrist will ever be able to completely replace the one in your pocket, simply due to display size and battery limitations.

      2. laurie kalmanson

        once upon a time, phones were attached by a cord to the wall …

    4. Mario Cantin

      Ummm. I had told myself (rationally) I’m not getting the Apple watch — no longer wear one, don’t need that shit; however, the closer we get to April 24, the more I feel an emotional frenzy gradually taking me over. I just know I will get one even though “I don’t want one”.The fact is that owning a product carefully crafted and designed by Apple is an amazing experience worth spending at least 400 bucks on.They are so uniquely good at this that the decision becomes visceral.This will not be the case with everybody, but it is for me and it will be for many other people.

    5. mikenolan99

      I think the pivot on this will be towards hacking health/fitness/lifestyle. The easy first play is the watch/smartphone hybrid… but the evolution will be amazing.The exciting frontier is how technology can help both the individual – and through big data – the human race – get healthier.Imagine how much better data wearable technology can provide your doctor than the questioner you fill out once a year. (What is your activity level? Light, Moderate, etc.)Tracking caloric intake, constant heartbeat, sinus rhythms, blood work… External environment factors – pollution, noise… very exciting stuff.

  7. David Semeria

    I’m talking up my own book here, but surveys like these have a lot of limitations. The key problem is that users can’t add their own answers.For example, some people might have added “I might buy one when the technology matures and I can see other people getting value from it”Also, there is no way for people to communicate the WHY of their choice. In my case I would have added: “I won’t buy an Apple Watch because I won’t buy Apple products owing to their closed ecosystem”.Surveys haven’t changed in 50 years. It’s time for them to get disrupted too 🙂

    1. awaldstein

      Yup and if anyone has their finger on that change you do.If you only get answers to what you ask and have predetermined answers you are looking for, you will get only what you ask for.And truth be told, you rarely get that.

    2. fredwilson

      You and Arnold are on the same page this morning

      1. David Semeria

        Well that’s not a coincidence. Arnold has been our one and only adviser for nearly four years.

        1. fredwilson

          I love that. Did you meet him here?

          1. David Semeria

            Oh yes! Arnold has been amazing.

          2. fredwilson

            One of many great things that have happened here over the years. It makes me proud

    3. Eric Satz

      Surveys rarely contain actionable insight not because of format but because more often than not the people providing the answers say one thing and do another. If nothing else the survey results here may demonstrate gross differences in current thinking between iphone and android users and those who live in different parts of the country.

      1. David Semeria

        I suspect a lot of people who work in market research would disagree with your assertion that people say one thing in surveys and do another.

        1. Eric Satz

          no doubt…they’d be out of a job if they didn’t!i admit i am cynical when it comes to consumers based on my own experience as a founder and ceo of an online grocery and home delivery business and my statement was really aimed at consumers and consumer goods/services.show me someone who says they don’t want to text and drive and i will show you someone who does despite the availability of free apps and phone features that prevent this. show me someone who says they’d be willing to pay for delivery and i’ll show you someone who opts for free delivery every time (even if they end up paying more for what they’ve ordered). ask someone how much they’d be willing to pay for any widget or service and most will tell you what they truly believe they will pay until given the opportunity to do so. i don’t believe people (consumers) intend to mislead but rather their actions differ from what they believe when the rubber meets the road.someone made a point yesterday in the comments that i thought was particularly insightful and with which i believe i agree with you in that you can’t ask a yes/no type question to extract it. the comment was: the apple watch commercials don’t show people; no shots of consumers using this awesome product. why is that?i believe the apple watch and other wearables will be poor performers at best; not because they are at the wrong price point or don’t have the right apps and functionality but because they don’t add real value to a user’s everyday experience. it is not solving a problem that people have the way the ipod, iphone and ipad did (whether they knew it or not) when those product lines first launched. in my opinion, the apple watch is a step backwards, not forwards, but companies, like people, are not perfect, and i’m not selling aapl — i may be wrong and i still believe in the team there. time will tell :-).back to your point…surveying business customers is an entirely different beast altogether. i believe you get honest, constructive feedback when business customers are properly surveyed.

    4. pointsnfigures

      I think my teachers called those “essay questions”.

  8. gregorylent

    i don’t wear rings or watches or ties … and my fingers and thumbs and eyes have a difficult enough time with an iphone ..my intuition already knows what time it is, within five minutes .. and the rest of the apps or functions don’t feel important, needed, necessary, or desirable

  9. LIAD

    the watch is an encumbrance and not a liberator.tech should free not imprison, it should emancipate not shackle.tech should be our slave not our master.Apple’s long term business is not technology. it’s not software and its not hardware.Apple’s long term business is anti-ADHD meds.

    1. gregorylent

      plus points for the adhd meds line 🙂

    2. William Mougayar

      How is 2×2 inch watch more cumbersome than a 7×5 inch smartphone that weighs 5x more?

      1. LIAD

        constantly in your peripheral vision.

        1. William Mougayar

          Well, the smartphone is constantly in your hand, no? This one, think of the timing savings reaching for your smartphone. That’s 150x 5 secs = 8 mins per day.

          1. LIAD

            we are giving a for profit company prime real-estate on our bodies. we are giving them authority to pervade our attention 24/7.a watch form factor is a different class of attention-sink than a phone

          2. B. Llewellyn Shepard

            Right! There’s got to be a line in the sand somewhere. We’re connected enough. Imagine having a glass of wine with your wife when your wrist buzzes saying “FEED ME.” It’s enough already.

          3. laurie kalmanson

            same objections were raised to telegramshttp://www.telegraph-office…Though the telegram doubtless, always will command a peculiarly important place among methods of communication, the day has passed when mere receipt of a telegram brought heartrending fear of impending catastrophe. Since few lives can be entirely free from misfortune, telegraph wires must of necessity carry a certain burden of tragedy and calamity, but with the extension of the service to hundreds of different forms of social and business usage this class of message has come to constitute but a small fraction of the whole.The telegram no longer bears the badge of emergency and the sight of a messenger approaching your home need no longer raise feelings of foreboding. There are hundreds of telegrams which bring tidings of joy, congratulation or good will, or convey social messages of infinite variety and there are still other thousands which deal with the myriad phases of business operations.Thus the telegram delivered to you may contain a greeting from a loved one, a word of cheer in honor of your birthday, Mother’s Day, Easter, St. Valentine’s Day, Christmas or New Year. It may contain notice of an order for flowers to commemorate your wedding anniversary, or it may be a money order for funds you sorely need. More likely, however, it will have to do with business.Two of the fundamental merits of the telegram are that it annihilates distance and commands immediate attention. These advantages make it readily adaptable to almost every phrase of social, industrial and commercial intercourse. If you are alive to the need of making every minute count in this modern, high speed age, you will often have occasion to avail yourself of the facilities of the highly organized institutions which have succeeded the old time operator bent over his telegraph key in the little dingy telegraph office of a few generations ago.And whether you send one telegram a year or hundreds, you will wish to make use of these facilities in the most economical manner possible.

