Apple Watch Review Roundup: The 'World's Best Smartwatch', But 'Not For Everyone'

[BlueMoon63]

Kudos to Gruber for explaining how the Apple Watch fails at its primary function, being a watch. I was curious how this would work, since having the display on all the time would drain the battery too much. The watch may be great in other respects, but if I can't glance at my watch discreetly when I'm with someone or at some event where I'm not going to make a big gesture, thats really weak.

Very weak. I look at my watch to see the time about 10-30 times a day. Maybe more, maybe less. When I am not looking at it, I don't care what it does. Why should it keep having mickey dance if I am not looking at it.

I am very surprised at the reviews saying the battery will easily last all day and even into day 2 without a charge.

 

[mdelvecchio]

They are more like questioning the purpose of the whole device category...not sure if a second generation can change that.

the same was said of the ipad, the iphone, and the macintosh.

 

[LordVic]

You're assuming I said that the learning curve is a steep one; I didn't, I am saying there is **a** learning curve, and the reviewers have barely started to climb it, and the rest of us are not even able to *begin* that process, so all these opinions are, at best, knee jerk reactions, and at worst, the usual fearful instinctive responses to what people THINK the experience is going to be, forming these opinions on the limited experience of others, ie, the reviewers.

If there's one thing I know it is this - Apple don't churn out rubbish, nor do they make experiences difficult, but of course the experience is going to conflict with our imagination and expectation of what it will be... but based on what? This is Apple Watch 1.0 - there IS no wrong way, this is ALL new, and people are going to have to go through this pain period of learning to get the full benefit and potential from their Apple watch - that's unavoidable, and if you expect to just "get it", ALL of it, in a few days, your kidding yourself . This is akin to anything else they've brought out - Mac OS X, iPhone, etc, people just need time to learn the usage patterns and form their daily routines of using Apple watch, all of which may ONLY be done with patience and time.

I don't disagree, i'm just saying that it's not a good sign this early in the game when your reviewers are having issues with the learning curve.

especially when on average, the average everyday person isn't even that intelligent.

I'm not trying to predict the future, just saying it's an issue that hopefully will be corrected (if it is an issue) or isn't nearly as steep a curve as expected.

 

[phillipduran]

You're assuming I said that the learning curve is a steep one; I didn't, I am saying there is **a** learning curve, and the reviewers have barely started to climb it, and the rest of us are not even able to *begin* that process, so all these opinions are, at best, knee jerk reactions, and at worst, the usual fearful instinctive responses to what people THINK the experience is going to be, forming these opinions on the limited experience of others, ie, the reviewers.

If there's one thing I know it is this - Apple don't churn out rubbish, nor do they make experiences difficult, but of course the experience is going to conflict with our imagination and expectation of what it will be... but based on what? This is Apple Watch 1.0 - there IS no wrong way, this is ALL new, and people are going to have to go through this pain period of learning to get the full benefit and potential from their Apple watch - that's unavoidable, and if you expect to just "get it", ALL of it, in a few days, your kidding yourself . This is akin to anything else they've brought out - Mac OS X, iPhone, etc, people just need time to learn the usage patterns and form their daily routines of using Apple watch, all of which may ONLY be done with patience and time.

G4 Cube.

 

[unobtainium]

1. You can get other stylish watches for $400 that won't become obsolete in 2-3 years.

2. You can get other fitness trackers for less than $400 that won't become obsolete in 2-3 years.

3. Pulling your smartphone out of your pocket hasn't been a problem for years. Apple even prides itself on how easy it is to slide your iPhone in and out of your pocket to glance at it. But it's suddenly a problem now that there's an Apple Watch?

$400 is very expensive to solve a problem that we never knew we had.

The Apple Watch won't be any more obsolete in 2-3 years than any fitness tracker currently on the market. The timekeeping function won't be obsolete in 2-3 years either. So your first two points are irrelevant to those uses.

As for your third point, it really depends on the individual. I do honestly find my iPhone 6 annoying sometimes, particularly when walking, or in a long meeting. It would be nice to have a glanceable UI on my wrist.

 

[technosix]

That's the interesting tidbit from the reviews. I assume you would have the watch setup to notify only to notify what would fall under the category of "what do I need to know about while my phone isn't around or out". If you say nothing... I am jealous.

Treat it the same way as you would if you only had a phone. When someone is talking to you, don't answer or look and set to silent. If your important or need to be notified and the phone isn't out or around or on silent. What would you need to know about?

If nothing, don't buy... if you like to have a life without your phone in your hand or pocket and like to wear watches, maybe you buy.

Just my opinion.

Your points are well taken.

I'm remaining very open minded and no where near a final decision as to its potential value to me. In fact I'm really enjoying all the discussion as it's not often a relatively new category opens with a company like Apple entering with their very first product.

Not only that I have confidence that Apple will surely entertain us with its spin control on every aspect of availability, sales and actual performance of the watch. They will force success with their vast resources. There's too much riding on this ego centric project.

