Fun Friday: Apple Watch Feedback
As all of you know, I’m quite interested in how the Apple Watch is doing even though I don’t plan to get one.
So if any of you have one and have thoughts on it, we’d love to hear them in the comments.
Apple Watch
by Mestaty
on Sketchfab
Comments (Archived):
Not like you Fred.You may not like watches, nor I anymore but if ever there was a case to easily try something on to understand a global push to uncover, then own a consumer behavior, this is it.Your post reminded me that I need to play around with it, even if I only start by using it during gym, bike rides, road trips.
Do you have one Arnold?
just back home after traveling and it is on the plan.i accept this prod to stop talking about it and do it!
Wasn’t planning on getting one but I like the running and golf apps that I’ve seen so far so warming to the idea of one but not a must have yet.
Mark – this is a great comment, in that it is real world proof of Chris Dixon’s take that ‘betting against Apple Watch means betting adjacent all the developers building apps for Apple Watch’.The long tail may swing slowly but it could make a big dent in the market…..
gorgeous, sweet, expensive.might be the first apple product where version 1 is actually very good.too complicated for the masses, re setup. But definitely quite lovable for early mover types.I just hate having to also need to carry an iphone now (since I won’t give up having an Android).
What are the use cases that work well for you?
Just 1: not having to keep a phone in my hand all day (to check the time, notifications, answer a call, and other reasons to pull the phone from pocket).This accomplishes that, super well.So have the better Android watches for a couple years now.That’s the only use case I want: a satellite of my awesome phone.
So why not wear an android watch?
I do that too! Remember when I tried to show you one and you ran away?? 😉
Ran away from a watch?I think we may have stumbled on Fred’s Kryptonite.
How do you text on it?
Wouldn’t want to. Just want to be alerted to incoming texts– which is an alert event to pull out the phone (to respond).
One of my use cases is to not have to remove my phone from my pocket when I get into my car. Right now my car has keyless entry so I can keep my keys in my jeans pocket. And I didn’t think I needed that feature until I decided to buy it and now I can’t live without it.But I still take my phone out of my pocket and put it in the cup holder even though I’ve got bluetooth and the caller appears on the car display. With the watch I will be able to see texts and other things and I can leave the phone in my pocket. What that means is that I have both hands free and don’t have to worry about dropping the phone when I am getting out with my coffee or bagel.Want to repeat also that keyless entry was no big deal until I actually started using it and now I can’t believe I thought twice about buying it.
i learn a tremendous number of life hacks from you… you would be a good candidate to have something a la kevin kelly’s cool tools… a column or some such…i mean, comments here are fine for me since i am happy to deep dive to find useful things but i think many of your life hack-y stuff gets lost on many people who could benefit from it…
i learn a tremendous number of life hacks from you… you would be a good candidate to have something a la kevin kelly’s cool tools… a column or some such…Wow thanks for that Otis. I appreciate that.but i think many of your life hack-y stuff gets lost on many people who could benefit from it…The act of me commenting here, even given the fact that judging by “upvotes” that (I don’t get), is actually a hack in itself. It allows me to juggle in my mind and remember certain lessons and concepts (business or personal) that are important to me that have worked. I find that very helpful. It also provides plenty of enjoyment and practice writing and communicating.I realized for example that after writing the “iphone in pocket” paragraph that there is another reason I take it out (which I didn’t mention). I take it out because I want it handy to take pictures. I actually realized that while writing the comment but decided to leave the comment as it stood anyway. So you can see my point about the value of writing and thinking things through, even given the lack of positive feedback.
wow that’s super interesting… my paraphrase of how i’m hearing that would be journal writing in public…what i like most about this idea is that it seems to require a willingness to not care too much what others think of your thoughts since you’re writing as a way of figuring out as much/more than as a way of saying how it is…i’m gonna give this a shot it seems like it could be very useful and bleed over into other areas of life as well
is that it seems to require a willingness to not care too much what others think of your thoughtsFor sure I have never been the type of person to try to win a popularity contest. I would find that stifling and it would make me mentally stutter (an important concept of mine, that is if you have to second guess yourself all hell breaks loose in your creative thinking). That’s different than saying that I don’t care what people think. I do care. Just not enough to try and not be myself. Most of the time, anyway. There are always exceptions.