          4. B. Llewellyn Shepard

            That’s just facile, honestly.

          5. Anne Libby

            OMGoodness, yes, yes, yes.

          6. Anne Libby

            And, I posted this Scientific American piece elsewhere in comments today — and probably have posted it here before. Our phones affect our relationships.http://bit.ly/ODvZPHEarly this year, I created a bit of content for new managers, posted it on Gumroad. It was advice/how guide on having 1:1 meetings with employees. So, I’ve been meeting with some who purchased the guide, to get their feedback. One man told me that his biggest takeaway had been to put his phone away when he’s talking to people on his team.(Yessss!)

          7. Joe Cardillo

            Good point. I could go on for a while about this but the best thing I’ve read about the deeper implications of modern technology is by Olia Lialina – http://contemporary-home-co…Especially how she deals with this —> “If we only look through the interface we cannot appreciate the ways in which it shapes our experience”

          8. laurie kalmanson

            went on a trip before smartphones and forgot my camera; didn’t bother buying another one; i have more vivid images of that trip than others in my head.related: old school film camera — film and developing were expensive, so each shot was a composed action; digital pix are free, and infinite.

          9. Joe Cardillo

            Same here, I enjoy not having the responsibility of mediating all of my experiences with a camera / visual editor. I also dig the images that my amazing photographer friend creates, one of his is worth 50 of mine…I’m not convinced there’s an obvious dividing line between being a creator and consumer, some things I create (like music, writing, startups, business models) and other things I’m happy to simply be there for (like music, writing, startups, business models ;). But there’s still a difference between casually taking photos and making it your life’s work.Your last point raises another interesting question: maybe we’re oversupplied with the ability to take images and share them. Would explain a lot about how madly in love the startup-ers and tech press are with Periscope and Meerkat.

          10. laurie kalmanson

            yes to all

          11. Dave Pinsen

            David Brooks has come out in favor of body cams for cops. How long until they’re proposed for everyone? Imagine evidence from one being downloaded in this case: http://www.nytimes.com/2015

          12. LE

            Your link goes to a story that says this:Henry Rayhons, 78, has been charged with third-degree felony sexual abuse, accused of having sex with his wife in a nursing home on May 23, 2014, eight days after staff members there told him they believed she was mentally unable to agree to sex.

          13. Dave Pinsen

            I know where the link goes.

          14. LE

            I don’t believe that the “problem” and things that it will prevent have been quantified vs. other uses of money or effort.It’s easy to justify something if you don’t take costs and most importantly opportunity cost into the equation. Just spend to fix this weeks squeaky wheel.For example the statistic that I read was something like <100 deaths over 10 years (or something that sounded like that) by cops. Unfortunately we shouldn’t be solving problems that are in the media that appear way larger and more important than they are. That’s one of the specialties of the media. [1][1] Which is not to say there isn’t a problem, just I’m not convinced that the problem is the one we need to be focusing on and paying for (with the money that doesn’t grow on trees) vs. the other problems we need to solve.

          15. SubstrateUndertow

            The problem is not just deaths. It is more generally the arbitrary misuse of state power over citizens.Individuals certified to wheedling state power over others warrants them wearing cameras to monitoring their application of that extraordinary state power over their fellow citizens.Cameras are cheap compared to the legal cost of all that he-said she-said after the fact evidence-vacuum nonsense ?

          16. LE

            You are forgetting that putting people under to much scrutiny in itself can also cause mistakes and second guessing of intuitive actions. And in the case where you want people to be operating at a fast past and not (as I like to say) mentally stutter you have to consider the potential drawbacks as well.There is a paradox in medicine that I am aware of whereby if you are an important or famous person getting medical treatment that can actually sometimes work to your disadvantage. Because doctors become to vigilant and concerned about their decisions and can often make mistakes as a result of that hypervigilence. There is some psychological principle involved (but I don’t know the name).

          17. Joe Cardillo

            Well, to be fair they probably don’t need to propose them as long as they’re doing a good job of selling it as part of the human experience. That Black Mirror episode “The Entire History of You” is pretty interesting, digs into this.

          18. Matt A. Myers

            Wait! That’s a great idea – with a bit of a caveat …Cops carry firearms and have a sense of power – so the damage they can do if abusing is generally greater – anyone with a firearm in reality has the ability to do more harm, so how about anyone with a firearm should have to be recording whenever it is out? And if you have a firearm out but your recording device isn’t working prior to removing it from storage then you get jail time.I’d love to extend this to politicians too – because of the authority and power we give them – so we get to hear everything they’re saying no matter where.

          19. PrometheeFeu

            Why should people’s privacy be violated in such a routine manner?

          20. William Mougayar

            well, then consider getting a Pebble or Android watch, where the profits kept are less. at least you win on the body real estate/profit ratio.

          21. LIAD

            Think about it this way. A smart watch is akin to carrying round a nagging pestering cumbersome child on your arm 24/7

          22. Tommy Chen

            and a phone is a “nagging pestering cumbersome child” in your pocket?

          23. LIAD

            in your pocket is not on your wrist.big difference

          24. Tommy Chen

            If it’s nagging you, it’s one of the same. But I don’t understand why our phones or the watches would necessarily nag us.

          25. SubstrateUndertow

            Depends on how judiciously you turn on your smart-watch’s potential functionality ?If that smart-watch can enhance the environmental context with which it preprocesses sound to enhance your hearing-aid control options and you turn on no other smart-watch function then that smart-watch could save more money than it cost by replacing a more limited/expensive hearing-aid with a much simpler/cheaper/smarter bluetooth enabled hearing-aid.Hundreds of other limited/single functions use-case conveniences will quickly emerge that justify the watch’s cost.Wouldn’t a nagging smart-watch simply be an expression of self-directed misuse/overuse of a tool in the same way that any tool can be misused/overused?

          26. Dave Pinsen

            In Neuromancer, companies got prime real estate in people’s heads.

          27. SubstrateUndertow

            How much will they pay for that real estate ?

