Did the wrong crowd get first take on Apple Watch?

[Rogifan]

Abdel Ibrahim on Twitter thinks so. I kind of agree and I think this is where Apple is missing Katie Cotton in the PR department. Mostly tech reviews, very few from women. Hardly any of the reviews talked about the quality of materials used (Gruber's did but I'm not sure he counts). And the review that is getting the most attention (from The Verge) is actually a pretty crappy review (even if you agree there are some legitimate criticisms/shortcomings with the device). Nilay Patel has been negative on this device since day one. Why in the world is he part of day one reviews? At least pick people that will go into it with an open mind. And that doesn't mean all reviews will be only positive. Gruber's first take was quite balanced. I'd love to know who at Apple decided which publications to send review units to.

 

[dacreativeguy]

Apple has been advertising to women for weeks, with all the magazine cover placements. As a jewelry piece, it is more about how it looks than what it does or what it is made of. My wife will wear a $10 piece of tin if it looks good. She doesn't care what the material is.

 

[samiznaetekto]

Abdel Ibrahim on Twitter thinks so. I kind of agree and I think this is where Apple is missing Katie Cotton in the PR department. Mostly tech reviews, very few from women. Hardly any of the reviews talked about the quality of materials used (Gruber's did but I'm not sure he counts). And the review that is getting the most attention (from The Verge) is actually a pretty crappy review (even if you agree there are some legitimate criticisms/shortcomings with the device). Nilay Patel has been negative on this device since day one. Why in the world is he part of day one reviews? At least pick people that will go into it with an open mind. And that doesn't mean all reviews will be only positive. Gruber's first take was quite balanced. I'd love to know who at Apple decided which publications to send review units to.

Your post is an excellent illustration to this article:
https://medium.com/krautreporter-stories/the-apple-media-distortion-field-644e9e7b8666

You're just confirming the strong-handed, highly orchestrated and hypocritical masquerades that these pre-reviews and press events are.

Nilay's pre-review is the most excellent so far, although to keep good relationship with Apple, he's not unleashing the unabridged critique of the #⌚️. If he truly revealed what he thinks of it, not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.

 

[saving107]

Joanna Stern reviewed the Apple Watch and she had the same sentiments as the other reviewers.

 

[Cory Bauer]

Firstly, I think The Verge writer seemed to just not be a fan of smart watches in general. This was the first review I read, and also the most critical.

As far as the wrong crowd getting first take on the Apple Watch, I agree but for different reasons. Tech bloggers living in 350 sqare foot NYC and Palo Alto apartments are never more than 18 inches from their phones, so a smart watch becomes far less valuable. To me, after being a timekeeping piece and fitness tracker, the Watch is about being able to put some distance between you and your phone - while understanding that notifications will come to you if and when they do, instead of keeping our phones an arm's length away and continuously checking to see if we'd missed something. Not one review came close to mentioning something along those lines because their phones are practically stapled to their hands as-is.

Apple needs to do a better job of curating notifications from the get-go, but the "oh my gosh all these notifications!" reactions from the tech bloggers is just silly; what did you think would happen when you let every app on your phone send you notifications and you tell the Watch to mirror its behavior? Obviously, you shouldn't be forwarding your FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram notifications to your Watch.

And come on people, if you're having a one on one conversation with another person - and you're not waiting on a 3rd party or have somewhere else to be - you should be enabling Do Not Disturb on your Watch, not checking to see if they think you're rude.

 

[mattopotamus]

Firstly, I think The Verge writer seemed to just not be a fan of smart watches in general. This was the first review I read, and also the most critical.

As far as the wrong crowd getting first take on the Apple Watch, I agree but for different reasons. Tech bloggers living in 350 sqare foot NYC and Palo Alto apartments are never more than 18 inches from their phones, so a smart watch becomes far less valuable. To me, after being a timekeeping piece and fitness tracker, the Watch is about being able to put some distance between you and your phone - while understanding that notifications will come to you if and when they do, instead of keeping our phones an arm's length away and continuously checking to see if we'd missed something. Not one review came close to mentioning something along those lines because their phones are practically stapled to their hands as-is.

Apple needs to do a better job of curating notifications from the get-go, but the "oh my gosh all these notifications!" reactions from the tech bloggers is just silly; what did you think would happen when you let every app on your phone send you notifications and you tell the Watch to mirror it's behavior? Obviously, you shouldn't be forwarding your FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram notifications to your Watch.

You literally just said everything I am thinking

To add to what you said: I have a pebble and I rarely pull my phone out of my pocket during the day now, and that is a watch I cannot even interact with! It preserves the battery on my phone, and instead of looking at my phone every time it vibrates/rings, I can just look at my wrist.

I appreciate the idea of a smart watch. Most of these reviewers have never used a smart watch it sounds like. They are experiencing a little shock from it.

edit: I also think the reviews are just fine. Not overly positive, not overly negative.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

I think the ultimate success of the Watch is going to be based of the quality of the apps the talented developers create for it. At this moment there is a lack of apps (understandably). I think reviews will be better as Watch OS gets better and as apps get better.

I am not too concerned with all the reviews yet, and I am happy to hear the reviews of battery life.

 

[ninethirty]

Seriously man? Here's what's happening. Apple gave the watch to the same people they give all their other products to review, they didn't say the greatest things about it, and since you can't accept that, you're now wondering who Apple could have given it to to get the reviews YOU were hoping for.

If Nilay Patel has been negative on the Apple watch since day one, he's the perfect guy to give one to to review.. that is if they felt confident that they'd designed something truly exceptional, which they clearly did. He just doesn't agree. Now if he was the ONLY reviewer to say the things he did, you might have a point, but he wasn't. Reviews were pretty consistent across the board. It's ok, but not amazing.

Had Apple given this to fashion bloggers etc, I think you would have seen even worse reviews. You'll have to see for yourself when you get yours, but it's ok to admit that Apple didn't hit a home run here. Might be personally disappointing to you, but you're going to have to deal with it.

Abdel Ibrahim on Twitter thinks so. I kind of agree and I think this is where Apple is missing Katie Cotton in the PR department. Mostly tech reviews, very few from women. Hardly any of the reviews talked about the quality of materials used (Gruber's did but I'm not sure he counts). And the review that is getting the most attention (from The Verge) is actually a pretty crappy review (even if you agree there are some legitimate criticisms/shortcomings with the device). Nilay Patel has been negative on this device since day one. Why in the world is he part of day one reviews? At least pick people that will go into it with an open mind. And that doesn't mean all reviews will be only positive. Gruber's first take was quite balanced. I'd love to know who at Apple decided which publications to send review units to.

 

[lewisd25]

That Joanna Stern video couldn't have been more biased against Apple. Complaining about swapping bands? Really? I think Apple PR needs to start culling the media outlets they have relationships with.

 

[Cory Bauer]

Seriously man? Here's what's happening. Apple gave the watch to the same people they give all their other products to review, they didn't say the greatest things about it, and since you can't accept that, you're now wondering who Apple could have given it to to get the reviews YOU were hoping for.

If Nilay Patel has been negative on the Apple watch since day one, he's the perfect guy to give one to to review.. that is if they felt confident that they'd designed something truly exceptional, which they clearly did. He just doesn't agree. Now if he was the ONLY reviewer to say the things he did, you might have a point, but he wasn't. Reviews were pretty consistent across the board. It's ok, but not amazing.

Had Apple given this to fashion bloggers etc, I think you would have seen even worse reviews. You'll have to see for yourself when you get yours, but it's ok to admit that Apple didn't hit a home run here. Might be personally disappointing to you, but you're going to have to deal with it.

Every reviewer seemed to agree its the best Smart Watch available, while simultaneously agreeing there's a lot of room for hardware and software improvements. Most also seemed to agree that the Apple Watch (or smart watches in general) are not a "must-have" product; but again, I would expect that conclusion from anyone who's smartphone is never more than 1.5 seconds away. Which is a category of individual all tech columnists fall in to.

 

[Rogifan]

Firstly, I think The Verge writer seemed to just not be a fan of smart watches in general. This was the first review I read, and also the most critical.

As far as the wrong crowd getting first take on the Apple Watch, I agree but for different reasons. Tech bloggers living in 350 sqare foot NYC and Palo Alto apartments are never more than 18 inches from their phones, so a smart watch becomes far less valuable. To me, after being a timekeeping piece and fitness tracker, the Watch is about being able to put some distance between you and your phone - while understanding that notifications will come to you if and when they do, instead of keeping our phones an arm's length away and continuously checking to see if we'd missed something. Not one review came close to mentioning something along those lines because their phones are practically stapled to their hands as-is.

Apple needs to do a better job of curating notifications from the get-go, but the "oh my gosh all these notifications!" reactions from the tech bloggers is just silly; what did you think would happen when you let every app on your phone send you notifications and you tell the Watch to mirror its behavior? Obviously, you shouldn't be forwarding your FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram notifications to your Watch.

