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You guys are talking about the difference between marketshare and mindshare. Both are important, and you're both right. But only insofar as mindshare translates to marketshare eventually.

That pretty much wraps it up and puts a bow on it. Well said!
 
I see the difference between showing it as a cool gadget in a high profile movie that literally the whole world would see and giving it away to any celebrities. Be it Madonna no one would care except her followers. Turlington is not known to anyone outside of US, Lagerfeld would affect only fashionistas and persons a la Paris Hilton and that's again if you know who's it and even then it's a question of personal choice and like/dislike of that particular person. But show it in a movie of the scale of James Bond in a smart manner and the next day there will be lines to Apple Stores around the world.

James Bond wears those old man watches so many of you are into, lol. The rest of us are cool ;)

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Whereas I think that Omega looks quite 80s or 90s.

Does seeing a special version given to Karl Lagerfeld put anyone else off the whole thing? I want a watch even less now.



At the risk of sounding like a total hipster, what makes things cool is being different from everyone else (or the majority) in some interesting way. It's why a lot of fashion people look outrageous at times. It's why Apple was cool circa ~2003 but is less so now. (Despite being popular with the kids)

In the tech world, being cool is about being in the know about an awesome product before everyone else. Because these people have the Watch before everyone else they think they're cool. Whereas I just think Apple's pandering to celebrity, which is the opposite of cool.

I don't think you would know cool if it gave you frostbite. ba dum bum

In all seriousness, having celebrities wear your stuff so that other people want it has been used to market products for hundreds of years. How do you think trends get started? Why do you think there are red carpets before awards shows and shows ABOUT what people wear on red carpets?
 
In all seriousness, having celebrities wear your stuff so that other people want it has been used to market products for hundreds of years. How do you think trends get started? Why do you think there are red carpets before awards shows and shows ABOUT what people wear on red carpets?

Just like most things, something is only TRULY "cool" (see, honest, real, true) before it gets to that point. Fashion grows from a lifestyle of a group of people. Corporations come in, see it as an opportunity to market, package and sell this "lifestyle." This is when the truth of that lifestyle dies.

Source: Hot Topic, Urban Outfitters, MTV, etc.

Sure, Apple is a little different because they are a tech company, but they used to have my respect because their (Jobs') vision was in line with their products and their approach (all around).

But, you know, it's interesting, like what I said above... Apple created a real/honest culture, and then became a corporate monster and sold out their own truth.

I single out Apple, but this is a common story of many corporations that are started by a man with a vision and talent, but gets handed over to be run by business managers who can save the company by reducing packaging materials, but cannot innovate in the true sense of the word. (see Apple in 90s when Jobs was gone).

Anyway, I'm not sure where I'm going with this. Just wanted to take a break from work... Happy Thursday! :D
 
Obviously Apple made many different versions of these watches to decide which ones to sell and which ones to give the chopping block.

The Gold SS with Gold band was just too gaudy and 70's to sell appropriately and was nixed. So now they decided to GIFT all the demo versions of these watches that Apple doesn't intend to sell. Hence, probably why Tim Cook's watch looks off too.

This is just IMHO!
 
Ugh.

New product whose utility function is still up for significant debate.

The next new product Apple comes out with must be of the impact of the iPhone. After this announcement, and the release of a product that so many view as somewhat unnecessary, the pressure is on to deliver something that will appeal to the masses. Otherwise, Apple should be viewed as a company that is trying to manipulate loyal customers for the purpose of more profit.

The next one has to be a home run, because I have a feeling this one is not the next "thing." They will sell, at least in the beginning, because all Apple products do.. But sales will still be disappointing.

Anyone else find it odd, by the way, that a company whose motto seemed to be to "think different," which included an advertisement containing the likes of Albert Einstein and Bob Dylan is now releasing a product in a way that is entirely symmetrical with mainstream commercialism so prevelant these days? Overpriced designer fashion houses? Vogue magazine? Gold watches, iPhones, MacBooks? All symbols of the "elite."

I don't get any of it, except the continued chase of the almighty dollar.. Maybe.