        2. Matt A. Myers

          Which is not a problem until they start to do subtle psychological manipulation which directs behaviour – which they’re likely to do with like putting an Apple Watch app on your iPhone homescreen that you can’t remove.

        3. laurie kalmanson

          good album title

      2. awaldstein

        see my comments below.we are moving in the same direction.the market is confused cause apple itself has not done a great job of understanding the behaviors they are unleashing.watch may or may not fail but honestly those behaviors are latent and looking for a platform.

        1. William Mougayar

          Sorry friend, I think we disagree on this one,- about the part on blaming Apple. I’m defending Apple:A (big) part of the narrative is when users start to actually tell their own stories as users of the Apple Watch. Apple isn’t the one to talk about all these behaviors. The users are, and will. Apple has done as much as they can. And they have created an enabling device with an incredible ecosystem, and a platform extension in the making. We are maybe 5% into the Apple Watch story. The Apple Watch story will be yours (if you buy one), mine (when I buy it), and anyone’s. Each one of us will use it differently or more personally, even more personally than how we use a smartphone.

          1. awaldstein

            i feel better now that we disagree.to say that apple has done what it can is surprising.it is a company’s core job to understand its positioning and provide a vehicle for others to grab onto and make their own.that is what marketing is.apple is a master of creating a pull around a product that let’s each individual on the planet see themselves in it.that is what brand does.that is what product marketing that speaks to the empowerment of the user does.they invented this for the ipod.ads for the watch are singularly devoid of people. the market is debating use cases rather than innately wanting to try it.brilliant but no cigar in my opinion.

          2. William Mougayar

            i’m not giving them a passing grade just because they are Apple. i’m saying that they have done exactly what should be done, i.e. slowly but surely easing it into the market, with a compelling vision. initially, it’s a product oriented positioning (“the product does this”), then it evolves into a more emotional positioning (“I feel empowered by it…because”)any positioning deviations will be adjusted and taken advantage of by them. they don’t want to shove it down our wrists.they want us to tell that story, and that’s the brand power of the narrative.look how passionately we are discussing it here. Apple is laughing and getting free advertising. wait til there are 1 million users then 5 million users, and the story will unravel further.as i said, we’re 5% into the Apple Watch story and marketing it.give it time (pun)

          3. awaldstein

            you are confusing apple with google.google is the one that throws shit against the wall then scrapes the pieces together and iterates.apple builds core connections between peoples wants and the gaps to expression.people are apples salespeople certainly.no one is selling here.

          4. William Mougayar

            noooo…apple throws out good shit, that’s the difference.I’m not drawing analogies to the past, as they are a wrong extrapolation in this case.here’s a key difference: The Apple Watch is a very PERSONAL product, more than the PC or smartphone. So being personal, it’s about YOU and Me and others. It’s like the personal computer was. What’s a PC? duh…it’s whatever you want it to be.

          5. awaldstein

            dunno but this is a great conversation.if the watch is fashion you are correct. there is nothing more personal than the accessories of our lives as expressions of our own self concept.(i’m shopping for a beach suit for an event now and deep into this.)if the watch is a device then it has failed the apple litmus test. how i use my phone is as personal as it gets. information. connections. it is my eyes with memories and my mouthpiece for expression.we shall see.I have bought most every apple product since day one. I built a knockoff of the finder. I built a billion dollar company putting on the pc what the apple had naturally.I have more than a few close friends who were in the inner circle of both the original and second coming of the company. i know them like we know an competitor that we watch on video over and over again.I’ve always been in awe and chased them even when both of us have failed.first time i can remember that i came away unsatisfied that they knew me as a customer at least from a behavioral standpoint.that’s all i’m saying

          6. William Mougayar

            i think you and i will have a more insightful conversation after we’ve both had it on our wrists, and while sitting at a cafe in NYC, I’ll tap my wrist and order us 2 lattes as we sit down. then you’ll tap yours and pay for it.

          7. LE

            That in a nutshell is the killer app that will make this device. Not ordering or paying for food but effortless authentication.

          8. William Mougayar

            yup.

          9. Matt A. Myers

            Can I borrow your watch?

          10. LE

            I was actually thinking of buying several to use as business gifts and/or incentives to give to some chinese customers.The problem I have run into is all of the choices on the Apple site that don’t make it easy to just make a decision that will be applicable (to many choices and to many decisions).I actually even considered (and might still do this) buying a Watch Edition to use as an incentive as well. That watch is sure to get attention and that is actually what I am driving towards and trying to do so it would be money potentially well spent.

          11. Matt A. Myers

            Have it flash subliminal messages or better yet – have it present fake phone calls from important people; “Bill Gates is calling” + his photo.

          12. JamesHRH

            You & I have not been on the same wavelength later LE, but this is BANG ON.

          13. SubstrateUndertow

            An array of personally customized bio-extentions/interactions, what could be more personal ?

          14. Ciaran

            Ben Thompson has been through pretty much this entire discussion, except with himself. If you’re a subscriber you can see where he nutted out; essentially he thinks they’ve nailed the product but still not quite the messaging – but he also points out that this isn’t the first time they’ve done this: http://stratechery.com/2015…”Apple – just as they did with the Watch – decided to make a phone. Only then did they consider shrinking down OS X, and even then it required a bake-off between Scott Forstall and Tony Fadell who was pushing an iPod-centric approach. In other words, Apple first decided to build a phone and then decided how the heck they would build it, long before they decided what it would be used for. In fact, Apple didn’t even support – and many believe, including me, that Steve Jobs actively opposed – apps at the beginning, and those ended up being the most important part of the experience. And yet, everyone remembers that Apple made a phone because they hated their phones and that it somehow sprang fully-formed from the mind of Steve Jobs with maybe a touch of polish from Jony Ive. Unlike the Watch, of course.”

          15. JamesHRH

            And a watch is an extension of you……..when there are 10,000 iWatch first apps, they are going to be laughing.They have $100B+ in the bank and can play the long game on this path.

          16. JamesHRH

            A spectacularly terrific analysis.

          17. laurie kalmanson

            my kid wants one. why? “it’s cool.” boom.

          18. Richard

            Anyone who can’t think of the possibilities for k12 kids to have fun with this has never watched a kid in a sandbox.

