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I think this is a mistake. What about those people who spent $10K on the first generation Apple Watch? They get obsolete just like that?

It's no more obsolete if they come out with a new one or not. The current Watch will still do just as much as it did they day they bought it.
 
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I knew I was stupid to think the apple watch would be on a 2+ year product cycle. I haven't even had mine for 2 weeks and its already obsolete? Thank you, capitalism.

Why is it obsolete? Why does someone else having something newer or better make your watch any less useful?

People seem to want Apple to make something and never improve any future versions so that they can feel like they have the latest and greatest.
 
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Arn't these obvious evolutionary upgrades that anyone can predict?
What they should do is simply wait until battery tech improves ten-fold - maybe release every 2.5 years.
But then again, much like PowerPC to Intel, or iPad 3 to 4 with lightning connector, these features might just be the answer to the 'slow' sales.
 
I highly doubt we will see a second generation watch announced this year. That would be a classic Osborne move as the Christmas season comes. I do not expect a next gen watch announced 'til next year. Timing wise, right around last spring 2016 to WWDC time is when it would happen.

Also, PLEASE keep the watch strap connector specs the same!
 
ridiculous idea. facetime camera? dumb so you'll have video of yourself looking up your nose and if you hold your arm up to do a call your arm is gonna cramp. they can keep that.
 
There are very few people that change their phone on a yearly basis. In addition, no one expects you to buy an apple watch each year.

IDK what makes you think this. I personally know about a dozen people, including myself, that upgrade every year.
 
yay! Apple can now fill in the gap between the $1099 and $10000 price range!!!
 
I laugh how people think they have beat the system by not being an earlier adopter and waiting for the Apple Watch 2 next year. Meanwhile, I will enjoy my watch for a year sooner than them. If the only significant feature is FaceTime, then I don't care since I don't use anyways.
I wouldn't necessarily call it "Beating the System". Anyone who has been a long-term Apple customer knows that first edition products by Apple either have bugs that end up being fixed in the next generation or will have less features that people were looking for that end up being in the next generation. History is proof of this.
 
OK, but think about how you're holding it - presumably it's one or two hands with elbows down. That's how I naturally hold my phone and iPad if I held it up to my face.

It's a whole different situation to talking on a watch, as then your elbows are bent at right angles facing outwards which is much harder to sustain. There's a reason app developers have been told to think about usage on the watch in seconds, rather than minutes; it's just too uncomfortable to use for extended periods of time.

I presume you're suggesting one would need to keep one's elbow facing outward and at a right angle is so that the watch face remains square and level, allowing you to capture a good shot of your own face. But what if the FaceTime camera image on the watch was captured in a circular frame, and was stabilized and rotated in software using the accelerometer and other sensors? Then you could hold your arm up much the same as you suggest doing with your iPhone or iPad: with your elbow down at a comfortable angle. No matter the angle of your watch, your image would be level on the recipients FaceTime device.

The person's image from the other end of the call could also be masked inside a circular frame on your watch face, and rotated on the watch to remain level no matter what the angle your watch was at.

Further, the camera sensor on the watch could overscan, and facial recognition software could shift the image focal point around slightly as your wrists moved, keeping your face centered on the screen. Much like image stabilization software works today.
 
I wouldn't necessarily call it "Beating the System". Anyone who has been a long-term Apple customer knows that first edition products by Apple either have bugs that end up being fixed in the next generation or will have less features that people were looking for that end up being in the next generation. History is proof of this.
You mean the next generation of a product line is better than the previous? Amazing. Better wait til Generation 3 though, I heard it'll be ever better with even more bugs worked out!
 
ridiculous idea. facetime camera? dumb so you'll have video of yourself looking up your nose and if you hold your arm up to do a call your arm is gonna cramp. they can keep that.

My take is the camera on the watch will have an adjustable angle where you can tilt it along a symmetric 170 degree arc so you can place it at any angle to point to objects or have it at an angle for talking heads. I can see it places on the left side of the watch opposite of the crown near the microphone and speaker. I do not see it on the top nor the bottom. This way, you can use on the left or right wrist. It may even have a trackball like user adjustable mechanism for pointing. I bet this "camera bump" will be the distinguishing feature of the Apple Watch 2.
 
