Apple Watch: What It Is. What It Is Not.
Few Apple products in the 21st century have been sliced and diced by fans and critics as much as Apple Watch. Some critics ask what seems obvious to them but not others.
What problem does it solve?
Having to ask that question says more about the critic than it does Apple. Other critics take a stand against the devices potential.
Apple Watch will be a flop.
Of course it will. Everyone knows that. Making that prediction is easy. Apple Inc. is all about that gargantuan sales machine, the iPhone. Anything that does not sell in equal numbers will be considered a flop. You know, like the iPad, which only sold 21-million units last quarter.
Total flop.
Wait. What?
Didn't the Mac sell just over 5-million units last quarter? And wasn't that a sales record? Perspective is reality, so if one views a product from the perspective of another– Mac vs. iPhone– then one is a success and the other a failure. Watch will not be a failure, both because of what it is, and what it is not, but also for what it may become.
First, Watch won't sell in numbers that approach the iPhone's success. Get over it. That won't happen. Second, Watch will sell in numbers sufficient to make it the most profitable watch line on the earth. Finally, the future isn't that far away and it's likely that Watch will take more and more functionality away from the iPhone, just as the iPhone and iPad took functions away from Macs and Windows PCs.
Apple Watch is a watch. But it's also Apple's most complicated product. Complicated? People will buy it for different reasons. Watch is ornamental; a luxury item for some, a fitness tracking device for others, a health monitor for a few, and a way to keep the iPhone in your pocket or purse or bag or backpack when you need it most, but it's inconvenient to find it and use.
Simply put, Apple Watch is an incredibly convenient device; an easy way to keep in touch without whipping out the iPhone; to glance at messages, to receive alerts, alarms, and notifications in the most discrete way possible, to buy without doing much more than waving a wrist in the air, to talk or listen and respond with efficient ease. Watch is a more convenient window to everything the iPhone does, without the usual and cumbersome locate, unlock, find, read, use, respond tied to the iPhone itself.
The original iPhone was described as a Mac in your pocket; a powerful computing and communication device that was fully mobile, obvious in its capabilities, worthy of praise and usage from the masses. Apple Watch can be described as your iPhone on your wrist, a device taking over many of the same functions, yet in a stylish, visual, incredibly convenient way. Over the next four or five years we'll see more app functions move from the iPhone to Apple Watch.
My only complaint with everything I've seen of Watch to date is the product life cycle, which I suspect will be more like iPad and Mac than iPhone. That explains why most Watch models are priced well under $1,000 except the luxury versions which can easily exceed $10,000, and for those customers a product life cycle of a few years is meaningless.
There's no flop in Apple Watch. It's the future of the iPhone.
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DK Jones says
I don't know that the Apple watch will be the game-changer for phones that the iPhone has been, but I don't think it'll be the flop I've read about on certain tech blogs, etc… I agree that the Apple Watch is definitely tied to the future of the iPhone, and it remains to be seen how far in and in what direction it goes. HealthKit and ResearchKit are likely to be come a major part of it, and I think that's totally cool. Thanks for another great post Kate.
Simplicity says
Interesting Observation which inspired me to write this:
Currently, I use an iPhone 6 Plus for most of my computing needs. One of the reasons why I like this device is because of its portability: it fits into most of my pockets when I'm out and about. But, when I'm home the iPhone is on a table, counter or nightstand somewhere. When the device is needed it can be a huge PITA to fetch it. For example, I was cooking today and some conversion measurements were needed. Unfortunately, my 6 Plus was in another room. It would of been much more convenient to have some question answering machine such as an Apple Watch on my person, rather than hunt for the 6 Plus.
In this iteration the Apple Watch needs to be synced with an iPhone to accomplish many tasks like answering phone calls, etc. Maybe in a year or two the Apple Watch will have a cellular radio and be able to take phone calls or access the Internet without the need for an iPhone. When this occurs the two products that will complement each other will be an Apple Watch and probably some foldable screen device (used for content consumption and creation) that can fit into my pocket. My guess is the price points for both devices will be at or lower than the current use of Apple Watch and iPhone and much less expensive than Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad.