Apple's Rumored iWatch as an 'Even More Personal Personal Computer'

[ifij775]

If the iwatch looks anything like these mockups I don't predict very robust sales

 

[theOtherGeoff]

I'll be honest. At the moment I have zero interest in something like this. They are going to have to really wow me to get me interested.

how many laptop owners said that about the MBA, the iPad.
And how many non-computer/non-smartphone owners are there compared to you billions (yes, billions).

All that said, it's speculation on speculation. I'll wait for WWDC.

 

[HarryKeogh]

I'd be interested in seeing the watch "strap" as being a transparent glass with a usable touch surface on it.

Well, the strap has to be flexible or else you have a bangle.

And a ring of thin glass around your wrist doesn't sound very safe.

 

[Rogifan]

I'm beginning to be very excited for this product.

Sad thing is you might be getting excited for something that doesn't exist, or if it does might not ever get released. A lot of noise with little information to back it up.

 

[johncrab]

Watches are going away. All manufacturers are seeing their sales shrink as younger generations shun unitasker watches for the time on their smartphones. The Swiss watch industry is consolidating. Some big names will end up going away or become just names rather than whole companies. The industry is retreating to the high ground of five figures and above, making fewer numbers but more money on each unit.

That said, the watch as we know it is going away but bare wrists mean there is a huge marker just waiting for the right product to come along. it will have to be smarter, better, more entertaining and offer a lot more information. It will have to be personal, customizable. Cool personal features will replace the cachet of Bob in the next cubicle who is making payments on his Rolex GMT Master.

What younger people are effectively saying is that they won't strap something to themselves unless they see high value in what it does and a watch, no matter how grand, only tells the time.

I am a watchmaker and I no longer wear a watch regularly.

 

[jrswizzle]

Lol man I think the hate for the iWatch is hilarious.....

No one here has ANY imagination. Go back and read the article a week ago about the iWatch and all the applications it has as a supplement to your smartphone. Those are the applications that get me excited about this product.

I'm sure in 2007 people were saying the same thing about the iPhone. An iWatch will likely revolutionize the watch industry (and propel a smartwatch industry) and everyone bashing here will likely be wearing one on their wrists....

Then in about 7 years, those same people will be saying the iWatch is getting stale and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 will be the greatest thing ever....lol

 

[Carouser]

I'm curious as to if there is even a market for this. I know many people who don't even wear a watch anymore because they rely on their phone. I can't recall the last time I asked someone for the time and they looked at their watch instead of their phone.

Yes, if Apple makes a watch, clearly their goal would be displaying the time and nothing else.

 

[Adam22]

I'm trying to reserve judgment until they release this (if they really do), but... I just can't see the purpose. My iPhone is plenty portable and its clock works just fine. Also, fewer and fewer people are wearing watches in the first place, at least as far as I've seen. They'd have to really wow me for me to even consider buying this, and I have tons of Apple stuff. Maybe it's meant as a device to introduce you to Apple products, like iPods are these days?

Then again, no one could see the purpose of an iPad at first, and those turned out pretty popular.

Maybe it creates a magnetic field around the user that Apple refers to as the "reality distortion field."

A lot of ppl are ditching they're regular watch for devices like the Nike+ fuel band but those have their short comings. Just imagine a nano with the clip like IWatch with bendable glass and having the same features as a nike+ fuel band for health and more. Add a camera for fun , sensors , connect to nike running shoes, bluetooth headphones for when u run , has siri and she talks to you with health info while u run etc.and this can be great

 

[HenryDJP]

If you wear this, you will simply not get laid.

If wearing this will stop you from getting laid, you weren't gonna get laid in the first place!

 

[bbeagle]

Sad thing is you might be getting excited for something that doesn't exist, or if it does might not ever get released. A lot of noise with little information to back it up.

Sad thing is that I've been excited about the idea of this since wearing a calculator watch in the 80s.

I would think that the band would be sold separately, like cases are sold separately fit the iPhone. Because the 'fit' of the watch matters a lot.

 

[chairguru22]

Because people don't wear valuable watches on their wrists now??

An iWatch would be at most $300?? Thats dirt cheap for a nice watch.

 

[gatearray]

i like the idea of the electronics built in and flush to the wrist band but those are some of the worst looking concepts ever. it's just an iPhone with a PS warp transform applied. Does anyone really think there will be a swipe to unlock on this tiny watch face?

Exactly.

These remind me of those fake "screen shots" of Samsung's potential competing product last week— the time on their watch was microscopically printed at the top of the watch's "menu bar" just like a smart phone! Ridiculous.

 

[buymeaniphone]

I could see this being a real product. After seeing how well people grabbed onto the idea of the iPod Nano becoming a wristwatch Apple is probably using that interface for this new Smart Watch. It would need to provide some additional functionality though to be a successful product. I don't need a personal alert device telling me whats on my phone.

 

[Carniphage]

Just imagine a nano with the clip like IWatch with bendable glass and having the same features as a nike+ fuel band for health and more. Add a camera for fun , sensors , connect to nike running shoes, bluetooth headphones for when u run , has siri and she talks to you with health info while u run etc.

Yep - I am imagining all of that. I am really good at imagining products. It's like my job.

and this can be great

Nope. It wouldn't. It would be lame. It would be a terrible input device and a useless output device. A bad place for a microphone and a worse place for a camera.

Apple don't do this sort of stuff. Ever.
They identify real consumer needs and create products that satisfy those needs. Apple excel because they don't do stuff just because it is possible.

 

[HVDynamo]

how many laptop owners said that about the MBA, the iPad.
And how many non-computer/non-smartphone owners are there compared to you billions (yes, billions).

All that said, it's speculation on speculation. I'll wait for WWDC.

And I still don't have an iPad or a Macbook Air. I just bought a new 15" cMBP actually. Besides that, I am just stating my personal interest in it. I am not saying it would necessarily be a complete flop, but I am not interested at the moment. They could surprise me though, it has happened before. That said, I can much more see the use case for a Macbook Air or an iPad. If I was the type of person that didn't do much but web browse, word processing, and e-mail (Which a lot of people fit into that demographic) The Air is the perfect computer.

 

[Gasu E.]

What are you gibbering on about? Apple have announced nothing, shown nothing. These are crap mockups from the Observer. They have crap all to do with Apple.

This is much funnier if you imagine it being said with a thick Scottish accent, as in: "Whit urr ye gibbering oan aboot?"

 

[Eidorian]

Wrist communicators? Star Trek did it or was it Dick Tracy. I am not sure if it is just a silly proposition or the technology for bendable screens was not up to snuff.

 

[jav6454]

This is the same ole story with a new topic when Rumors start running of a new apple device:

1. People say how much they hate the idea and will have no use for it
2. Apple confirms the device with an event
3. Some people finally understands the idea, others still hate it and deem it DOA
4. The device goes on sale to the tune of a few million
5. Those who bought it love it, those who didn't, trash it and says sales will begin to decline soon enough.
6. Apples quarter call, reports best quarter ever and the rest of the world, quarter by quarter begins to buy the device and Apple is deemed the most innovative company in history once again.

Tell me one good thing a watch will be useful for? If anything they should focus on the AppleTV. After all, iTunes alone accounts for $6Billion in revenue. Imagine if AppleTV were to be focused on a bit more.

A watch will be a new market and this sounds more like 1990s Apple that went into everything to make money and we know how that ended up. This time Seve isn't around for Apple's saving.

If you are interested in a watch, there was a report here not long ago about a company making a watch as an iOS companion. Let them do that. Tey had it better IMO.

 

[daveheinzel]

I was thinking maybe it could look like this...

 

[OafTobark]

i thought watches are only a fashion or status statement/symbols nowadays anyway. even at work people take u more serious if u wear a hublot watch and its easier to get by the door guy at the club. seems shallow but its the sad truth

You're exactly right! They are only fashion or status statements. And that is exactly what Apple is going to change.


Again, A necessity.

 

[JaySoul]

Because you have found a niche solution to your niche problem?

Me and Tim Cook, yes.

 

[Moonjumper]

I'm curious as to if there is even a market for this. I know many people who don't even wear a watch anymore because they rely on their phone. I can't recall the last time I asked someone for the time and they looked at their watch instead of their phone.

An iWatch would be for telling the time in the same way that an iPhone is for making phone calls.

 

[Gasu E.]

if only I had something on me at all times that could tell me the time, offer maps, email, texts, browsing....


Image

That brick can stay in my pocket. I want something convenient that I just have to glance at to give me critical alert information: current time and appointment alerts, caller id, my next (walking) navigation direction, etc...

Personally, I dislike the huge size of the iPhone. I have both an iPhone and a "dumb" phone, and I find myself using the dumb phone as my always-with-me phone, and relegating the iPhone to use as a portable email device that I only use when I'm away from my desk. It's too unwieldy to whip out to answer calls, and I don't feel like bearing the discomfort or the ridiculousness of walking around constantly with an earpiece, or the inability to screen incoming calls in a practical manner.

So here's what I would like-- a solution that addresses all four of these

- I'd like a way to screen incoming calls without fumbling through my pocket
- I'd like a way to answer a call of my choosing without fumbling through my pocket
- I'd like to not have to wear an earpiece constantly in anticipation of incoming calls

So,

Give me something strapped to my wrist, where I can glance at it to see who is calling, tap it to answer if I choose, and quickly raise my wrist in the general vicinity of my face to talk-- then I'm sold. If it can tell time, show me my next appointment, alert me to text-- all without going to my pocket-- then that would be gravy.

 

[chainprayer]

Buy the iWatch to go with the iPad and you have the whole Inspector Gadget package

 

[BC2009]

If Apple does an "iWatch" there is one thing we should know with certainty: it will not be a condensed version of iPhone. iPad was neither a large iPhone nor a tablet Mac. iPad is its own form factor with software specifically targeting that platform. iPhone is its own form factor that has software optimized specifically for it. iWatch will most likely be a complement to iPhone and provide some or all of the following services:

- Watch App
- Caller ID when paired to iPhone
- Act as a microphone for Siri (connect to iPhone)
- Display responses from Siri
- Display notifications
- Provide music controls and cover art
- Provide health & fitness sensors & apps
- Have its own app store & SDK

What it will not do is simply run miniaturized versions of iPhone apps.

One more thing.... The big security feature I expect in the upcoming iPhone is a home button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner to lock-down Siri access to the phone's owner. If iPhone does provide this, it would be likely for the iWatch to also provide a remote scanner so that Siri access can still be protected from iWatch.