Apple watch

[Lost soul]

rich83 said:

I just dont see why anyone who is a watch fan would want one of these things..... load of c*** IMO

I'm with you on this total marketing ste I like Apple product but a fking watch , get real

[leglessAlex]

I think it's too expensive but then I don't have enough disposable income to be their target market.

Whatever Jony Ive is trying to say I don't think people that are really into their watches are the target market, and I highly doubt any smart watch will ever compete with a 'proper' watch in the marketplace.

A lot of my friends in my age group (23) don't wear a watch and I reckon that sort of person is the sort that'll be targeted. I'm not really interested as I already have something on my wrist, but for people that don't wear a watch and have an iPhone I can't think of why they wouldn't get an Apple Watch. It's the perfect complimentary device and more importantly, it's on show so everyone can see you have one.

[FlyingTrotter]

You may have hit the nail on the head - the word "watch" is the problem - it doesn't seem to be a direct rival to a timepiece - the wrist worn product seems more likely to be

- aimed at buyers that do not currently wear a traditional watch
- with a first phase core target group of those that are interested in monitoring their health through the various apps that have already been launched
- like past Apple products that were launched ahead of the market perception that they were needed it is seeking to drive the market in wrist worn tech

It's not for me but hard to dismiss it out of hand - Apple are hardly renowned for misunderstanding their market and so I would expect to see a descent sized group emerge that do want to be seen to be wearing an Apple product

I'll stick with traditional timepieces

[MitchT]

I don't get who is going to buy the £13,500 one. The tech will be obsolete within a year and within two to three years OS changes will have rendered it pretty much unusable. Is it just for very stupid people with vast amounts of money who want to be seen with something new, while it's new, and then throw it away?

[Blaster72]

MitchT said:

I don't get who is going to buy the £13,500 one. The tech will be obsolete within a year and within two to three years OS changes will have rendered it pretty much unusable. Is it just for very stupid people with vast amounts of money who want to be seen with something new, while it's new, and then throw it away?

Yes it is, will be seen on the wrist of various z-list celebs.

[Shezbo]

I must admit that I will NOT be buying this..I have yet to see a multi technology item perform better than the actual dedicated product i.e.

If I want to shot images I use a camera.
If I want to test my heart rate I will use a fit for purpose dedicated monitor.
etc. etc.

This piece of Apple kit - is just a bitsa - it will be comprised on so many levels???

Just my pennies worth!

[Miguel Alvarez]

Shezbo said:

I must admit that I will NOT be buying this..I have yet to see a multi technology item perform better than the actual dedicated product i.e.

If I want to shot images I use a camera.
If I want to test my heart rate I will use a fit for purpose dedicated monitor.
etc. etc.

This piece of Apple kit - is just a bitsa - it will be comprised on so many levels???

Just my pennies worth!

I agree with this to a point. Where as I'm not the target market for a smart watch I probably am for a smart phone. I want to listen to some music on the fly, take the odd pic, maybe video something, make calls and go on the net for a bit of light reading I can do. Saves me carrying around a bag full of "in case" items. I'm sure the watch will be perfect for the people like me (in reverse) who want a wrist band that "does it all"

But I've said it before and I'll say it again I really can't see me getting a smart watch.

[jshell]

Oh, I thought this was a phone too, but seemingly you also need a minimum of an iphone 5 to run it?

Ha-ha, fk off!

[rich83]

jshell said:

Oh, I thought this was a phone too, but seemingly you also need a minimum of an iphone 5 to run it?

Ha-ha, fk off!

Yeah its great. You can bring up someones contact details and call them on right your apple watch................. then get your phone out of your pocket

[Zoon]

adamfawsitt said:

I am definitely in - Black Aluminium Sport with Black Strap. Closest match to my iPhone and a bargain!

Funny that, it's the one I picked.

[Emonda03]

Yep I must admit I am amazed that they have a £400 watch selling for £13,000 with a gold case, really do not get that at all, no middle ground then !!

I bike ride & row & yes I get very accurate readings & monitor everything, power meters on the bikes, garmin edge ,HR strap always worn, and yes the basis I have is not as accurate on the HR thing as a strap, but one gadget to count steps, resting HR, sleep monitoring ( who knows how accurate that is ! ) get txt messages etc whilst phone is in your pocket etc makes it a useful device to me, how accurate it will be will be interesting. Good point that 2nd gen etc will see it improve no doubt.
I do quite like the idea of a very accurate watch & different watch faces too, quite like the micky mouse one!...so yes I am having one, and will enjoy getting to see what its all about. I think I will still enjoy wearing my real watches on rotation or special occasions, but I can see the apple watch becoming the daily beater just because of all the functions, then again it maybe collecting dust in a draw in a couple of months we shall see.
On another note, I don't understand why the HR monitor is on the back of the watch on these devices, surely it would make more sense to have it built into the buckle, so it got a better reading actually sitting above your artery, where you would take your pulse with your fingers, no one takes it on the top of the wrist...maybe it would be more accurate on the underside, and surely like with HR straps the watchstrap could have sensors in it

[Hoofy]

MitchT said:

I don't get who is going to buy the £13,500 one. The tech will be obsolete within a year and within two to three years OS changes will have rendered it pretty much unusable. Is it just for very stupid people with vast amounts of money who want to be seen with something new, while it's new, and then throw it away?

