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Apple Working With Swatch for iWatch With Multiple Designs, Price Points?
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right...because Apple loves to work with other hardware manufacturers? And because Apple loves to put their name/software on something without having complete control over the experience...yeah, that would make Steve Jobs come back from the dead just to slap Cook in the face
You are right, could you imagine? It would be like using Samsung components assembled in a chinese factory owned by another company. Not gonna happen, SJ would never allow that. Nonsense.
If this news is true I think Apple is definitely doing the right thing. Watch taste is so highly subjective and dictated by fashion and trends. If they make the iWatch just a small puck that can be inserted into any band or watch "case" (be it Rolex, Swatch or whoever) then they can still control the hardware and software but leave the subjective aesthetic to the watch companies.
You mean like was predicted when the first iPhone was released. Or like was predicted when the first iPad was released. Yea, I know the customary "you wait and see" response is coming.
Since I had my iPhones all these years, I stopped wearing watches. Worst to come out of this are all those reading and texting nuts that walk the street bobbing their head and staring at screens, occasionally making a furtive glance to avoid collisions. Now, they'll be sporting iwatches and appear to be perpetually telling the time. Or rushing around like the hare in Alice Through the Looking Glass.
You probably made the same prediction about the iPhone. You and your hero Steve Ballmer.
Meanwhile the Panerai and Pathek crowd are snubbing their nose at the thought of lowly Movado
and how is that different from people looking at their iPhones, same what you had all these years?
You mean work with one of the greatest corporate success stories in history? The company that single-handedly saved the Swiss watch industry from the brink of death?
Right... eeeeww.
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Hayek, who is quoted, is chairman of Swatch Group.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
While I'm one of the more skeptical on the iWatch rumor in spite of how much it's piling up, this bit of it makes a lot of sense to me. A big piece of my skepticism is the "watch is jewelry" argument which, in a nutshell, might be summed up as we've all had 100+ years of exposure to watches of every shape, size, color, material, type, etc. How can the masses beyond here (not the "buy anything Apple wants to sell crowd") be turned onto giving up that design diversity to instead adopt a singular design or two from Apple? I've half-joked that if Apple can take the wrist with a single design or two, the iUniform must be right on it's heels (as a kind of play on the fashion diversity of watches vs. the fashion diversity of clothing).
Partnering with others- even if some of those partners include the (perceived) lowly Swatch & Timex- for the specific purpose of rolling out iWatches of every shape, size, color, material, type, etc could go a long way toward that issue. Maybe the iWatch is a "guts" play, kind of like the carplay concept. In both, the visible "shell" is not necessarily Apple but the heart of it is Apple. If so, the Apple part that would be most visible- the screen or dial- obviously comes with a diverse design flexibility of showing any watch face when in watch mode. Have a Black band? Show a black face. Have a Gold band? Show a Gold face. Want roman numerals on the dial? Want divers marks on the dial? Want a retro LCD face? Etc. The screen portion could be any color or sync up with any design choices of the rest of the physical watch.
So while I don't love the reference of partners at Swatch & Timex level (though I do know Swatch is much more than the colorful, cheap, kiddie watches most attached to the brand), this rumor does shift me a bit toward seeing a way for an iWatch to sell to the masses.
Partnering with others- even if some of those partners include the (perceived) lowly Swatch & Timex- for the specific purpose of rolling out iWatches of every shape, size, color, material, type, etc could go a long way toward that issue. Maybe the iWatch is a "guts" play, kind of like the carplay concept. In both, the visible "shell" is not necessarily Apple but the heart of it is Apple. If so, the Apple part that would be most visible- the screen or dial- obviously comes with a diverse design flexibility of showing any watch face when in watch mode. Have a Black band? Show a black face. Have a Gold band? Show a Gold face. Want roman numerals on the dial? Want divers marks on the dial? Want a retro LCD face? Etc. The screen portion could be any color or sync up with any design choices of the rest of the physical watch.
So while I don't love the reference of partners at Swatch & Timex level (though I do know Swatch is much more than the colorful, cheap, kiddie watches most attached to the brand), this rumor does shift me a bit toward seeing a way for an iWatch to sell to the masses.
It would be nice to partner with hublot and use their big bang unico 45,5mm case. Well, not nice, AWESOME to me, but sadly I suppose it is really difficult and it would be extremely expensive for the mass market, but I would pay up to 2000 USD for that kind of device.
I get the impression the iWatch won't be a watch at all, but a sensor suite that can be tagged along somehow with existing watches and ultimately is controlled through an iPhone or iPad. Whatever the case, I think there is more to this product than just merely being another smart watch.
Hopefully Not A Watch
I'm going to be shocked if this thing looks like a watch. You've got people who don't wear watches and people who do. The people who do aren't going to wear two watches and it's really unlikely they are going to toss out their current watch for an iWatch. The people who don't wear watches aren't suddenly going to start wearing them. However both groups would probably jump on some sort of Apple version of the fitbit. It's a no brainer. 70% of the fitness trackers out there are FitBit. You make a better version of that and have it play well with ios and android...That's the product.
I'm going to be shocked if this thing looks like a watch. You've got people who don't wear watches and people who do. The people who do aren't going to wear two watches and it's really unlikely they are going to toss out their current watch for an iWatch. The people who don't wear watches aren't suddenly going to start wearing them. However both groups would probably jump on some sort of Apple version of the fitbit. It's a no brainer. 70% of the fitness trackers out there are FitBit. You make a better version of that and have it play well with ios and android...That's the product.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Yes, as I've offered in other threads, I think it's another subsidy play, this time with the subsidy being paid by insurance companies and/or medicare so that it can be priced cheap* or free* while Apple still gets their full price & margin (just like iPhone). The play is related to these rumored health sensors and it's essentially a consolidation of the various stuff offered for free* in health-related TV commercials like diabetic gauges and similar: "it can be yours for free" (because your insurance company or medicare covers it). If Apple could consolidate the same kinds of meters and functionality into this iWatch, maybe they can get insurance & medicare to pay for up to all of what they want for it (too). If so, like the iPhone, they can price it un-Apple-like at the low-to-free level and still actually collect whatever they want to collect. Crazy idea? Maybe. But it does seem to fit what has worked so well with iPhone, subbing insurance companies for AT&T.
The Apple faithful is always there to guarantee a certain amount of success, but, if the iWatch is simply an overpriced notification device (like the Pebble), it can fail.
The iPhone was a complete reinvention of an old paradigm. Pretty much revolutionizing how we communicate and access information. How Apple envisions wearable technology in our lives, will dictate the success of the iWatch.
The iPhone was a complete reinvention of an old paradigm. Pretty much revolutionizing how we communicate and access information. How Apple envisions wearable technology in our lives, will dictate the success of the iWatch.
Movado? To even have Movado and Rolex in the same sentence...
Also, Swatch Group owns Omega, Tissot, Longines, Blancpain, Hamilton, Rado... It's not just the plastic watches you see selling at mall kiosks.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Europe doesn't have insurance or government entities that would similarly pay for things like diabetes testers and other testing tools? I was thinking it might work even better in countries with socialized medicine (more users would qualify since everybody is covered). Perhaps our friends from over there could chime in?