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They make things thinner for the sake of making things thinner.

Yeah you're right, best get this site shut down as there's no need for a discussion forum, world ended.
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Can't blame Apple for you choosing the wrong device for your needs.
definitely not blaming apple i knew the drill when i purchased it. Im simply stating that it isn't appropriate for all and that it isn't a good choice when it comes to sports that require a long battery life. It looks great and functions phenomenal for short periods of time.
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So you're saying it would work for you if its battery life was better?
honestly i have to answer yes. I think the GPS monitoring on it is good (not as great as garmin devices) it tracks my treadmill runs well and i do appreciate the data I get from the sleep monitoring. I just have to constantly figure out a good time to charge it and that is the downfall as I do not want that to be a priority in my daily schedule. I need it to be ready to track when i need it to and not run out of juice before or during my workouts.
 
Good. I still feel like the Apple Watch isn't compelling for me in its current form (I did briefly own a Sport when they first came out, but decided to sell it).

I'd like a thinner, lighter, simpler device with longer battery life - not sure that adding LTE will help with that.
 
I just don't see it happening. They have put so much into this form factor. The only way I can see it happening is if the bands still fit on the new design. If they don't, as someone that owns arguably too many bands, I will be so pissed.
 
There is a misconception that there is a natural form for wristwatches and that a rectangular face breaks the mold, nostalgia for anachronistic timekeeping (pun very much intended), and a misguided belief that companies are cheaping out by using rectangular displays.

Actually, I did digital watches all through the 1980s. Then I went back to mechanical because I liked the way they looked a lot more. There is no ideal form for a watch that will satisfy everyone. But I'm not asking for a watch shaped like the borders of the Czech Republic, or like a bust of Richard Nixon. Circles are hardly controversial. If Apple has to beef up its SDK to support it, well, hard to feel very bad about that. Apple is constantly updating its SDK for other reasons too. And the Apple Watch third party app store isn't exactly bursting at the seams.

Round would tip the scale for me, purely on aesthetics. Rectangular fails to tip my scales. If it works for you, great. For me, I'd snap up a round Apple watch in a second, but the box watch has had years to separate me from my cash, and failed to do so. I'm happy enough to have a computer in my pocket; I don't need another one on my wrist, which means that looks, not throughput, is what makes the difference.

This is what the current Apple Watch looks like to me. If I wanted a computer on my wrist, I'd buy one.
 

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Circle. Please circle.

There are a lot of rectangular watch designs that look spectacular , recent and vintage .

The trouble with the iWatch is, it isn't one of those .

It's not even ok looking; it's Apple's Emperor's new clothes .
Noone dares to state the obvious, that it is a complete and utter failure of product design, regarding aesthetics .
Lots of fuss about the watch bands, for a pig that really needs some lipstick .

They better change the design radically, as even Apple's marketing machine can't fool all the people all the time ...


Sorry for the Trumpisms, but its design is just really really bad .
 
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Yeah, square just makes more sense for any kind of digital screen. I don't understand the desire to try and make the thing look like a mechanical watch, and digital watches have always been primarily square. It makes about as much sense as a round iPad...or maybe triangle:

Office-Pyramid-tablet.jpg
Rectangular would make more sense, landscape mode rather than portrait.
 
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There are a lot of rectangular watch designs that look spectacular , recent and vintage .

The trouble with the iWatch is, it isn't one of those .

It's not even ok looking; it's Apple's Emperor's new clothes .
Noone dares to state the obvious, that it is a complete and utter failure of product design, regarding aesthetics .
Lots of fuss about the watch bands, for a pig that really needs some lipstick .

They better change the design radically, as even Apple's marketing machine can't fool all the people all the time ...


Sorry for the Trumpisms, but its design is just really really bad .
BTW, just so you know, there is no such thing as an "iWatch". It's called an Apple Watch.
 
Round would be great. Two sizes like now. At least one of them (the larger) having a more masculine look would be even greater.
More masculine? What, like with penises and guns stuck on it? And giant lettering saying, "as worn by Seal Team members" around the edge?