 

[BlueMoon63]

You're assuming I said that the learning curve is a steep one; I didn't, I am saying there is **a** learning curve, and the reviewers have barely started to climb it, and the rest of us are not even able to *begin* that process, so all these opinions are, at best, knee jerk reactions, and at worst, the usual fearful instinctive responses to what people THINK the experience is going to be, forming these opinions on the limited experience of others, ie, the reviewers.

If there's one thing I know it is this - Apple don't churn out rubbish, nor do they make experiences difficult, but of course the experience is going to conflict with our imagination and expectation of what it will be... but based on what? This is Apple Watch 1.0 - there IS no wrong way, this is ALL new, and people are going to have to go through this pain period of learning to get the full benefit and potential from their Apple watch - that's unavoidable, and if you expect to just "get it", ALL of it, in a few days, your kidding yourself . This is akin to anything else they've brought out - Mac OS X, iPhone, etc, people just need time to learn the usage patterns and form their daily routines of using Apple watch, all of which may ONLY be done with patience and time.

Learning curve is an opinion type of thing. Some will say it takes a day or two and some say it will take 30 minutes. I assume (IMO) that people here probably like learning what works and doesn't work and has googled searched for hidden features with some of their products.

The learning curve for OS or a new version of Windows is much larger than this watch looks to be (IMO). When windows went to Windows 7, everything moved around. It was frustrating for about a day or two and that was based on previous product and version. This has no previous version so learning curve is obvious.

 

[samcraig]

Yeah because paying with my watch is gimmicky as is the number of third party apps already produced for the Apple watch ...

the Apple watch can do more than what it is even being shown to do now. The pebble watch doesn't even have the capability for extending it at the level Apple has provided out of the gate.

Straw man - I never said Apple Pay was a gimmick, did I? Relax.

And the Pebble has hundreds of apps that work with it.

Clearly you can't answer the question for a few reasons. One of them being you've never used an Apple watch.

The second being you're speaking in hyperbole.

 

[nick42983]

Very weak. I look at my watch to see the time about 10-30 times a day. Maybe more, maybe less. When I am not looking at it, I don't care what it does. Why should it keep having mickey dance if I am not looking at it.

I am very surprised at the reviews saying the battery will easily last all day and even into day 2 without a charge.

Another thought came to mind. With all of these notifications coming in, people are going to look like royal jerks checking their watch all the time. Checking ones phone when you're on a date or in a meeting is rude, but its become somewhat accepted. Looking at your watch implies that you don't want to be there and would rather be elsewhere. We had Glass-holes, are we ready for Ass Watches?

 

[phillipduran]

Might want to look up the definition of cherry picking. Though occasionally applied the other way, it is generally about picking out only the most positive points (cream or "cherry on top") while ignoring the negatives.

That review might be called "nit picking" by the "half full" crowd and/or "roasted" or similar by the "half empty."

...unless you detest cherries.

No. It is not restricted or generally only used for positive points. Cherry picking is simply just picking points that support a narrative or view, either positive or negative.

 

[uid15]

It's iOS 7 fud all over again... Yawn.

 

[diamond.g]

I don't disagree, i'm just saying that it's not a good sign this early in the game when your reviewers are having issues with the learning curve.

especially when on average, the average everyday person isn't even that intelligent.

I'm not trying to predict the future, just saying it's an issue that hopefully will be corrected (if it is an issue) or isn't nearly as steep a curve as expected.

I don't notice any of the reviews mentioning if the display comes on if you get a notification, or is it only when you raise your arm to look.

 

[BlueMoon63]

The Apple Watch won't be any more obsolete in 2-3 years than any fitness tracker currently on the market. The timekeeping function won't be obsolete in 2-3 years either. So your first two points are irrelevant to those uses.

As for your third point, it really depends on the individual. I do honestly find my iPhone 6 annoying sometimes, particularly when walking, or in a long meeting. It would be nice to have a glanceable UI on my wrist.

Conjecture posts are what cause me to want to respond and I need to control my mood.

Like I said, my daughter has an iPhone 4 and it works great and can do everything it originally could do plus more. Maybe she will get my iPhone 6 + when it is 2-3 years old and I get the iPhone 7 or whatever. To say it is obsolete in 2-3 years is conjecture but I think he wanted to say it may not be able to get new features on upgrades. If I buy the Apple Watch and pair to my iPhone 6+ in 2-3 years they will work just fine and it will go to my kids as I get newer versions.

I get a new $900 iPhone every year and pass the old phone down the line. I like the newest.

 

[phillipduran]

Just started watching the video. I think you can really hear how this Nilay simply doesnt like the Apple Watch. Stopped after around 3 minutes.

It sounds like you are interested in affirmations and not reviews.

Nilay makes some good points, even if you don't want to hear them.