And come on people, if you're having a one on one conversation with another person - and you're not waiting on a 3rd party or have somewhere else to be - you should be enabling Do Not Disturb on your Watch, not checking to see if they think you're rude.

Pretty much this. I mean knocking Watch because you got an Instagram notification during an important meeting? If the meeting is so important how about turning on do not disturb?

 

[bjdraw]

I don't understand why people say the reviews are bad, they seemed pretty good to me. Reviewers get paid to be critical and they all said it was the best smart watch. My main take away was that the screen needs to turn on faster to make it more glanceable and that there needs to be more customizations for notifications. Seems it can all be fixed in software, which is completely understandable for a product that hasn't even shipped yet.

 

[Rogifan]

That Joanna Stern video couldn't have been more biased against Apple. Complaining about swapping bands? Really? I think Apple PR needs to start culling the media outlets they have relationships with.

This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Maybe Apple needs Katie Cotton back.

 

[zhenya]

The problem with any reviews of the watch is that people don't yet see how it will fit into their lives. The same thing happened with the iPhone and the iPad early on. It is not indicative at all of how successful the product will be. Part of it is that a week is not a long enough period of time to fully adapt to it. Part of it is that the apps for it are still new and relatively undeveloped - again - with both the iPhone and iPad it took years for apps to be developed to give us the experience we take for granted today. Finally, as Apple knows so well - people are just really bad at trying to imagine how something new can fit into their lives.

Giving it to tech reviewers was really the only option because even though it is being marketed as a fashion accessory, the people who would write those reviews would be even more unprepared to interface with a wholly new category of technology that is still in its infancy.

 

[Rogifan]

I don't understand why people say the reviews are bad, they seemed pretty good to me. Reviewers get paid to be critical and they all said it was the best smart watch. My main take away was that the screen needs to turn on faster to make it more glanceable and that there needs to be more customizations for notifications. Seems it can all be fixed in software, which is completely understandable for a product that hasn't even shipped yet.

According to the Verge Apple said a software update was coming that would fix some of the UI lag. I haven't read every review in detail. I wonder how many knew that before they published their reviews?

 

[TonyC28]

That Joanna Stern video couldn't have been more biased against Apple. Complaining about swapping bands? Really? I think Apple PR needs to start culling the media outlets they have relationships with.

I don't normally pay much attention to product reviewers, but was that a serious review? It seemed more like a parody.

 

[Arran]

That Joanna Stern video couldn't have been more biased against Apple. Complaining about swapping bands? Really? I think Apple PR needs to start culling the media outlets they have relationships with.

I wouldn't say it was biased. It just seemed like an honest opinion of how the watch fits into her life. Obviously she might adapt as she learns it's quirks. She may even come to love it, but if the first impression a device makes on you is bad then you'll never get to that stage.

I think its problem is complexity. When I picked up an iPod photo for the first time in an Apple store back in 2004, I figured out all by myself how to use it within minutes. I completely fell in love with it and had to have it because it was so simple and straightforward. Not so with the watch.

Apple should've started with a simple fitness/notification band with minimal UI and interaction demands. Got us all hooked on that and then slowly introduced bells-and-whistles. They could've had that out years ago and we'd all be begging for the watch by now.

 

[samiznaetekto]

>I mean knocking Watch because you got an Instagram notification during an important meeting? If the meeting is so important how about turning on do not disturb?

Turning on DND also takes a few steps and several seconds. If that woman walked to Nilay in the bar and said, "Nilay, I have something to discuss with you, do you have a minute?" - "Sure." *starts turning on DND routine* - "Nilay, are you with me?" It'll be just super rude. You don't always have the time and conditions to turn it on, and besides, constantly turning it on and off will get old pretty fast.

 

[lewisd25]

I wouldn't say it was biased. It just seemed like an honest opinion of how the watch fits into her life. Obviously she might adapt as she learns it's quirks. She may even come to love it, but if the first impression a device makes on you is bad then you'll never get to that stage.

When she unrealistically "fumbles around" with changing bands, that shows a bias against the product.

 

[samiznaetekto]

>According to the Verge Apple said a software update was coming that would fix some of the UI lag.

I don't think you can fully eliminate the lag of a Bluetooth-connected auxiliary display. Pumping images and other data through measly Bluetooth bandwidth is bound to be slow. Even with ad-hoc WiFi assist, there's always latency.

----------

When she unrealistically "fumbles around" with changing bands, that shows a bias against the product.