Agreed, Apple's changed :/
 
New product whose utility function is still up for significant debate.

Are people still trying to pretend this won't succeed without a single "killer app"? What's the single killer app on iPhone? The phone app? Or is it the App Store? How is this any different? Worst case with the Watch is that you use it as a... watch. No differently than the iPhone is, at worst, a phone. Exactly as with the iPhone, what you do with it is up to you. Apple's advertising gives you 10 different ways you can use it that will make sense to a lot of people, and a range of built-in features that explain that a watch is a different creature than a phone, and how Apple Watch is built with that understanding. But how you actually use it is up to you. Which is why it's touted as such a personal device. And how is any of this any different than the personalisation of how you use iPhone or iPad compared to anyone else in the world who has one?

Giving this watch to Karl Lagerfeld is simple strategy. Get those who create fashion - whether you agree with their taste is immaterial - on your side. Some people will get one simply because Lagerfeld gets one. Is that a bit sad? Maybe, but why be on the wrong side of it? It's called product placement. Apple knows where to go to strategically place their product in order to get the strongest product recognition and desirability. And the Watch exists in a different market than the technogeekery of a laptop or desktop or even tablet. Apple knows that better than the likes of Samsung or any of the other smartwatch makers. So a slightly gaudy watch costing them a bit of dough to an ageing old queen? In fashion terms, it's like getting an endorsement from Michael Jordan (or someone currently relevant to sports - I don't follow them or care). It will earn them way more than they outlaid.
 
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The next new product Apple comes out with must be of the impact of the iPhone. After this announcement, and the release of a product that so many view as somewhat unnecessary, the pressure is on to deliver something that will appeal to the masses. Otherwise, Apple should be viewed as a company that is trying to manipulate loyal customers for the purpose of more profit.

The next one has to be a home run, because I have a feeling this one is not the next "thing."..{SNIP}
Okay, I just have to point out the ridiculousness of what's being stated here. Apple, the biggest and most profitable company in the world *must* release another product as big as the iPhone... why? The iPhone, together with the iPad and Mac continue to be quite profitable. (Not to mention the apps and iTunes stores.) They are in no hurry to release *anything* today, or in the near future, unless you believe the tech press, who are the only ones who need something new to talk about.

More importantly, how can they *ever* top the iPhone? Just about everyone in the world wants or needs to have a cellphone, thus the iPhone is an easy purchase for anyone to justify. And the ease of upgrade with many contracts (not to mention plain old desire not to have an old clunky phone) makes re-purchase every year or two an easy sell too. They have never sold a device in these numbers before (by a wide margin), and unless anything else supplants the ubiquity of the cellphone around the world (remembering that PC's and tablets aren't common in significant parts of the globe), nothing else they make will ever sell in iPhone numbers again.

With advances in power-efficiency and miniturization (and dictation for input), one candidate I could see suppanting the cellphone in the future might be *gasp* ..a watch. So I would say this is exactly the market they should be getting in to now.

And even though it's sales are limited by the need for an iPhone, that it *could* become a device considered useful or desireable by anyone who has an iPhone, makes it something that could sell in bigger numbers than the Mac or even iPad. ..and if it doesn't turn out that big? {shugs} Who cares? It's already got enough uptake on day one that it's bound to be a quite profitable experiment.

Looks to me like they're doing everything right. I have no idea how you can look at the raw numbers and think they're either 1) doing anything wrong, or 2) could possibly approach, let alone surpass, iPhone numbers with anything else.
 
The real question: Do I want an iPhone 3G strapped to my wrist 6 years from now?

My answer: heck no

People don't 'upgrade' watches the way we upgrade phones. A phone kept in a case is much less gross than something strapped to a person's sweaty wrist for resale purposes. I just don't see a good resell value for used apple watches. Hence, you'll want to wear yours until its 'done' and with the way iOS updates only go back to hardware 3 to 4 years old I don't know if people want to spend real money on a SS (or other fancy material) strap if it's attached to that iPhone 3G I mentioned.

Now if the logic board was swappable, then I'd consider.
 
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