Round would be theoretically possible, but would likely mean every app initially running in a crappy backawards-compatible mode trapped in a rectangle inside that circle. The rectangle really is the most optimal, logical display for a tiny information/notification device; round would be an illogical step backwards entirely in the name of fashion - shoehorning it into people's nostalgia for mechanical watches.

It'd be an interesting direction I suppose - maybe they could also do a new round monochrome-green oscilloscope-style Apple Cinema Display. Very steampunk-y.
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This is what the current Apple Watch looks like to me. If I wanted a computer on my wrist, I'd buy one.
Ah, we've identified the problem then: clearly the Apple Watch is not for you. It is, very much, a computer on your wrist. Not to interact with in big computer ways (so no qwerty keyboard), but to do the computery things most conducive to wrist use - mostly nofications and information displays. So wear an analog watch and rejoice in its mechanical-ness. Personally, I'm occasionally a bit sad that my Apple Watch has displaced my favorite Marathon watch from my wrist, but I'm so attached to what the Apple Watch can do for me that I can't really go back.
 
Very much want too see a redesign and the time is right for that. My expectation is a thinner watch with the micro led display and same size battery. The new display will be borderless so in effect larger and still rectangular. existing bands should fit just fine
 
But based on sales, many think the design is desirable as is so to each their own.

The design is desirable up to the point where it becomes irrelevant for the share quantity of people you cross in the street using one.

Apple Watch design should not be thought in terms of product design (like the IPhone or a car) but fashion design like a nice outfit.

You wouldn’t want to see 389 people a day using the same outfit.

On the other hand you don’t give 2 cents when you see somebody driving the same car as you.

That means there is a difference somewhere on the type of products that constitute your image as an individual and all the other products like smartphones, laptops, cars and glasses of water.
 
Rectangular would make more sense, landscape mode rather than portrait.

That's actually not a bad idea, and one which I could eventually see Apple doing as they expand their wearable product line. For now, it turns their "watch" into too much of a wrist computer, which is precisely what Jony Ive suggested it wasn't. See below for more:

More masculine? What, like with penises and guns stuck on it? And giant lettering saying, "as worn by Seal Team members" around the edge?

Round would be theoretically possible, but would likely mean every app initially running in a crappy backawards-compatible mode trapped in a rectangle inside that circle. The rectangle really is the most optimal, logical display for a tiny information/notification device; round would be an illogical step backwards entirely in the name of fashion - shoehorning it into people's nostalgia for mechanical watches.

It'd be an interesting direction I suppose - maybe they could also do a new round monochrome-green oscilloscope-style Apple Cinema Display. Very steampunk-y.
[doublepost=1502039179][/doublepost]Ah, we've identified the problem then: clearly the Apple Watch is not for you. It is, very much, a computer on your wrist. Not to interact with in big computer ways (so no qwerty keyboard), but to do the computery things most conducive to wrist use - mostly nofications and information displays. So wear an analog watch and rejoice in its mechanical-ness. Personally, I'm occasionally a bit sad that my Apple Watch has displaced my favorite Marathon watch from my wrist, but I'm so attached to what the Apple Watch can do for me that I can't really go back.

Just like most every app when the iPad was introduced ran in side a windowboxed environment until the developer updated for the iPad. That would be a temporary move until developers optimized their apps to utilize the round UI. And many of the major apps available on the Apple Watch are already running on round Samsung and Android Wear watches -- so the adaptation would be minimal. And since most of us can agree that Android and Tizen aren't as good as Apple at UIs, Apple will likely improve upon the round interface. Considering Apple is designing a round screen the exact same size as the 38mm Apple Watch for use with the HomePod, primarily for aesthetic reasons, I'd say they are already moving that direction anyway. So the point is likely moot.