          19. laurie kalmanson

            exactly.took my kid to a junk shop and she could not comprehend the rotary dial phone — it seemed completely alienthings just keep going

          20. laurie kalmanson

            watch for the $99 plastic version a year from now, as in the ipod mini co-exists with the rest of the apple-verse

          21. SubstrateUndertow

            The iWatch represents Apple’s first fully cognizant build out of an “emergent platform” targeted at a full spectrum bio-extention eco-system. It is like no previous product in human history. This is their mother of all long-plays!The key design elements embodied/pursued here are the potential for an optimally flexible emergent-integration between social/software/hardware rather than a preoccupation with predetermined use-cases that are largely still waiting on an array of as-yet unavailable sensor/actuators.I think the iWatch is Apple’s foundational attempt at a”RISC-SOS”reduced-instruction-set “Social Operating System”We are just scratching the iceberg here 🙂

          22. lisa hickey

            I agree, especially about the ecosystem and the 5% into the story.In the past, every one of Apple’s products has changed my life in some surprising way. Every one—personal computer, desktop interface, iPod, iPhone. There was always an “aha” with those products that I didn’t get through marketing, that I didn’t get through understanding the products benefits—but that I understood through actual usage. They changed the way I lived my live by making things easier, simpler, more enjoyable, more connected.Whether the Apple watch in this iteration succeeds or fails is almost a moot point, IMO. It just has to succeed enough—they simply need to get enough usage data, which it looks like they will get from early pre-orders—to build more of that “aha” into either their next iteration or their next product. And I actually would bet that “aha” is there already—they just need more people articulating it.

          23. William Mougayar

            yup. “There was always an “aha” with those products that I didn’t get through marketing” key point.

          24. SubstrateUndertow

            While we are all “Waiting for Godot” a shit load of distal sensors and actuators will show up to completely rewrite this play 🙂

          25. Amar

            >A (big) part of the narrative is when users start to actually tell their own stories as users of the Apple Watch.I think that is a valuable insight that people ignore. Apple can afford to wait for the people stories to emerge. They have supreme confidence in their product development and product design skills. It will be interesting to revisit this thread in 6-9 months in the light of actual (non early adopter) user stories.

        2. Matt A. Myers

          I’m not sure they know yet? But it’s definitely worth the cost of experimenting to find out.

        3. SubstrateUndertow

          It has as much chance of long-term failure as the wheel !

      3. Lil Pong

        You missed the point, yo. 2×2 watch needs 7×5 phone tethered to it so that will add up the weight and an additional hardware. As someone said before, why do you need a watch to notify you about an incoming call on the iPhone in the trousers pocket

        1. LE

          Sure you are right because the Apple Watch is only about being notified of an incoming call on the phone in your pocket. Nothing more than that. Nothing at all.

        2. rick gregory

          Yeah, I doubt anyone will ever write any apps for the Watch. Or that future versions will ever gain any new capabilities. (/sarcasm)

        3. SubstrateUndertow

          Won’t that watch be standalone soon enough when that strap gets filled up with flexible battery?

      4. LE

        Liad is just trying to be profound and pontificate.I will think about how the watch is an encumbrance in the future, when I don’t have to shlep around a zillion keys in my pocket, or retrieve a credit card or futz with a cell phone to pay for a purchase (or a cab ride). Also how it is an encumbrance when the Apple Watch, on my wrist (secure) paired with my cell phone (which I authenticate 1 time when I strap it on) allows me to login to my computer or website without passwords. Because I really like remembering all those passwords.

    3. fredwilson

      LIAD dropping wisdom this morning !

    4. pointsnfigures

      seriously, I have seen stuff where teeny devices can get implanted into animals allowing vets to take care of herds via mobile. I didn’t know this but a typical large animal vet in America will not run out to see a herd of less than 100 animals. Their business model is tailored to big operations.

      1. laurie kalmanson

        many pets have tracking chips …

        1. pointsnfigures

          Yup. These are devices that monitor all kinds of things biologically within the animal.

          1. laurie kalmanson

            yup

      2. Dave Pinsen

        Horse vets come out to see smaller numbers of horses all the time.

    5. Q

      You have to give yourself to technology in order to be liberated by it. It’s always been a Faustian bargain.

    6. rick gregory

      Exercise some self-control. People who bitch about tech taking over their lives are weak. Tailor what apps send notifications and when, use Do Not Disturb, etc. But don’t blame the tool or the toolmaker for the failure of the person using the tool.

      1. LE

        Agree. And Liad’s comment sounds as if this type of thing rises to the level of nuclear weapons and the genie has now been let out of the bottle.

      2. Joe Cardillo

        I agree LIAD was being hyperbolic, but that doesn’t negate the entire point. Conventions like location tracking, friends, followers, notifications, likes…these things aren’t built in a vacuum and that space isn’t inherently good or bad. My friend who is a 24 y.o. LGBTQ black woman is wary of things that track and game her actions, for example. And I don’t blame her. Obviously it’s complicated and we could go into a whole other, much longer thread on this, but telling people to exercise some self-control is only part of the story.

        1. rick gregory

          Everyone should make their own decision on whether to use a given bit of tech, when they use it and how they use it. But they are in control of much of the experience and to the degree that they have that control and refuse to or fail to exercise it that’s on them, not the tech.By all means, point out where more control should be available and lobby for that if it doesn’t exist…. but LIAD’s cry is the cry of the lazy and it’s at this point a cliched observation. The entire “oh no my tech is taking over my life” is an argument that cedes agency from the person to the technology.Reclaim your agency. If notifications are too intrusive, tailor them to what you want, not what apps default to doing. Tired of your tech interrupting evenings? Turn on Do Not Disturb. Same for weekends. If a given piece of tech doesn’t hold benefits for you, by all means don’t use it. But be aware that other people may feel differently and that doesn’t make them better or worse than oneself, just different.

          1. Joe Cardillo

            That’s fair, I’m with you on that last point especially. I do think that not knowing we are looking through a looking glass is sometimes part of the problem. But there are more constructive ways to approach that.

    7. SubstrateUndertow

      Tech has a long and venerable history of repeatedly liberating us into ever larger yin-yang circumscribed master/slave realities, so I don’t see the problem?Why would the watch suddenly represent the final straw for that endlessly repeated cycle ?I do love your sheepish humour !

    8. Matt A. Myers

      Upvoted for the photo.

    9. PrometheeFeu

      As a smartwatch user, I can tell you it’s less intrusive than a phone. I can see and decide what to do about a notification (usually nothing) within <1 sec by glancing at my wrist rather than multiple seconds with my phone.If I’m having a conversation and my phone tells me I got a message, I have to choose between interrupting my conversation and being unsure if I’m missing important time-sensitive info, both of which are distracting. With the watch, I glance at my wrist and I can keep chatting if the message is not time sensitive.

    10. Richard

      The presumption (and error) you make is thinking that users view this as tech. apple = entertainment.

