Really good and informative answers!
I completely understand the whole "why can't the Ipad make phone calls etc" that we all heard of when it was released. But the thing that baffles me and maybe I'm just trying to justify a purchase for no reason whatsoever, is that what exactly is this product?
The ipad was not designed to make phone calls, you had your Iphone for that. It was made for an incredible browsing experience. The watch was not made for answering texts, browsing the web or making phone calls, you have your phone for that. The phone also tells the time.
But what is it for? What are you guys buying this device for if it needs to be paired with your phone? Is it just for fitness?
I'm not criticizing anyone buying it, people can do what ever they please with their hard earned money. I just really want to understand this device and yet I can't.
Anyway, first world problems signing off. It will be interesting how this product shows it's usefulness when it gets out in the wild.
Good questions, and ones I also struggled with when the device was first announced right up until recently. The watch's purpose is much harder to grasp than any other device Apple has introduced; a lot of people couldn't even understand the purpose of the iPad, even though it was clearly superior for a multitude of tasks over the iPhone (such as web browsing as you mentioned).
I think it's very helpful to dissect the watch as three tenpole functions Cook used in both presentations.
1. A timepiece. People I think have been very quick to skip right over this core feature. I am a person who does not wear a traditional watch because, like so many, I carry a smartphone and
"can just check my phone for that". But a 2013 study showed people dig out their phones 18 times a day (figure once per waking hour)
just to tell the time, when a glance at the wrist would have been much more convenient. I see the benefit of having the time on my wrist, but a single-purpose device like the traditional watch just isn't compelling enough for me to bother owning and wearing one. Making the watch useful for more than just one feature could very well see the decline of the wristwatch turn the other way.
2. Health and Fitness companion. This alone can justify the purchase for many people, while others couldn't care less about the health and fitness features of the watch. If a person's in the latter camp then obviously they doesn't help justify why the watch exists as a product for them. But for those who do care, having a fitness band that is stylish enough to wear for any occasion (with the proper accompanying bands) is a pretty big deal. Not to mention, how Apple is using the collected data to the user's advantage I think is much more refined than what anyone else has done. This is definitely one tenpole feature where a person cannot say,
"my phone can do that just as well".
3. Communication device. This I think is the one where people are having the hardest time, because our immediate response is,
"but I can just take my phone out of my pocket for that". Which isn't untrue! However, the more I think about it the more I've come to believe that the smartphone is quite frankly not a very good notification center. Unless a person's phone is physically in their hand for their 18 waking hours of the day, or their work and personal life never involve awaiting time-sensitive notifications, the Watch has a lot to offer.
That same study I mentioned earlier also determined that the average user checks their phone 150 times per day; in an 18-hour day that's once every 7 minutes. I don't think that's because we all live very important lives (nor do I think your life needs be important to benefit from the watch), but because we've become addicted to checking for notifications. And I think the reason for
that is we've all been burned more than once by missing a time-sensitive email, text or call because we either 1.) didn't hear the phone 2.) didn't feel the vibration or 3.) our phone was across the room and neither was possible. So we check, and we check, and we check again. And we check again. Guess what: you're not going to miss a tap on the wrist from the watch, so you can forget about your phone and just go throughout your day until you
actually receive a notification.
There's also like a half-dozen of other watch features that don't fall into these categories (Remote, Camera remote, Music while jogging, etc), that aren't killer features on their own but added all up are worth taking into consideration.
)watch without the need to pair it to an existing Iphone?