peter thiel spoke on this recently here: https://medium.com/conversa…the money quote is this: PETER THIEL: I point out that many of the more successful entrepreneurs seem to be suffering from a mild form of Asperger’s where it’s like you’re missing the imitation, socialization gene.TYLER COWEN: And that’s a plus, right?PETER THIEL: It happens to be a plus for innovation, and creating great companies, but I think we always should turn this around as an incredible critique of our society. We need to ask, what is it about our society where those of us who do not suffer from Asperger’s are at some massive disadvantage because we will be talked out of our interesting, original, creative ideas before they are even fully formed?
I haven’t seen one in the wild. Also, starting to warm up to the whole “watch” concept. Bad name though, since it;s everything but the watch that is interesting
“Bad name though, since it;s everything but the watch that is interesting”The iPhone seemed to do alright 🙂
When I answered the survey, I placec myself in the “do not plan to buy” category. This was in part due to having a collection of mechanical watches that I wear on a rotating basis.I was not looking at getting another watch, especially one in the “inferior” non-analog world. However, yesterday I played with one of the watches at an Apple store and changed my opinion. I ordered one as a fathers day present to myself. I plan on wearing it daily for a month to determine if it is just another toy or something that I find valuable.
I don’t have one yet, but from what I heard, it’s very much an Apple ecosystem watch, ie the more Apple devices & services you already have, the more useful it will be.With smart watches in general, most of the use cases are about splitting off something you were doing on your smartphone. That’s interesting as “changed behavior”, but I’m more interested in totally new behaviors & uses that you can’t do with a smartphone. So far, that segment appears to be small, but could get better going forward.
example of new and a changed behavior please.lots of behaviors evolve as they get platformed–that is the trajectory of social media–but the behaviors are not really new they just have a connected home.
I’m hoping there will be new behaviors perhaps via new Apps that only work on the smartwatch for example, i.e. a behavior that “belongs” to the smart watch, just like some behaviors are “belonging to the smartphone”I’m not sure what they are yet. I think this is similar somewhat to 2006 when the iPhone came out. They might come via these Apps. Maybe speaking into it or a Peer to Peer something.Let’s revisit this question in 18 months 🙂
It looks like a watch, tells time like a watch, goes on your wrist like a watch, is called a smart watch, but it’s not a watch. Go figure.
I don’t plan to get one.
I have had one for a few days. Basically totally useless and more of a problem: my phone has 10% less battery, I have to carry two chargers when I travel, there is nothing critical that the watch does that I need and what it does it doesn’t do it well. It’s good for running, replaces the garmin GPS watches nicely. For the rest in already starting to not wear mine. I look at my iPhone it’s easier and faster.
ah merde alors…Apple needs to go back to the drawing board 🙂
hehe @loiclemeur:disqus – you missed letting us win Le Web start up competition a few year back 2013 ? (all French finalists in top 3 after pitching comp. – hmmm – Un peau d’trop!)But with this comment all is forgiven 🙂
I joined the iPhone bandwagon at the “3G” (2nd generation)I think I will get an Apple Watch when they manage to squeeze the actual phone inside. That will be a big change for people not carrying hand bags around
Having the watch be a self-sufficient phone is the wrong approach.Another wrong approach is having the watch be the main device and use the phone as a modem. See the Metawatch and the I’m Watch.I’ve been demoing many of these for a while. The right approach IMO is the watch as a satellite to the phone, throw in a couple small bonus features (like having a fun watch face you can change). I’d say the apple watch and some android models are headed in the right direction, if not quite there yet.
well how do you really feel Loic? 🙂
Remember twitter? “Why do I need to know when someone is eating lunch?”He is complaining or commenting on what it can do now not what it will be able to do. All this assumes some kind of mass adoption and hitting a tipping point which is certainly possible given Apple’s resources and creativity.
Do you need your phone to utilize your watch on your runs? My only problem is that I don’t want to have to bring my phone along on my run to use the Apple Watch. If they put a GPS in the watch then I’ll ditch my crappy Garmin Forerunner for an Apple Watch, today.
with applewatch, yes you have to take your phone along. with Microsoft band, no you can leave the phone at home b/c it has a built-in GPS
Thanks
the tradeoff of course is that the Band is bulky thanks to the extra sensors. bulky is an understatement (another reason I returned mine), but if you get to leave your phone at home maybe that’s not so bad. could be good for runners.as Stephan says, my point only applies if you want to track your route. distance can be approximated w/o gps.
It depends what you want the GPS for. If only for distance, than you can run without the phone and the watch will track distance via the built-in pedometer. Apparently it’s reasonably accurate compared with competing products (including the Microsoft Band, which is part of the cited test):http://www.zdnet.com/articl…It also stores up to 2GB of music, so no need for the phone nearby for that reason either.I don’t own one though, so I haven’t done any of this myself.
Thanks for the information. That’s pretty much the same data I receive from my Garmin. At least the data I care about.
I thought my Microsoft Band would help save battery on my phone, but like yours my experience was the opposite. so I took it back.
i went this past weekend to the apple store with every intention of buying one.i played around with it for about 10 minutes and wasn’t sold. the screen felt too small and i just couldn’t get excited about the possible use cases.that said, it’s 1st gen and i’m sure developers will invent new and interesting uses.i’m holding for now.
I’ve read component costs are a mere $81… setting a record for Apple’s (and therefore probably every hardware manufacturers’s) margin. Out of principle I couldn’t buy one.
Source? During the earnings call Tim Cook said it’s Apple’s lowest margin product.
Yea, and if you like your healthcare plan you can keep it. http://venturebeat.com/2015…
Bumped into a friend @ AccelerateAB who had one. His review:- crown usage really not intuitive- not an Apple experience, generallyWhen I said that I had looked at one in a store and found that investigating it was a hassle and that it did not give me anything like the iPad reaction ( total wow – this is going to be huge the first time I touched one), he agreed wholeheartedly.Looked cooler than I thought it would.
I haven’t even seen one yet. Commercials are very good.
Tried it. It’s interesting but two big issues for me:–I don’t like turning my wrist to see the screen–watches are uncomfortable and I won’t wear one.That said, here’s the good: comfortable band, nice screen, UX is good but not great, beautiful look and feel.I’ve since looked at other watches, but kept remembering how much I hate wearing one.
that’s my number one issue too Charlie
No reason for pain without any gain. Nobody is disputing that.The thing is once the device provides value none of that will matter. Right now it doesn’t provide much value so nobody wants it on their wrist. (Myself included since I haven’t worn a watch since college iirc).People drive for 5 hours to the Hamptons from NYC. If they weren’t driving to the Hamptons they wouldn’t spend 5 hours in a car they would say “I hate to drive”. Likewise you just flew to Paris on a long flight. Not because you like sitting in an airplane for 8 hours but because you want to get to Paris.When the watch provides value none of that “I hate things on my wrist” is going to make any difference at all.
If the Apple Watch is as good as Paris that will be quite a feat. I somehow doubt it though
Great point. In the 80s we all used phones in our wrists b/c of a killer feature: knowing the time at all times! You need such level of gain to have a thing attached to your wrist at all times, that needs daily recharging, etc. I am skipping the cognitive overload for now.
Here is a similar example.From your avatar I see that you play guitar. I took guitar lessons when I was maybe 8 or 9 and didn’t like it. So I stopped. Many years later I somehow came to the conclusion that knowing how to play guitar might have helped me get girls in college or high school. Had I known that when I was 8 or 9 it wouldn’t have mattered to me. Had I figured that out in college or high school I might have started taking lessons again. The benefit of getting girls would have outweighed the time and effort that it took to learn guitar. And I am assuming of course that there weren’t other benefits which there are but none that mattered when I was 8 or 9.