  10. David Barnes

    Just like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad I honestly can’t see this catching on.

    1. Anne Libby

      Especially the iPad, terrible name, just a giant iPhone.

      1. Richard

        Probably too simple to use as well.

    2. Salt Shaker

      This is a bit more of a convoluted retail sale than the iPod, iPhone and iPad. With those items you could just walk in and try the product. The watch sale requires appointment viewing, and it is being marketed as a fashion play w/ a variety of style and price options. A key element to Apple’s historic retail sales strat and success was creating a “buzz” w/ long lines at product launch. Trial and purchase of the watch is a bit more complex, as it requires far more education and demonstration, and I wonder to what extent that will impede sales, particularly with so many price and style options? Hardly keeping it simple, but Apple certainly has a long history of success.

    3. JimHirshfield

      Hey, it could be as wildly successful as the Apple Newton. Oh, yeah.

    4. Guest

      This comment is extra special when you read it and look back at your smile in your avatar pic. It brings home the sarcasm. 🙂

    5. Jim Ritchie

      Not sure if anyone else posted this, but “Apple has managed to sell more Apple Watches in a single day than the number of Android Wear smart watches sold in an entire year…”Read more: http://www.businessinsider….

    6. Nathillien

      iPod is dead, iPad is dying, iPhone is peaking. It’s just that some people figure that out sooner and some later.

  11. Tom Labus

    The Microsoft Band, when I get around to doing this. Something missing in the equation for me

  12. leigh

    It feels like a product made by Boomers/generation X that needs to be bought by generation Y. If you’ve been brought up with the network and your cell phone is your entire world, do you really need a watch? Ya, i don’t think so…..

    1. Anne Libby

      My use case for a watch — and I’ve been thinking about bringing out an old one — is that I hate to have my phone out when I’m with people.*At this point, my phone is my only timekeeper when I’m meeting a client in a conference room or over coffee. But I don’t want my health tracked, or stock market quotes, notifications. Or a big slab of metal on my wrist.*http://bit.ly/ODvZPH

    2. William Mougayar

      but it’s not a watch! it just sits on your wrist instead of in the palm of your hands, freeing up your fingers. wow

      1. Chimpwithcans

        “A terribly labeled non watch, wrist born device” is harder to say than “a watch” 😉

        1. William Mougayar

          maybe i-wrist

      2. laurie kalmanson

        related: iphone, not so much a phone

  13. B. Llewellyn Shepard

    This watch doesn’t solve a problem. I don’t need to be any more connected, and in fact I’m super-happy that my career is at a place where I can turn my phone off on Friday night. The very last thing I want, is another way for employees or clients to get in touch. I’m wired enough.

  14. Andy

    I’m way over notified. At night or at office I leave my phone face down and check it when I want. At dinner with my wife, she puts my phone in her purse. I cannot imagine wanting to be annoyed with a tap on the wrist or be annoying to check my watch every few minutes. And it is not an attractive piece of jewelry. Despite all these negatives the fitness component is of interest thus I am on the fence.

    1. Matt Zagaja

      Spend the 10-15 minutes to go into your phone notifications settings and disable or curtail them to all but your most needed apps. It’ll completely change your experience.

      1. Joe Cardillo

        Definitely agree. But it is interesting, what Andy describes is more common than people who hang out on AVC probably realize. I hang w/a large cross section of people, and that experience is definitely occurring to a majority of them.

  15. paulhelmick

    Bought it just to see what the experience is like. View it much like the Gen1 Kindle – willing to pay to experience the beginning of the journey. Just as the Kindle very quickly revisioned and improved into a very elegant/seamless experience in it’s role as a dedicated reader, I expect the watch will quickly version up as well. $350 to be part of that experience is worth it I guess. Truth is I’m an ex-army gshock / tech kind of guy so the thought of having a non-waterproof watch that only has one day of charge is pretty far away from what I think of as utility…and even for all of it’s groundbreaking elegance on v1 (and it’s an exceptional v1 rollout) – I still feel that I want more just the experience of being on board up front vs a watch – the true point where this would be a daily love affair is still one or two versions away.

  16. markslater

    This is the first apple product i am buying entirely on brand equity. I’m gonna guess i am not alone here.

  17. pointsnfigures

    At what point does the watch become a “necessity”? What’s the tipping point for it? I had a PC in 1987. It wasn’t a necessity then but I couldn’t imagine living life without one now. I avoided a cell phone for a long time because I didn’t want to be bothered. I finally had a Nokia, then a Treo, and bought an iPhone when they first came out. Can’t imagine being without a phone now.

    1. Richard

      That’s the question Fred missed in the survey. “What year did you purchase your first iphone?”

      1. pointsnfigures

        Or smartphone for Android junkies. : )

        1. Richard

          Yep,Yn = BXn-1 + e

  18. Freddy

    Other potential Q1’s – I will buy v2.0I was so annoyed to miss April shipping I refuse to purchase

    1. markslater

      i’m with you

  19. Gidimeister

    I think quite a few people will sit this one out and try to to hear the experiences of their mates. My concerns are: (a) Ease of Use; (b) Battery; and (c) Does it do anything my phone, iPad, laptop, Kindle don’t do. Seriously, I’m teched-out, app’ed-out, and all cluttered-up. I now get diminishing marginal returns to each new gadget/app.But not everyone thinks this way. Lots of early adopters in the fitness world, geeks, etc. I think overall this will be a success. I don’t know enough to say how big of a success it’ll be. Most people will have their eye on the 2nd/3rd iterations to become converts.

  20. mikenolan99

    Why not put a microphone in the band and have a small speaker on a stylish ring on your finger? Try the move – a slight cup of the ear, and the microphone is right there.About the iWatch… I’m waiting for gen 3 on this one… as I age (man, I sound old) I find myself leaning away from the “early adopter” persona of my youth.I just bought a new Fitbit charge… good enough for now, caller ID and steps. Didn’t get the heart beat monitor…

  21. Info Sample

    V1 use case: a mp3 player on my wrist paired with Beats wireless workout headphones when I go for a walk or jog.I can listen to books, podcasts, music and news more comfortably than before because the clippy iPod doesn’t have bluetooth, every other iPod goes in your pocket, and iPhones are huge.Then when I get home, I take the mp3 player off my wrist and go about my day.