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I don't understand the direction Apple is taking. They are focusing on the fitness aspect of the Apple watch and instead of rumors being

"Apple has plans to add a stand alone GPS module to it's Apple watch to compete with the likes of Garmin"


it turns into

"Apple follows <add a camera> formula for gen 2 Apple watch"


I can see it now:

Gen 3: Apple adds LTE radio to Apple watch instead of bio sensors
Gen 4: Apple watch now available in 46mm and special dbag 48mm edition.
Gen 5: Apple watch C. unapologetic-ally plastic.
The 48mm must be made for you.
 
You sure about that? We're talking about Apple Watch. It's not something one would show off to others or enjoy for any period of time, unlike a mansion, yacht, jewelry, etc. It has zero redeeming qualities. I'd expect high-end clients to buy high-end stuff. Just not Apple Watches.

I think you're underestimating how the super wealthy live. Have you not seen the Saudi princes mac setup? He has like two Mac pros, iMac, Macbook Pro 15", Macbook Air 13" and Macbook Air 11" on one desk. He probably updates each one every time a new model is released and throws the old ones in the bin.

The super wealthy follow fashion and trends just like everyone else, they are the same as every other person just with a lot more cash. Apple is very popular at the moment so they would buy an Apple watch to show off that they have the latest "in" thing. But they would also buy five Rolexes, ten cars and three houses and show them off at the same time.

The super super wealthy have enough money to buy ten Apple watch editions everyday for the rest of their lives and it would still be pocket change to them. These kinds of people would not care if they dropped $10,000 on an Apple watch and it was obsolete tomorrow they'd just go and buy the new one.
 
I love my Apple Watch, not only because of what it does, but what it doesn't do. It doesn't have facilities to surf the internet, to watch films, to FaceTime people, because it's just not a great experience.

I can see why a camera may be useful for apps like Snapchat, but seriously, who wants to take a FaceTime call on their watch? Hold your arm up to face-level for 30 seconds and see how it feels, and now imagine talking to someone for minutes like that. Madness.

Hope it offers improvements in other areas as well, as if the main selling point is a camera I for one won't be upgrading.
Why do you people insist on think, think, think instead of simply looking? Just wait and see, for cryin' out loud! Thinking is seriously overrated. Yap, yap, yapping is seriously overrated, as evidenced by over 400 posts on this article's thread already.

I just bought my own Apple Watch yesterday. I love it, too. But it's just a damn tool which will be improved upon in due course, as is Apple's wont.

I, for probably more than one, want Apple to keep doing what it does. We have the latest iMacs, we have the latest iPhones, but as soon as something better comes out, we're trading up--NOT because we're fanboy or sheep, but because we know the real value of Apple products in our lives.

So bring on Watch 2. We'll check it out and vote with our wallets when the time comes.
 
Ha! Wonderful. I wasn't going to get the first generation anyway, but especially now that it looks as though this will be a yearly thing. When the time comes next spring, I'll either buy the new watch because it's so uber fantastical, or grab the first-gen at a discounted price and in overabundance. Either way it'll be a good turnout ;).
 
Why is it obsolete? Why does someone else having something newer or better make your watch any less useful?

People seem to want Apple to make something and never improve any future versions so that they can feel like they have the latest and greatest.
At a little over $1/day for the Watch, OK, I'll get AW2.

(Actually, I'll wait for the AW3, and get Mrs. TheQuik an AW2)

I'm trying to figure out why capitalism is to blame, when that is the system that brought the AW to them in the first place!
 
Ha! Wonderful. I wasn't going to get the first generation anyway, but especially now that it looks as though this will be a yearly thing. When the time comes next spring, I'll either buy the new watch because it's so uber fantastical, or grab the first-gen at a discounted price and in overabundance. Either way it'll be a good turnout ;).
You do realize that two months after the AW2 comes out, there'll be rumors on the AW3, right? It's the vicious cycle of electronics that I stepped on back in the days of the 6809 in my TRS-80 color computer, which had a paltry 16K, so I haaaad to upgrade it to 64K.

Most fun $50 upgrade ever! (Which actually made it, out of the box, 32K of user RAM. That's when I learned about memory maps, and the ROM took 16K, and the expansion ROM took another 14K, and left 2K for I/O Operations, but I digress...)
 
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