I agree with you. I think there is an opportunity to revolutionize music education through social pull. Your example is “getting girls” but there are many other types of social-oriented incentives. BTW, it’s a bass not a guitar in my profile pic 🙂
exactly. when the value starts being unique and indispensable, then wearing it will not be an issue.if one started telling you in 2006/2007, there’s this device that’s 1/2 inch thick, 5X7, stiff like a brick, and it’s bigger than your wallet, it’s bigger than a cell phone, but you’ll be putting it in your pockets anywhere you go, and sleeping with it,- you would have said no way.
When I was in high school I got the chance to bring home a video camera and ampex tape recorder. It came in a large heavy box that was the size of a small suitcase, required all sorts of power and cables and was a pain to get permission to take off campus. Only shot black and white (imagine the resolution) recorded on large Ampex tape (iirc). I’ve attached pictures of what I think that I used (or close to this).To me this was probably the most fun I had all year. Prior to that I had loved using the studio cameras that only did obviously black and white. I had a darkroom in the basement so being able to have an instant record was great.Ditto by the way for RC Helicopters. When I started (as I’ve said a million times) they were gas only, large, expensive with no training available, let alone electronics. I had to drive an hour each way to just get parts for the crashes. Very limited market, no such thing as drones or computers controlling them, expensive and of limited use only to a certain segment of the market.
Pebble Time…financed by Kickstarter. Did you back it? Are you getting one?
nope. i don’t like to wear watches, or anything, on my wrist. it physically bothers me.
same here. interferes with typing on a laptop.tried the Microsoft Band for about a month. it was kind of useful, but I hate having anything strapped to my wrist.
LOL at people saying the best use case is not having to pull out their phone. Oh the horror of lugging that beast of a device. I already returned my Apple watch. I was curious but actually wearing one for a few days confirmed by suspicions. 1) it is HUGELY annoying to be notified incessantly. 2) my phone is face up on my desk or always nearby. Notifications are faster just glancing down at the phone vs. waiting for my watch. Moreover, I can turn the phone face down. 3) it’s not particularly attractive. Source: my wife and several other women. 4) fitness aspects leave a lot to be desired. I’m an avid cyclist and I did not find it accurate. It also tells me to stand when I’m already standing.I get Apple’s needs to move into new markets for growth but this seems much more niche than anything they have ever produced. One interesting tidbit though is I had stopped wearing my Panerai and other mechanicals as much but all the talk about the Apple watch has me wearing my old school and luxury watches again. Switzerland’s demise may have been exaggerated.
Reading messages or articles on iWatch is a really awkward experience as you do have to twist your wrist quite a bit to get the screen to face you directly. The only thing I find interesting is the notification function. I didn’t think having to reach out to the phone was a big deal, but being able to just turn the wrist slightly and taking a quick look at the watch is quite convenient. I actually do think this little value-add could turn out to be a habit.
For me the nice service by https://sketchfab.com/ to host the 3d model out-interests me than the apple deliverable 100%We might have to use this for our rendering some of our content – very convenient – off to explore
I love that site.
I don’t wear watches and don’t see many developers who do. The wristband catches on the edge of the laptop and it’s really annoying.However, I could imagine Apple Watch replacing Fitbits and it is the most aesthetic of the tech watches.My team won’t be coding any apps for it. We’re working on something much much more…JEDI.
Tangent: the piece of jewelry that drives me nuts catching on things is my wedding ring– whenever I play guitar and especially bass.Metal smacking on wood and I can’t seem to get used to it !