  22. laurie kalmanson

    DATAApple Watch: Production ramps up as day-one orders hit one millionFirm hopes to sent out orders sooner than promised June delivery datehttp://www.theinquirer.net/…Tue Apr 14 2015, 11:13APPLE REPORTEDLY has ramped up production of the Apple Watch in a bid to get orders shipped ahead of June, after day-one sales hit an estimated one million.Apple is taking orders for the smartwatch exclusively online, and e-commerce Slice Analysis, has estimated that the firm sold roughly one-million on day one in the US alone.The company’s figures, which analysed data from 9,080 online shoppers, show that an estimated 957,000 Americans pre-ordered an Apple Watch on Friday. In comparison, analysis firm Canalys revealed in February that Google managed to shift 720,000 Android Wear smartwatches in 2014 as a whole.

    1. William Mougayar

      wow. that last stat is mind-boggling. That’s incredible sampling data.

      1. laurie kalmanson

        http://qz.com/381791/apple-…Among Apple Watch pre-order customers tracked by Slice, 72% had previously ordered an Apple product in the past two years.Apple also started selling its new MacBook laptop on April 10. Some 43% of those ordering a MacBook also bought an Apple Watch, according to Slice.—Almost two-thirds of pre-orders were for the less expensive, aluminum Sport line, which starts at $349. About one-third of pre-orders were for the stainless-steel Apple Watch collection, which starts at $549.The gold “Edition” series, which starts at $10,000, didn’t represent enough US pre-orders to show up in Slice’s report.The average selling price per watch was about $504. The average order was for 1.3 watches.The most popular color is Apple’s “space gray” aluminum case—40% of pre-orders—followed by stainless steel (34%), silver aluminum (23%), and “space black” steel (3%).The black sport band was the most popular band among all buyers, representing almost half of all orders.

  23. laurie kalmanson

    just get the implant already

    1. RichardF

      most Apple consumers have it, they just don’t realise it 😉

      1. laurie kalmanson

        “sent from my handheld tracking device”

  24. Matt Zagaja

    I’ve said in the past I’m bullish on the watch thing. I pre-ordered the 42mm black sport model. So far for wearables the divide I have noticed is that I have seen many women wearing fitness trackers (fitbit, jawbone up, etc.) while the geek/nerd male crowd has taken to the Pebble, Basis Watch, and Android Wear. The neatest non-Apple watch I’ve seen in person was the Basis. Apple is not blazing any trails here, but like every other category they are in they are executing better than their competitors.

  25. laurie kalmanson

    this is not a watch …

    1. laurie kalmanson

      voila

  26. Erin

    Sorry guys. Men who wear electronic watches have always been nerds, and not in the cool way IMO. Now with all the wifi clutter added into the baggage, if I went on a date with a guy and I saw he had an apple watch I’d run away as fast as I could. Nerd with distraction toy on his wrist= Someone who’s probably not very fun+device that ensures he will stay that way.

    1. laurie kalmanson

      hipsters have been wearing old school digital watches for a while now …http://www.theguardian.com/…The F-91W’s popularity with the young, cool set follows a converse logic that is no less a form of snobbery. On the one hand, the model is consistent with a diehard 80s revivalism, the wrist-based equivalent of a pair of Ray–Bans and a taste for Kraftwerk – and, yes, there is even the requisite touch of irony in sporting a 20-year-old digital watch alongside an iPhone 4. But it’s more than that: unlike supplicants in the temple of the luxury Swiss watch, hipsters treat their ability to pull off cheapness as a mark of sartorial confidence.

      1. Erin

        That watch is so ugly, I just can’t see anyone wearing it ironically. Maybe I dont get out enough though. Yech. But take the pebble. That’s fine, my ex had one and he just fiddled with it to change the fonts and he got lots of envy from other guys when we went out. If he had actually plugged important things into there and stared at it all the time over dinner, I’d have beat him over the head.

        1. laurie kalmanson

          yes not the target audience

        2. SubstrateUndertow

          Was that pebble the final straw 😉

          1. Erin

            It was orange so it didn’t match anything he wore, but in terms of addictions, he handled it well.

    2. Matt Zagaja

      Ouch, will have to wait for my Apple Watch wearing soul mate then.

      1. Erin

        Lol. But Matt- I’m assuming you work in tech- are any of the women you work with getting apple watches?

        1. Matt Zagaja

          Casually unemployed at the moment (though hoping to change that soon). I have to concede I do not know any women interested in Apple Watch. Among the women I know from my former employer (I worked in a technical role at a political organization) FitBit seems to be the winner.

          1. Erin

            Well hopefully one will come along. I shouldn’t have reacted so strongly. I looked them up just to see what they look like, and I’m sure the adoption will broaden in the second generation.

          2. Matt Zagaja

            Strong opinions are good. I like people with them. Just didn’t expect such strong feelings in relation to the type of people that buy Apple watches. Will be interesting to see how it shakes out.

          3. Erin

            If you want a strong opinion on aesthetics, I can always be counted on. I have learned to be kind, though. Sort of.

          4. Guest

            OK so I thought I replied to this. I am good for any discussion on aesthetics. I always, always have an opinion.

    3. SubstrateUndertow

      Do you date men with cell phones 🙂

      1. Erin

        Lol. cell phones don’t come with the aesthetic baggage that electronic watches do.

  27. Dave Pinsen

    Apple should introduce a new, $100 watch which is just a watch-sized stainless steel Apple logo you wear on your wrist.

    1. JimHirshfield

      $10 rub on tattoo

      1. SubstrateUndertow

        What marketing genius !Apple’s should market that iTattoo as proof they can indeed serve the low end segment of the market :-)And at $10 it would fit perfectly into their traditional margin sweet spot !

    2. laurie kalmanson

      bio electric tattoo

    3. RichardF

      They just did but the beauty is you can pay up $12,000 dollars for it if you want to, it has a few other features as well apparently.

  28. JimHirshfield

    Something very telling that I’ve observed leading up to the release of the Apple Watch: Many more ads for traditional high-end watches. Just this morning, on the commuter train, two billboards opposite each other: one for Piaget and the other for Omega. Anyone else noticing this?

    1. Richard

      And the watch faces all read 10:10.

      1. JimHirshfield

        YESSSSS!!! Were you sitting behind me? 😉

    2. Joe Cardillo

      Yep I’ve noticed that too. I’m guessing high end watches co’s are loving the free “have you considered a watch” mindshare / promo.

    3. Margaret Guligeo

      boy, you are suffering from AWAD (Apple Watch Anxiety Disorder)

      1. JimHirshfield

        Me? No. But all the luxury watch makers are, for sure.