Same type of people who bought the original Vertu phones, I guess. They are probably good with ball control and running about on grass on a Saturday afternoon.

I doubt these watches will replace anyone's collection just like my G-shock Riseman (which is a brilliant watch) only comes out when I do some kind of sport.

[Pixelpeep7r]

I love the look of it, i like the idea i can glance at it to see if anything is important on the phone that needs attention where pulling your phone out of your pocket might seem a bit inappropriate (meeting? at your desk?)

I like the idea i can change music tracks that are playing without taking the phone out of the pocket.

I like the idea that calendar notes are displayed

I like the idea that a phone call that i don't want to answer won't involve stopping what i am doing to get the phone out of my pocket to see i don't want to answer it.

I also like the idea that it tells the time

I will be purchasing one of the sport ones i think. £299.

Just as a final thought, i had to laugh at those '£13k for a watch?!' comments where you'd quite happily spend £20k on another, less feature rich watch just because of the name written on it

[jogon]

It doesn't make sense though. A Rolex sport costs say £6k they do a gold version of the same watch for £19-£20k and you even get a gold strap as part of the package.

[Hoofy]

Pixelpeep7r said:

i like the idea
I like the idea
I like the idea
I like the idea
I also like the idea

How does it compare to the other wearables already out? And in terms of price?

[rat840771]

For £329 I just cannot justify the cost ( 43mm sport version), I did wear the Nano for a while on a watch strap and was pretty cool ( was a free gift from work), but charging was a right pain in the arse.

I cant see myself having to take it off every night and plug it in next to MacBook, ipad etc, I would rather just put my automatic watch back on in the morning without having to charge it every day ( another charger you would have to pack for the business trip/holiday)

It is s digital watch, £400 to £900 for the non sport version is a joke!

It isn't even water proof.

I think it will just end up in my sock drawer

[Emonda03]

Nothing to do with the name written on it,there is value in the mechanical watch that stays in a mechanical watch, example rolex's pretty much will not lose value if you have purchased at the right price, indeed many watches increase in value, patek, rolex, lange etc all have excellent residuals. They do not take a £399 movement & put it in a £13k case, the apple point is basically its the same tech/movement from the £399 watch and the £13k is for the gold case...maybe there is a bragging rights thing going on there, but that has never been a reason to buy any of the watches I have in my collection at all

I think it will be pretty revolutionary actually, the nay sayers I think are a little short sighted, I recall when all mobile phones did was ring, and when they started putting 'tech' on them it was like ' why would you want a computer on your phone' all I want it to do is ring ' I use my laptop for computer stuff' or 'why would I want a camera on my phone' or music on my phoneblah blah ....Christ its not taken long for the phone to be a swiss army knife....can see the watch really doing the same, it will be interesting to see all the developments on the software side, I see Strava is already working with it for one

[leglessAlex]

Pixelpeep7r said:

Just as a final thought, i had to laugh at those '£13k for a watch?!' comments where you'd quite happily spend £20k on another, less feature rich watch just because of the name written on it

I'm one of those that think it's a silly price, but not because it's a watch. It's because it'll be outdated in 12 months time, if you buy a 'real' watch for that amount you generally expect it to last a lifetime.

[sneijder]

Zoon said:

Funny that, it's the one I picked.

I'll be going down that road too, if I get one

It's not released here in Norway the same time, I'll happily wait until I see how the first lot get on.

I'm assuming they've left GPS out for V2 to be a must have. I run / ski with my phone in my pocket for tracking exercise, I'd be keen to ditch it if I could.

The idea of messing around with different watch faces appeals, I'd imagine there'll be some threads on here once the Rolex faces appear ...

The newspapers will be full of folk having their gold watches stolen by muggers I guess,

The budget gold watch is sorted anyway..... http://applewatchdecals.com

[clonmult]

Shezbo said:

I must admit that I will NOT be buying this..I have yet to see a multi technology item perform better than the actual dedicated product i.e.

If I want to shot images I use a camera.
If I want to test my heart rate I will use a fit for purpose dedicated monitor.
etc. etc.

This piece of Apple kit - is just a bitsa - it will be comprised on so many levels???

Just my pennies worth!

But there are overlaps.

Wearing a chest strap HRM 24 hours a day isn't that pleasant. A wrist mounted HRM isn't that accurate during many types of exercise, but an optical HRM fills in the for the rest of the day - it can give you a genuine resting heart rate, which can be invaluable.

And there are a couple of phones with cameras that can readily better most (sub £300?) dedicated P&S cameras with these mildly stupid megazooms - mainly down to most P&S cameras having a typically small phone type sensor. I have two of these, they make for a good all round camera (I have a DSLR that fills in for other occasions), sat nav, reasonable music player and occasionally - and this is quite radical - make phone calls.