While I’ve owned watches, I’ve never been a watch guy. Got the sport model and it feels light and natural there. For me the watch is primarily for monitoring health and movement, everything else is just gravy on top. It has changed my habits a bit. I really watch the goals I’ve set on the watch carefully. If for some reason I’m not able to hit the gym that day, I make sure to bike or run home from work. During the day, I make sure to stand (finally using that standing desk — usually locked in the seated position) . The heart rate monitor (my first) is great during workouts to make sure I’m finding my peak.The notifications/glances tend to be really helpful in the busy life we live in NYC. I don’t feel lost in the virtual world while bumping into people/things like I felt while using my phone. Also– It’s been supremely helpful in getting around while on a bike– and surprisingly while in my car (which has a very dated GPS).I will say that I found the UI a bit more clunky than other Apple UI’s but I’m learning my way around it. The only thing I would tell a new user is that the “home screen” is the watch face, and the icon screen is just another layer. Notifications/glances are only available there.Overall I’m happy. It’s collecting data I want to see. Showing me data I want to glance at. Slowly changing my behavior– to be more healthy and active.
BTW- I’ve never run out of battery on the watch any day I’ve used it. Which can be easily 18 hours.
I seem to be an outlier here. I love the watch. It has freed me from the tyranny of the phone. The watch has almost completely replaced my phone. It’s a more convenient and efficient way to get the information I need. Less intrusively lets me know when there is information I need. Quick glance interface doesn’t such me in like phone did so I look at what I need and then stop. The first 24 hours I reflexively felt like reaching for my even though I didn’t need it out of habit. Since then Im worried I’ll leave my phone somewhere and lose it – out of sight, out of mind. I haven’t measured it, but it feels like I spend at least 50% less time getting the information i need from the watch than I did with the phone. That for me is the killer use case. Found time/attention.And, for some context, although I think apple products are great. I’m no techie or fan boy. Never waited in line for a product. Never got a V.1 product before this. I also haven’t worn a watch for years because I like to be unadorned and don’t like jewelry. Wasn’t worth it just to tell the time. But the usefulness combined with a simple design and very smooth sport band is fine for me.Finally, a probably a different sample than readers here, but reactions I’ve gotten indicate a bright future for the watch:- 12 year old nephew: is spending his entire savings on watch.- sister, who is baker and doesn’t make a lot of money, was going to get an iPad but now plans to purchase watch instead after seeing one.- first comment from a friend at dinner who is not at all a tech adopted: “is that the app,e watch?! Everyone is going to want one.”- first comment from business partner who is android mobile/windows desktop: “”how’s the watch?!”- TSA agent, Southwest gate agent, WF cashier: “Wow!. So cool.”
I’m with Craig.Among other things. Apple pay is incredible, as is checking in the at the gym. It’s so much fun to pay with Apple Pay, I want to go to whole foods and check out one item at a time.I will add that I went to the genius bar, found that a lot of the Apple Watch software was crashing. I couldn’t imagine buying a new product like this without having access to a genius bar (whether a competitive product, or a geo where there’s no apple store). It’s a measure of safety; not a statement about how hard the product is to use.My personal feeling though, if you’re in technology you should have one to understand it. Even if you hate it, we need to understand it as technology is definitely moving in this direction and we need to understand both Apple’s language and the user behavior that the technology enables (or fails to enable as the case may be).db
Fred, does it make sense for the you, as the one of best tech investors in the business, to not buy and use a “potential” game changing technology such as the iwatch?
i did the same with the iPhone. go figure.
i would say this is a sign that part of your investment thesis involves focusing on things you are personally interested in, which i think makes tremendous sense in terms of shaping the world in the direction you would personally like to see it go.
I was going to say the same thing
only if there are watch only apps that are investible and game changing. odds are there will be but most of the initial stuff I assume to be phone apps rewritten for watch.
All week seeing tweets ‘I wore my watch all day and still have 13% battery left! :-)’Gotta hand it to apple PR machine. They managed to lower battery expectations so much people are overcome with joy that their WATCH can go for 24 hours without dying.
Have been using one for ~36 hours (42 mm sports version).Quick take:The physical device is everything I would want it to be – comfortable, light, good looking; digital crown is very useful and easy and I want one on my iPhone; battery life is probably fine, at least as far as getting through the day w/o difficulty.Software is largely usable but has issues. Bunch of random buggy things, some touches which are very hard to hit, sometimes non responsive screen, etc., and most problematic of all – it only syncs a fraction of my contacts. Yes it only syncs a fraction of my contacts. If I can’t fix that, I will have to return it. There are multiple posts to Apples support forum about this, so hopefully it is on the radar of the Watch team.My primary use case is to be able to put my phone away and keep it put away (ideally the iPhone is an out of sight “hub”, connecting to a network, filtering, and available for heavier duty tasks). I only have notifications for messages, select emails, and voice calls – with the taptic feedback, I hope the watch can make me aware of those and allow me to subtly scan for importance w/o disrupting whatever is going on at the time (meeting, putting kids to bed, eating with people etc) or opening me up to distraction (as the iPhone would do). We (I) have allowed the smartphone to become far too intrusive and the smartwatch hopefully offers us a means to walk that back.I _think_ the Watch has the promise to deliver on this, although I am not yet convinced – first I have to trust that the right notifications are getting through (so far I am not sure, but my issues could be pilot error) and second I need to test out the ability to “untether” – once I am out of Bluetooth range, does the (limited) Wi-Fi connectivity suffice? This latter topic could also be a showstopper.
so a classic “skip V1 and wait for V2” situation?
Yes I think so. Unless you 1) are going to get enjoyment/value from the Watch for reasons beyond its utility value, or 2) have relatively basic or small scale demands (e.g., small address book!).I tried to unsync/resync contacts to the Watch, remove and re-add the contacts to the iPhone, and lastly reset the Watch and start from scratch – no of these options worked and the contact sync is still hung up at the same point. Perhaps a contact card with some value which kills the sync? Or a limit to the number of cards? Either way, I am getting to the point where it is hard to justify spending more time troubleshooting it.
That’s a miss for me – we have a 1st generation Ipad my 6 yr old has used since he was 18 months – the thing has dents, bumps, scrapes, and still runs better than any of the subsequent versions i’ve had.
same here. i have an old ipad 1, and it works great. no dents or scratches as it’s in a straight jacket 🙂 it’s solid like a brick.
I was planning to buy one (as I had said) but by the time I got to the Apple website they were already quoting June delivery. Immediately killed my buzz.That was to long for the immediate gratification that I wanted primarily because others were getting it sooner. I had also planned to buy a few as business premiums (gifts) but found out that there were to many choices of sizes and colors and bands for me to make a quick decision when not buying for myself (which was hard enough). [1]I found the Apple site confusing and it wasn’t immediately obvious (which ties in with your empathy point the other day) that I could even get different color bands on different models, sizes, whatever. (I initially missed the scroll icon). I thought there were way to many choices that were presented after first thinking there were only 3. That combined with the long wait time made me fork to something more important that I had to do.I still am all in to the watch concept (as mentioned for the authentication aspect which I feel will be key) but will now wait a bit until delivery times improve.[1] Compare this with buying an iphone which is really simple in comparison and hard to screw up if you are looking to buy a gift. This was a big change for the way Apple typically sells. Post Jobs and Ray Kroc I guess.
The honeycomb layout for apps is weird and “gimmicky.” It would be much better to have pagination of the apps. The heart rate monitor is awesome, and the Apple “workout” app is surprisingly accurate in gauging distance on a run using pedometer motion without GPS. The clock screen that shows date, time, temp, stock quotes, etc. in one quick glance is awesome. The concerns people have about triggering the watch display through a wrist motion are valid, but I’m hoping Apple will improve that with software updates and possibly personalized motion sensing.
Here is a link showing Apple Watches that have already been sold on ebay:http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.h…(Appears to be about 4300 …)Here is a link showing Apple Watches for sale on ebay:http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.h…(About 1200)
I don’t have a watch yet, mine is backordered still. I did go to the store to try them on and thought they looked much better in person than in the pictures. I made the mistake of judging the iPad pretty harshly when it came out, I love and use mine all the time. So I figure I’ll give this thing chance.