        1. Margaret Guligeo

          don’t you think luxury watch makers have a separate market for themselves. they care hoots for apple watch or other tomboy watches

          1. JimHirshfield

            No. I think they’re scared shitless of being obliterated/disrupted by the smartwatch and fitness tracker wave that is upon us. Apple is a luxury brand and has priced certain versions of the Apple Watch at a price point that competes with many luxury watches. Additionally, the luxury Swiss watch makers have formed a smart watch consortium and there are already smart watches on the market made by the Swiss luxury brands that look like traditional (read: jewelry) watches.

          2. Margaret Guligeo

            Over the last century, they have overcome many disruption/obliteration threats from every corner of the world. While they have crossed(read incorporated) all kinds of mechanical, electronic, ornamental, jewelry in their path, I personally feel they just have an other speed bump to cross in the name of wi-fi watches. It would be easy for them to plant the wi-fi in their hardware than it would be for Apple to enter a new market, leave alone encroaching as many other apple fartboys say.

    4. laurie kalmanson

      yes — i think it’s analogous to print vs digital: the very low end and the very high end will survive (throw away “shoppers” / $99 watches; high end books, $10k hand made watches) but the middle will vanish (daily newspapers in print; $250 watches)

  29. Dr.Tim Boulte

    Too bad you are using this community opinions and interests to make your own personal investment decisions on wearables. This is akin to credit card companies selling customer data to third party agencies. Didn’t this topic about wearables already discussed before ? At what capacity are you conducting the survey ?–Tim

    1. Matt Zagaja

      This is a voluntary community here at AVC dot com. We didn’t give Fred subpoena power and he certainly didn’t trick us about anything (at least that I can tell).

      1. Dr.Tim Boulte

        As much as I think Fred would not trick us you would never know where this survey is leading up to. After all, business decisions are taken based on ideas and opinions of the people. And Fred is no priest either nor he runs a charity.I only profess to this community that if ever a business/investment decision has been made out of this survey, you all are eligible stakeholders.

        1. Salt Shaker

          This is a tech driven, non-objective community that hardly represents the buying public at large. If anyone (including Fred) is interested in the survey results beyond good ole simple curiosity, then their knowledge of MR is deeply flawed. In sum, the data isn’t very actionable.

          1. Dr.Tim Boulte

            I understand. However, given the volatility of the stock market and the aggressive competition on the wearables, IOT’s and other equities/investment markets tied to all this unpredictability of the tech sector, any discussions or surveys will have a profound impact on the decisions that cannot be self-controlled, especially when the timing of this post is seriously questionable.With Fred being Fred, any disclaimer or assurance of that kind would have helped the post generating harsh comments

    2. Joe Cardillo

      Little harsh but there’s a point there. Some context for the survey would be helpful in the post (I’m sure it’s somewhere in the comments, too).

  30. @billg

    Horace Dediu (Asymco) says it best:”Cynics may say it does too little. Philistines may say it does too much. But for me it does just what I want it to do when I want it done. The things which are not done time stay out of the way. This discretion is just as important as the effectiveness of action”http://www.asymco.com/2015/…

  31. Jonathan Lee

    Very interesting set of questions- What are you up to Fred lol? The answers aren’t pointed enough to drive an investment decision or to offer advice to a competitor based off of the answers…AVC team what’s the angle? What’s the most valuable info that could be pulled from this sample data?

  32. Marcus Detry

    Bigger screens have been a staple of almost every new product release. I don’t understand the utility of a product with a screen size of less than 2sq inches. The data collection is valuable, but I don’t think you need a $400 watch for that. As Fred has said, a “personal mesh network” would provide that data and more, and probably for less $.One of my main complaints with the apple watch is that you wouldn’t be able to measure your quality of sleep because the battery needs to be charged every night.

  33. Bernard Desarnauts

    Fred, knowing your previously stated position on the Apple Watch, is your decision to post this survey driven by your perception of a much higher than expected praise for its debut? and potential/catalyst for a new tech platform?

  34. William Mougayar

    Bonus Question: Will a smart watch know you more than you know yourself?

    1. Lil Pong

      Can a smart watch be able to predict the future one day ? As in, “given your purchase history, your next impulse purchase could well be in 4 hours 20 minutes and 30 seconds”

  35. Brandon G. Donnelly

    looking forward to seeing all the results. i wonder if there’s any relationship between location and preference to buy/adopt the watch.

    1. fredwilson

      no regional differences that i can seethe only group that shows any difference from the entire survey group is under 24 which shows a significantly lower interest in the apple watch

  36. PrometheeFeu

    You should ask in your survey if people already have a smartwatch. I for one won’t buy an Apple watch in part because I already have a smartwatch.

  37. Craig Cramer

    I am an Apple fan but not a typical early adopter. Never bought a v.1 product. I was excited by the watch but expecting it to be somewhat disappointing. More promise than execution. That changed this weekend. I had some time to kill and was near an apple store, so I tried out the watch. It is extremely well done, both in hardware and software. All doubts have disappeared. i wouldn’t be surprised if 80% of what I now do on my phone migrates to my wrist. No more taking my phone out of my pocket 800 times/day for 5 seconds. I wouldn’t be surprised if all $100-$1,000 watches disappear. People will still buy super expensive mechanical watches, just as there is a classic car market for wealthy car aficionados. Those watches will be seen by all for what they are – jewelry.

  38. Nancy Vega

    There’s an interesting article in the Financial Times today about the partnership Apple has struck with IBM to “put health data from Apple watches into the hands of doctors and insurers”. While I don’t necessarily want my insurance company knowing I only make it to the gym 4x per week, I do see value the value in “opting in” for physicians and clinical researches to have access to certain data. Also, if I can get my 70 year old mother (who lives far away from me) to wear one so I can track her vitals daily, that would be a massive benefit.

  39. chhhris

    Quick note on the survey: albeit I went to school at Wesleyan, but there are plenty of people who do not self-identify as strictly Male or Female (maybe not an issue in the AVC community…)

  40. Guest

    Since most people who read AVC are in tech (including myself), I thought I’d provide a fresh perspective and survey 8 of my girlfriends (on Whatsapp, of course) to see whether they’re considering buying an Apple Watch.- Early 30’s and all can afford the watch- 7/9 have “expensive watches” already- 9/9 own a Macbook- 8/9 are iPhone 6 usersYou’ll love their response. : )

    1. fredwilson

      that’s quite revealing

      1. Cath

        Yes and they’re all based in Hong Kong – target market for the “Edition”

    2. SubstrateUndertow

      Enter sexist comment here 🙂

  41. Cath

    Since most people who read AVC are in tech (including myself), I thought I’d provide a fresh perspective and survey 8 of my girlfriends (on Whatsapp of course) to see whether they’re considering buying an Apple Watch.- Early 30’s and all can afford the watch- 9/9 own a Macbook- 8/9 are iPhone 6 users- 7/9 have “expensive watches” already- 9/9 all based in Hong Kong – target market for their “Edition”This is their response : )

    1. Kevin Lepsoe

      It’s a beautiful device but it’s not jewellery (ie timeless, scarce, ..)