Like woman fumbling around with credit cards in Apple Pay introduction video?

 

[jclardy]

That Joanna Stern video couldn't have been more biased against Apple. Complaining about swapping bands? Really? I think Apple PR needs to start culling the media outlets they have relationships with.

Uhh, it is supposed to be a review, not a PR piece for Apple. Is swapping bands easier than any other watch? Yes. Does that mean it is still easy and something you want to do twice everyday if you go to the gym each morning? Probably not.

 

[skimcpip]

>I mean knocking Watch because you got an Instagram notification during an important meeting? If the meeting is so important how about turning on do not disturb?

Turning on DND also takes a few steps and several seconds. If that woman walked to Nilay in the bar and said, "Nilay, I have something to discuss with you, do you have a minute?" - "Sure." *starts turning on DND routine* - "Nilay, are you with me?" It'll be just super rude. You don't always have the time and conditions to turn it on, and besides, constantly turning it on and off will get old pretty fast.

If you're meeting with someone socially and you don't want to appear rude you can turn on DND before you enter the bar, or if you forget, not look at your watch. Just because you get a notification doesn't mean you HAVE to look at it that second. Same with the phone.

 

[sracer]

Abdel Ibrahim on Twitter thinks so. I kind of agree and I think this is where Apple is missing Katie Cotton in the PR department. Mostly tech reviews, very few from women. Hardly any of the reviews talked about the quality of materials used (Gruber's did but I'm not sure he counts). And the review that is getting the most attention (from The Verge) is actually a pretty crappy review (even if you agree there are some legitimate criticisms/shortcomings with the device). Nilay Patel has been negative on this device since day one. Why in the world is he part of day one reviews? At least pick people that will go into it with an open mind. And that doesn't mean all reviews will be only positive. Gruber's first take was quite balanced. I'd love to know who at Apple decided which publications to send review units to.

Is the only reason this question is coming up is because of the tone of the reviews? Is it possible that those reviews are accurate? What defines a "balanced review"? Must a review include both positive and negatives (even if there is nothing positive or negative worthy of note)?

aWatch fans said, "you can't say anything negative about the device because you haven't tried it yet"... here are people who have tried it before commenting, and now it's, "they picked the wrong people to try it first".

 

[NateEssex]

Firstly, I think The Verge writer seemed to just not be a fan of smart watches in general. This was the first review I read, and also the most critical.

As far as the wrong crowd getting first take on the Apple Watch, I agree but for different reasons. Tech bloggers living in 350 sqare foot NYC and Palo Alto apartments are never more than 18 inches from their phones, so a smart watch becomes far less valuable. To me, after being a timekeeping piece and fitness tracker, the Watch is about being able to put some distance between you and your phone - while understanding that notifications will come to you if and when they do, instead of keeping our phones an arm's length away and continuously checking to see if we'd missed something. Not one review came close to mentioning something along those lines because their phones are practically stapled to their hands as-is.

Apple needs to do a better job of curating notifications from the get-go, but the "oh my gosh all these notifications!" reactions from the tech bloggers is just silly; what did you think would happen when you let every app on your phone send you notifications and you tell the Watch to mirror its behavior? Obviously, you shouldn't be forwarding your FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram notifications to your Watch.

And come on people, if you're having a one on one conversation with another person - and you're not waiting on a 3rd party or have somewhere else to be - you should be enabling Do Not Disturb on your Watch, not checking to see if they think you're rude.

Excellent points.
I'm surprised at the apparent lack of common sense of some of these reviewers.

 

[zacheryjensen]

As usual, these reviews with have absolutely no bearing on the success of Apple's products.

iPhone was near-universally panned, especially by the phone-geeks of the time. Same thing happens again and again, even for well established products. It will be even worse now as this watch is more than half fashion product. There will be millions buying it and wearing it just because Pharrell has one on.

This is something entirely new, from a business and product perspective for Apple. But, even more importantly, it's something new that almost nobody in the whole world even thought about, but, now will because Apple is doing it (by that, I mean smart watches in general.) Add to that the fact that it takes months or even years for people understand and adopt lifestyle changes and you can't possibly expect reviewers who had a watch for a week to have any meaningful things to say about the product's long term impact.

Sorry guys, but, there's only one way to know how great or terrible this product line will be. Look back in 5, 10, and 20 years.

I'll be making my own review. It will be ready in approximately 18 months, because, that is the least amount of time it will take any sane person to know how this device and its successors truly fit into their world.