After a week of daily use, the Apple Watch is exactly what I expected it to be: A vitamin, not a painkiller. I like getting notifications on my wrist and being able to glance at pertinent info quickly, but honestly, it’s not solving a real pain (yet).That said, I do expect that in 5 years, a smartwatch’s killer app will be identity and authentication. Your iPhone might always be in your pocket but it can’t prove you are Fred Wilson. A smartwatch can, esp if it requires TouchID each time it goes on a wrist. But for ID & authentication to really work, we need computers, POS terminals, iBeacons, security systems, home automation systems, etc to recognize smartwatches. You might never need to remember a password again, swipe a credit card, unlock cars/doors with a key, etc.
I got one for me and one for the wife. Just about all of the developers I work with have one as well. Here are some thoughts from the group.Pros:-Notifications work very well, especially for upcoming meetings, sports scores, breaking news and market activity-The activity nudges are nice and seem to be about as accurate as most other trackers like Fitbit or the Jawbone Up-The voice input works really well. Probably 90% of the time what I say into the watch is captured accurately.-Force touch is really neat and seems to work most of the time. There has been more than one occasion where I couldn’t figure out how to change a setting in an app and as a last resort I tried ‘force touching’ the interface and voila the hidden menu appears. So this will take a little getting used to.-The battery life is good. Using it a couple of times an hour throughout the day I still had 40% battery life on the way home from the office. But maybe it’s not good for all occupations. A friend’s wife is a hairdresser and wearing her watch all day with limited usage yielded poor battery life because it kept detecting her arm movements and assumed she was checking her watch.Cons:-Too often applications fail to load. If it were just third party apps I would chalk it up to hasty delivery from companies looking to capitalize on the watch launch but some things like the native weather app will fail to load or take a really long time.-Each time you place the watch on your wrist you have to unlock it. The unlock keypad is ridiculously small, even on a 42mm device. Apple needs to figure out a better method for handling this.-Apple developers haven’t figured out how to best use the limited interface. This isn’t so much a knock on the watch but more an observation. Over time things will get better. Some apps like Instagram and Zillow actually work ok. Most others are clunky.
I’ve had mine for a week and I love it, haven’t worn a watch in 12 years – not having to take your phone out of your pocket is so great. I wasn’t sure I wanted one, it’s dramatically exceeded my expectations. My wife loves hers.There isn’t a killer app – the 3rd party apps are all kind of week – it’s not your phone on your wrist, and it’s going to take time to figure all that out. Getting handoff just right, etc, will take time.
I had a Fitbit and found even that to be a pain charging, wearing, remembering where I put it. Now I use Google Fit to measure steps as i always have my phone. So guess I fall into the camp that has no intention of wearing one. When the hololens gets consumer sized, that I can see using.
Adding one other thought to my previous post: something else that strikes me about the watch is how big a step it is towards minimizing the uses from previous form factor. Obviously the hardware format. But, also the user interface. It seems that products in general always try to do more (sometimes better, often not.) You could argue that Apple goes against this w/ progression of desktops/laptops/ipads (although bigger phones.) But, this is such a big step in the direction towards less, less, less can be better. That happens to be the core reason I like the watch. So, I may be reading more into this than there is.
Love it personally but also use it a lot for enterprise app notifications (approvals, forecast, etc) as this is what we do. It is V1 but it gives you a great view into the future of work. We just built a SAP and Office 365 integration and now you can see (and soon respond) to all your backend systems like PO approval, change in forecast, etc. You might love it, you might hate it, but you won’t be able to avoid some sort of a wearable down the road.
I’m 38 and I’ve been wearing a watch since I was in the second grade when I was expected to get home on time from playing OUTSIDE.It was kinda hard to be a nationally ranked runner and Army officer without one.I would only get a smart watch if it was waterproof, I could tell time , use a run keeper and Spotify apps minimal.