 

[BlueMoon63]

I don't notice any of the reviews mentioning if the display comes on if you get a notification, or is it only when you raise your arm to look.

Does not come on. It was in one of the video reviews. It only alerts with the vibration.

 

[uid15]

Of all the reviews, the verge one was the one where the guy seemed like he was determined not to like it, regardless of anything, he seems a very negative reviewer, and perhaps I'll turn off next time I see his face. Poor review.

 

[petvas]

the same was said of the ipad, the iphone, and the macintosh.

Nobody questioned the iPhone. Some people said that it wouldn't sell that much, but nobody said that it was not a great product with a purpose. With the iPad things were different but not as bad as now with the watch.

 

[KPOM]

Kudos to Gruber for explaining how the Apple Watch fails at its primary function, being a watch. I was curious how this would work, since having the display on all the time would drain the battery too much. The watch may be great in other respects, but if I can't glance at my watch discreetly when I'm with someone or at some event where I'm not going to make a big gesture, thats really weak.

That's not quite what he said, and I don't think the primary function of the Apple Watch is as a watch. Gruber did suggest that "watch people" might be the hardest sell because of its weaknesses as a watch, but that non-watch people might not mind. He also said the mechanism worked better than he thought it would (albeit he had low expectations).

I think this is the kind of thing that gets remedied in the second generation. A lot of the reviews, particularly Joanna Stern's are of the view that "this will be good in the future." I think a lot is riding on the second generation. It need not look any different (the iPhone 3G and 3GS didn't look much different from the original iPhone).

If we consider the iPhone objectively, the first attempt had LOTS of shortcomings. Apple addressed a lot of the software shortcomings the next year, as well as one of the hardware shortcomings (the lack of 3G). It wasn't until the 3GS and 4 when virtually all the initial shortcomings were addressed and the phone took off. iPad significantly improved between version 1 and 2, both in physical form and internal hardware.

I suspect the first major software update to the Apple Watch will address some of the shortcomings the reviewers note (UI quirks, making popular features easier to access, etc.). I think physical updates will be minor, but internals will change. The next processor should be more power efficient as Samsung and TSMC switch to newer manufacturing processes. Perhaps the battery will charge a bit faster and they'll find a way to cram a little bit more battery into it.

I don't really see Apple Watch being a huge app platform. Even more so than the iPhone, Apple Watch users will probably have a handful that they occasionally use. The built in functionality is what will make or break this long term.

 

[goobot]

the same was said of the ipad, the iphone, and the macintosh.

Last time I checked computers and phones were around and used before Apple so obviously your comment is untrue.

 

[spectrumfox]

Nobody questioned the iPhone. Some people said that it wouldn't sell that much, but nobody said that it was not a great product with a purpose. With the iPad things were different but not as bad as now with the watch.

The only thing about iPhone that was questioned was its initial price. It was cut by $200 months after release for a reason, it was way too expensive.

I have a feeling more people would be into the Apple Watch if it were around $100 less expensive, and I feel we will see a price drop before Christmas.

 

[unobtainium]

I don't notice any of the reviews mentioning if the display comes on if you get a notification, or is it only when you raise your arm to look.

The taptic engine 'taps' you when you get a notification. The screen turns on when you raise the phone to look at it.

 

[uid15]

I think I've now surmised that the sensible thing to do is to ignore threads like this, full of passion, full of opinions but all of it based on ZERO actual, personal experience with the subject matter. This will all become a redundant, useless sea of ascii in a few months, just as all the knee jerk iOS 7 threads from 2013 have now become.

Exiting this stupid thread, ciao.

 

[BlueMoon63]

I don't really see Apple Watch being a huge app platform. Even more so than the iPhone, Apple Watch users will probably have a handful that they occasionally use. The built in functionality is what will make or break this long term.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Apple had over 1000 apps already developed in the first 4 days and "growing fast" as it said. That's a good start. Once we see what they can do, it may be a quick hit as to wanting the watch. No idea until we see them in action. The best developers typically develop for Apple first before hitting other platforms (google it).

 

[LordVic]

I don't notice any of the reviews mentioning if the display comes on if you get a notification, or is it only when you raise your arm to look.

I... don't know?

not sure how that relates... did you misquote?

 

[KPOM]

Nobody questioned the iPhone. Some people said that it wouldn't sell that much, but nobody said that it was not a great product with a purpose. With the iPad things were different but not as bad as now with the watch.

Lots of people said that Nokia, BlackBerry, etc. had nothing to worry about since the iPhone didn't do much. Steve Ballmer quite famously predicted it had "no chance" to get more than a couple of percentage points (perhaps he meant to say "Windows Phone" ).

The iPad was the butt of merciless jokes for weeks at launch. It had the same "what does this do that the iPhone doesn't" criticism.

It's clear, and it's been clear that the Watch isn't the next "big thing," but I think it will still be significant. It will get enough people interested in wearables to encourage new entrants.