As for how you use your watch, and what your needs are, that differs somewhat from what Jony Ive has stated about the watch -- which is that it was 'designed for quick glances, anything more a person should pull out their phone'. While we can all agree that a rectangular screen is the best way to display text and written information in general, a round interface is just as capable of displaying brief messages as a square. So for those of us who don't really spend a lot of time reading text on our watches, a round interface works just fine. Just like I refuse to do some things on my iPhone and will wait to get to my iPad, and likewise my iPad to my Mac, there are some things I refuse to do on an Apple Watch, and pull out my iPhone as Ive intended. If I do have to use my watch for something more than it was intended to do, or how I normally use it, then it won't matter much whether it's round or square, it will be just as inconvenient for me.
 
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an illogical step backwards

Because if there's anything that's always been well-known for being logical, it's fashion.

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Ah, we've identified the problem then: clearly the Apple Watch is not for you. It is, very much, a computer on your wrist.

It's primarily a notification and information display device designed, intentionally, for brief dollops of very limited interactivity. None of which is precluded by moving to a round screen. You're talking to a guy who used to wear a Casio calculator watch. Been there. Done that. Grew up. If I want to relive 1982, I'll buy a rectangular Apple Watch and brag about all the functionality -- wow, it even has a square root key! And there's nothing that it can do that my iPhone -- two seconds at most from being out of my pocket whenever I need it -- can't do a dozen times better, except to function as a literally handy timepiece whose design doesn't appeal to me.
 
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But based on sales, many think the design is desirable as is so to each their own.

They have no choice. So it's a fairly meaningless sales number until/unless there is an Apple alternative design to compare sales with.

Is anyone here crazy enough to go on public record with a prediction that round wouldn't outsell square, if there was a choice between the two at the same price? (Knowing Apple, though, they'd likely call a round version "the Classic model" and charge a premium!)
 
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They have no choice. So it's a fairly meaningless sales number until/unless there is an Apple alternative design to compare sales with.

Insisting that rectangular is the One True Form is reminding me of how adamant Steve Jobs was that there would never be an iPad mini. There was One True Size. Until he started to actually consider others.
 
Have you tried one on? I think the watch looks thicker than it is, or appears when worn. The ads do a disservice in that respect for those for whom it's a concern. I actually like it for my needs, but I also don't wear it everyday. I have to say one reason Apple needs to change the form factor is because, even at 30 million watches, there's enough out there that they need more diversity. A different color metal or watch band doesn't do enough to alleviate the clone-like effect the watch is starting to evoke, made worse by the clean simple lines.

At first people were attracted to the sensation of the newness and curious onlookers would admire it for that reason. It's so commonplace now that it's starting to lose any appeal as as a unique statement of an individuals style. Wristwesr has always been that. Now it's taking on a sterile mass-produced quality that gave digital watches a bad name in the first place.

So time for a change. Round, thinner, more details, whatever, just stop flooding the market with more of the same cookie-cutter watches, that communicate more of a corporate ideology than individual personality.

I think those that decry that Apple will never make a square watch because of the developer UI hurtles, are still thinking of the watch as another Apple computing device with a display. The reality is, this is Apple's first wearable, which changes the way people perceive it. It can't be 100% ergonomically functional as a computing device, as it has to take into consideration the individual customers taste and style in consort with how they otherwise adore their bodies. In terms of maintaining the current functionality of the watch, a round design would make the greatest impact in offering something completely different to its customers in terms of personal choice -- but it doesn't have to be that radical.

Clearly Apple is at the point where they don't need the watch to advertise itself as an Apple product. So they can change the design in such a way that it doesn't look uniquely Apple, but instead embrace details which will help individuals distance themselves from the masses, in turn making it more attractive to customers who have not jumped on the bandwagon, yet still encompass the hallmarks that define it as an Apple product.

I think Apple understands this, or they would have never offered the Edition, Series 1 or 2. The simple fact is people wear things that don't often service practicality. Stilleto heels for instance. Hard to imagine wearing an Apple Watch with a pair of those actually. Men are a little more practical, but I also see that trend sliding, particularly among young men, with calf high pant lengths, etc. At a certain point then, Apple hits a wall by cranking out the same design and hoping people come around. While that works with iPads, and Macs, and even iPhones, people don't wear those. A black square glass slab, in a square metal case, on a colored band, like everybody else's, isn't going to work for likely a majority of people, no matter what it does for them.