    2. Jill Dyner

      Among your 9 friends I specifically wonder what the 1 user with no iphone is waiting for.

      1. Cath

        She’s an anomaly and like Fred, loves Android devices …

        1. Jill Dyner

          On a lighter vein, though, Android for anomalies :-)Welcome to AVC. Not sure if this is your first time

          1. Cath

            Love it. Thx Jill! Have been a fan of AVC but my first time commenting 😉 Hope to add more to the discussion.

    3. William Mougayar

      Curious which group IM was that? Cool pop survey with the Mofos. What is Mofos?It says Fido, so you must be in Canada.

        1. William Mougayar

          Oy, am sorry I asked! I had no idea.

          1. falicon

            Actually, strange as it may seem, it can be (and actually usually is) used as a term of endearment…street for ‘buddy’ 🙂

          2. Cath

            You got it! : )

          3. Cath

            UrbanDictionary.com seems to give a pretty accurate definition : )

          4. JamesHRH

            Buckets of street cred out the window William….

          5. William Mougayar

            🙂 … i rarely swear , but i do get even, if i have to.

      1. Cath

        I am physically in Canada but am from Hong Kong.. and the Mofos are my schoolmates who grew up in HK but went to college/uni mostly in the US,UK….

        1. JamesHRH

          Physically in Canada…..we will work on your heart & mind.Right @wmoug:disqus ????

          1. Matt A. Myers

            Let’s get out the hockey sticks and poutine!

          2. JamesHRH

            Sortilege and perogies yet? @disqus_lCpoL1mnWx:disqus

      2. Lil Pong

        You are such a sniffer 🙂

    4. Cam MacRae

      Fascinating! The proof of the pudding of course will be measured on the MTR between Quarry Bay and Central 🙂

  42. Richard

    In the 1960s 10 million corn cob pipes were sold in the US. Does anyone really think that apple won’t sell 10 million apple watches?

    1. Salt Shaker

      Yeah, but many in the 60’s were loading their pipes w/ weed.

  43. george

    Early read is pretty impressive! 26% committed (purchased + soon will) + 22% considering. I was at my local Apple Store yesterday, mid-day and here are a few of my observations:+ Watches – the central point of attraction (to be expected)+ Solid store traffic and high sales conversion (those that tried them on)+ Customers were willing to wait, average appointment wait times ran about 10 minutes+ My personal service experience, Grade = A+ Top selling watch segment – Apple Watch (mid-tier)I noticed female customers wrestling a bit more with the merchandise assortment – I don’t think simply offering two face sizes, 38mm or 42mm will suffice to captivate broader female fashion driven audience. I’m curious to see the gender split on this data point…

  44. Salt Shaker

    You need to run a banner or cross-tab on your survey results that looks at “purchase intent” exclusively among iPhone users. The data is skewed a bit by including Android users (currently 19%), who are far less likely prospects cause they need to make a much larger investment to experience an Apple watch. Presume with this filter “purchase intent” would spike a fair amount.

  45. laurie kalmanson

    gary shteyngart imagined it as a pendant on a necklace …http://www.thenation.com/bl…Q: Your novel Super Sad True Love Story is set in “the near future,” when everybody wears a pendant around their neck called an “apparat.” What does the apparat do?A: It’s a wonderful invention that ranks everybody. When I enter a bar in downtown Manhattan, my entire history is broadcast to everybody, and immediately everyone knows I’m the eighteenth ugliest man in the room but I have the fourth-best credit rating.

  46. Stephen Duncan Jr

    My answer that I’m an iPhone user is slightly misleading. My wife & I have pre-ordered the watch, and just switched from Android to iPhone; we bought used iPhone 5s phones with getting the Apple Watch in mind. Our Android phones were slightly old at this point (Nexus 4), and needed replacing, we love our iPads, and with iOS8 extensions, iOS was caught up enough on the main area Android was better (cooperating apps).

  47. Craig Cramer

    I hope you’ll follow up with a post on your interpretation of the results. That would be a nice payback for the people that took the poll. I wonder what you think you make of 30% have or intend to buy and 60% have/intend/might buy (I divided by the iphone or multiple device owners to get those numbers.)

    1. fredwilson

      will do

  48. Ciaran

    But what if early adopters aren’t the target? Ben Thompson seems to get this bang on; when analysing the reviews he said:The tech guys are griping about a lack of focus and that the watch is too hard to use, while the explicitly non-tech folks…are marveling over the features and celebrating that it’s just like an iPhone. It’s a fascinating contrast that is repeated across all of the reviews that I read…One that in particular that stood out to me is how most of the non-tech reviewers loved the idea of talking into their watches, while the tech folks thought it was mostly silly. It kind of reminds me of using iPads to take pictures and selfie-sticks: normal folks love it, while techies think it’s ridiculous. I do think that, counterintuitively, technologists are in some respects more conservative when it comes to new paradigms than normal folks, and the early reviews at least suggest that might be the case with the Watch…Patel in particular took issue with the Watch’s speed (although this criticism was widespread). This, though, is to my mind a good sign: Moore’s Law dictates that the Watch will only get faster, and if the early reviews are any indication, non-techies may already be convinced its good enough.We’ll see!

  49. Richard Kain

    From the notion of skating to where the puck is going, and given Apple’s adeptness at human-computer UI/UX, I wonder if the luxury- or fitness-tracker rationale for a watch is a placeholder for more revolutionary future uses. Going out on a five year limb, I think it could be for rendering movement in VR/AR space. Just as Jobs was insistent on no stylus for the iPhone/Pad, the finger being the natural human stylus, a watch is a natural machine to track your hands’ movement in space, assuming the accelerometer(s) are really good. Massive headgear probably isn’t a good appendage to get widespread human adoption, and I wonder if that’s the killer app down the road. I’m not particularly interested in buying another touch screen notification device. A good AR/VR world? I’ll buy one watch for each wrist, how’s that for addressable market expansion?

  50. Nathillien

    You just did :).

    1. David Barnes

      Apple Nazis. I hate these guys.

      1. Nathillien

        yeah – if you look closely – that nose, those eyes & glasses 🙂

  51. William Mougayar

    microtransactions- pay by waving your hand