Just saw this. Funny. Tattoos Causing Apply Watch to Malfunction http://www.popularmechanics…
It’s not a must have right now, but I enjoy using it when biking. Its more convenient to look at your wrist than to pull out your phone. Whether it be for notifications, directions, or just controlling you music. It’s a pain though to have yet another device that needs to be charged every night and another charger you need to carry with you when traveling.
No way am I attaching something that channels wifi radiation to my body.
I got mine yesterday. I am totally biased to it but I genuinely think that it is better than I was expecting. From the physical and design quality to the overall experience it’s a great first gen product and the bundling of a personal video call to help with “discovery” is plain smart.My negatives first:1) Setup + getting the hang of it – despite being forewarned by so many, it was very challenging/confusing etc. It really is puzzling to have the crown with the other button and not knowing which does what for a while. Apple must have something up its sleeve with these not immediately apparent (as they often do with new hardware interfaces like touchID etc). Now a day into using I would say I am 80% confident to know what I need to do when/where. ForceTouch as others have said is the magic rescue to many tricky So what now question?2) the apps situation – confusing, nothing that great yet, a bit tricky to constantly shuffle between the Apple Watch app for settings etcMy immediate positives:1) Voice, voice, voice – getting/making a call on the watch works GREAT and is Dick Tracy good – my first WOW and SIRI works – just works and for whatever reason, while I felt somewhat “stupid” talking to Siri on my iPhone but that’s not the case with the Watch – much more subtle/less in your face + no real alternative to discovery – can’t really type etc etc?2) Glances- more than notifs is genius and I think the app battle will be there.3) My “killer” feature is that in my first day of usage, I did notice that I used my iPhone a lot less4) the whole Health/wellness component (sensors to apps) is rock solid and my Fitbit went in the draw
My primary device platform is iOS, so I did pull the trigger. The watch is absolutely beautiful and many of my friends are now sold and want one. I’m still getting familiar with this new form of engagement I must say – it’s definitely a relevant product category and should lead to a very large use case for apps.Those who enjoy streamlined experiences – notifications, brief scripts and tight interfaces (two swipes), I think your going to love it. Which brings me to this thought, app development will forcibly need to change in this environment. Design, curation and efficiency are principles that will find deeper user meaning moving forward.Purely business assessment – this could be Apple’s second act if they are successful at product adoption. Think about integration advantages – Apple can manage more watch SKU’s across their platform with less friction and forks.Recommendation: Buy
It’s simply too early to dismiss the Watch, and call it useless.This technology shift from the pocket to a wearable is about Glances. Small Jobs.Then there’s the sensors.The Watch is a First Generation product. Of course it’s not “perfect” and not without its shortcomings. But nearly all indications suggest that Apple has shipped a world-class…First Generation wearable computer.If The Graduate were written today, Benjamin Braddock would be advised to get into Glances, not plastics. Utility is next.
I came across this article today by a deafblind person and how the Apple watch really helps her navigate:http://www.mollywatt.com/bl…Always interesting to see other use cases… ;-)I will probably not get one since I haven’t really used a watch in years and don’t really miss it. Should I change my mind, I’d definitely wait for the next version, as I have done with the iPhone.
its great.the Uber app is magic. even easier than uber.making a call is great – very easy.I have now sat in countless meetings with the watch and its far less intrusive than the phone.I absolutely despise people who look at their phones in meetings….by glancing at my watch and making sure its not my wife (kids) – it allows me to focus on the meeting in a polite manner.i’ve long felt that people WAAAAY over use their phones – i am going to guess that 80% of the stuff being stared at has little or no positive impact on productivity.These phones have created this culture where the default is “i’m SOOOO busy” – no you are not. thats a bullshit statement. no one is THAT busy that they become slaves to their phones…….For me its a lightweight elegant notifications beacon – if i see stuff that is truly important i can use my phone.
Will be interesting when they can get it as an interactive front projected hologram
blows my mind that it has >500 views.
Seriously, does this mean a generation of pundits and the manufacturer of the selfie stick will lose their jobs? Because I don’t want to put anyone out of work =P