I agree with all this.

There needs to be more differentiation for the Watch, besides having relatively simplistic style options like straps and body metal type.

It would be nice if Apple took inspiration from different types of chronographs and came out with distinct Watch lines. Wearing a watch is still about making a statement, and it's hard to do that when everyone else has the same watch that you do (not just brand).

Personally, I love Swiss chronograph/aviator type watches (like Breitling). I'd buy an Apple Watch in an aviator style design in a heartbeat.
My little birdie is molting.
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This kind of comment will always puzzle me. Apple Watch offers more configurations and combinations than any product Apple has ever made, and by far. So much so it must be a bit of an inventory nightmare. Yet for some still inadequate

Also, don't assume that wearing a watch is about making a statement for everyone just because it is for you. Some of us actually have good reasons for wearing one.

Did someone assume this? I don't know about others but I'm speaking for myself and many watch wearing acquaintances. We all wear watches for different reasons, functionality as well as looks. No one I know wants to have the exact same watch I do, though some do when it comes to purely functional watches -- but even then there are subtle differences. I use the Apple Watch for a very specific puprpose myself. And I like the way it looks. But I'm not going to wear it everywhere, and I don't really like that it looks like everybody else's.

So this isn't about taking away anything from you, it's about offering more options to people used to more choice who have so far stayed away from the Apple Watch because they don't like the way it looks, nor does it offer enough utility to override their individual needs. Not everyone needs the same things you do, nor desire to accept a one size fits all solution. Given that Apple had sold only about 30 million watches worldwide in two years, that suggests maybe there's room to offer something more to attract other buyers, especially for something so intimate to ones self expression, where traditionally watches were as much art as function, and jewelry as machine. Apple has homogenized it, and either humans will cast aside thousands of years of history in decorating their bodies with individual expression to embrace a singular look in order to adopt additional functionality, or they will continue to embrace individuality at the expense of functionality. Apple can either be satisfied with its 10-15% market share in the latter instance or they can offer the consumer more choice.

Make no mistake, Apple gave us four different iPod options, 3 different iPads, possibly 4-5 different iPhones, 3 different MacBooks, et al. Are two different watches 2 years in that big a stretch? And how many different styles of beats headphones does Apple offer?

So yeah, not everybody is you, and you're not everybody -- and in the case of the watch I'd say not even a majority of potential Watch customers.

Please reread the post, and you will see that I didn't have to interpret anything, I was responding to precisely what was said.

The rest of your post presumes something quite different, but I hear it often to. That is, if Apple isn't satisfying all my personal desires precisely, and right now, they have failed. An old, and very tired argument. Apple has never conducted their business with the goal of pleasing everyone, and I strongly suspect, they never will, no matter how many people file that tired old complaint.
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Only to the people who think that way, which you only imagine is everyone, because you think that way. See related response, above.

Again, I didn't state any of that. You inferred it. Please don't hijack my posts to advance your distorted agenda. Thank you.

Unless you are "iReality85" in disguise, I wasn't responding to you, so read more carefully before clicking on reply. If you can't do that, please keep your insults to yourself. Thank you.

Let's get the whole history going here. You were replying to @iReality85 who was agreeing with me. Then you specifically quoted me as shown above. So in more ways than one, you were responding to me, and I responded appropriately. Now that I've cleared that up, I think you and I are done here.
 
More masculine? What, like with penises and guns stuck on it? And giant lettering saying, "as worn by Seal Team members" around the edge?

Round would be theoretically possible, but would likely mean every app initially running in a crappy backawards-compatible mode trapped in a rectangle inside that circle. The rectangle really is the most optimal, logical display for a tiny information/notification device; round would be an illogical step backwards entirely in the name of fashion - shoehorning it into people's nostalgia for mechanical watches.

It'd be an interesting direction I suppose - maybe they could also do a new round monochrome-green oscilloscope-style Apple Cinema Display. Very steampunk-y.
I've gotta say, you have a unique definition of masculine. Not one that I share, but hey to each his own.

There's nothing theoretical about a round watch. They exist. They've existed for a long time. Your opinion about what's optimal is... well, it's an opinion, and it's yours.
 
Apple has done well when following Braun designs. This is a typical Braun watch. That's what I want my smartwatch to look like with a "click bezel" for an interface. iPod demonstrated that for a tiny screen a click wheel works well.

P1000853_800x534.jpg
 
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You are not taking into account improvements with OLED,

The watch always has been OLED. If you mean iterative improvements, I’m arguing those wouldn’t be enough. We’d need a leapfrog improvement for always-on.

and capabilities of a smart watch--"always on" doesn't mean "always on," e.g., display can shut down or dim, etc., when it senses certain situations, and can use "low power" mode, ala iPhone.

Are you arguing that Apple hasn’t figured out yet how to “shut down or dim” the screen?

And isn’t the display shutting down precisely the current behavior?
 
Square watch is a much better option for a smart watch. The people that want a round watch should purchase an Android Wear watch and you will quickly see why square is a much better format.
 
They already have to check for copyright and trademark violations in the current App Store (with varying degrees of,success) so I don't see this as significantly different.
Regular apps don't invite copyright and trademark infringement so readily; regular apps are fashion statements. Sure, you can make a rip-off Gucci app, but what for? It's not the same reward as making a rip-off Gucci watch face.
 
The design is desirable up to the point where it becomes irrelevant for the share quantity of people you cross in the street using one.

Apple Watch design should not be thought in terms of product design (like the IPhone or a car) but fashion design like a nice outfit.

You wouldn’t want to see 389 people a day using the same outfit.

On the other hand you don’t give 2 cents when you see somebody driving the same car as you.

That means there is a difference somewhere on the type of products that constitute your image as an individual and all the other products like smartphones, laptops, cars and glasses of water.
So do you get mad when you see others with iPhones? It's the same thing to me. A smartwatch isn't built fashion first and I don't want it to be. It looks good but it's function is what makes me wear it. Not the look. It's an extension of my phone, not my outfit.
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They have no choice. So it's a fairly meaningless sales number until/unless there is an Apple alternative design to compare sales with.

Is anyone here crazy enough to go on public record with a prediction that round wouldn't outsell square, if there was a choice between the two at the same price? (Knowing Apple, though, they'd likely call a round version "the Classic model" and charge a premium!)
It's funny since people would scream if it was round because that followed Samsung. By they way, they do have a choice. Other smart watches (round ones too) work with an iPhone...
 
So do you get mad when you see others with iPhones? It's the same thing to me. A smartwatch isn't built fashion first and I don't want it to be. It looks good but it's function is what makes me wear it. Not the look. It's an extension of my phone, not my outfit.
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It's funny since people would scream if it was round because that followed Samsung. By they way, they do have a choice. Other smart watches (round ones too) work with an iPhone...

It may be the same thing to you, but it's not to everyone. You might show up at a party wearing the exact same jacket as your buddy and it might be fine, because it looks good and it's function is what makes you wear it, but if your date is wearing the exact same outfit as your buddy's date, that might not go over so well. That's the idea. Watches have always offered so much choice across the industry as well as each individual watch maker, with new designs annually, that it is an individual expression as personal as jewelry. It doesn't mean all people feel that way but many do. And let's cut the hyperbole, I don't see anyone advocating to emphasize fashion over function. But there's absolutely no problem offering the Apple Watch in more choices. A round watch is not going to affect the functionality in any significant way.

People "scream" about all kinds of things they shouldn't. That's irrelevant. But I'm really interested in these other round smartwatches that will allow me to pay with Apple Pay, take calls from my phone, stream from Apple Music, connect to my iCloud account and sync with Mail and Messages. Where do I get them? ;)
 
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