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Did the wrong crowd get first take on Apple Watch?
- Thread starter Rogifan
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Excellent points.
I'm surprised at the apparent lack of common sense of some of these reviewers.
Tech reviewers don't have lives that resemble, in any meaningful way, average people. They are the very worst people to get impressions about a product from. They are releasing their reviews now, weeks or even months, before the masses will even be considering this product. The geeks in this forum and similar gathering areas will think this is some big meaningful deluge of info, when all it is is meaningless noise ignored by 99% of Apple's market.
It should also be ignored by anyone who already had an interest in the product. These guys aren't writing because they had a genuine sincere invested interest in making this a part of their life, they are only writing because it's their job.
Patel blamed the watch for making him ignore the person he was talking to. It shows more of a lack of restraint, dependency on technology, & sheer love for notifications than a "flaw" of the Apple Watch. He would have ignored her in the same capacity whether it was his phone or his watch.
But apparently its better to just blame the tech than to blame yourself I guess.
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>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.
"Hey Siri, turn on Do Not Disturb"
"Nilay, I have something to discuss with you, do you have a minute?" - "Sure. Hey Siri, turn on Do Not Disturb"
SRSLY?
SRSLY?
You're right on point.
My personal experience at work where in our building alone are a few hundred employees from software engineers to admin staff, I've yet to hear one woman talk about the watch. It's rather eerie since we work in the industry and there's a huge contingent of Apple lovers amongst us.
When I've asked, the response I get reflects a complete lack of interest, although recently three ladies in their thirties were aware of it. I was truly surprised at how some women that really use and love their iPhones say the watch takes the space on their wrist where they normally wear a variety of bracelets. They don't want to sacrifice that pleasure for what they perceive as a gadget.
Perhaps they'll change their minds if the watch proves useful.
Actually in retrospect I'm also waiting to see if the watch proves useful enough to warrant the time it will consume initially.
Seriously! That video was terrible. Starts with her complaining that her watch alarm is going off to get her out of bed. Really?! Had to turn it off after about 1 minute. It's obviously not a realistic day of someone who actually bought a watch to enjoy it.
It was definitely contrived as she had a helmet cam on, "randomly" bumped into Rupert Murdoch, etc. Her written review was more positive in that it was "I like it, but won't recommend it since the next version will be better."
I was surprised they didn't send it to more non-tech reviewers. That said, if a writer in Vogue says it's ugly and she won't wear it no matter what it does, that's probably worse than anything that some "geek" writing for the Verge can say about it. On the other hand, the review in Self was pretty positive about it.
Honestly, I think it is nitpicky to hang on the idea that because you potentially get too many notifications from apps on your phone, which are now being ported to your wrist, that the Watch is inherently annoying or causing social friction. If you get a notification at a time that is inconvenient, ignoring it is very easy.
However, it would be a very large issue if Apple didn't offer a way to fine-grain control the notifications that actually make it to your wrist. They did to a point but I am disappointed that not one of the reviews I've read noted or dove into that, and I think that is the important part. Did they give enough control? Do apps need updating or potentially more backend support from Apple to make the experience good?
Too many notifications at an bad time will get annoying, sure, but you can't help if people are reaching you while you're out. However, I can and would care to control whether I that I am getting Twitter Mentions on my wrist vs something like a "Posted in your network today..." bs dialog.
Honesty I think this guy named Matthew Purcell who goes by The Doctor11 on the interwebs is the perfect person to receive a review unit.
So you support cutting journalists out of the loop because they aren't totally positive on a product? That usually doesn't end well for the company practicing that.
I said it before the reviews came out. The first reviews are not necessarily an indicator of a product because they usually haven't had them long enough, and I was told I was wrong. Now, all of the sudden, the reviews are less than glowing, and everyone says we should ignore them, or cut people off because they did their job.
Just wait guys. You will know in 2 or 3 months how gen 1 this device is. We will have user reviews and in depth reviews from those that matter to you. We will know if it has been a success or a dud.
The only two points I am taking away from these reviews is that the interface is not simple and will take time to get used to, which is probably why they are forcing appointments. Also, that Apple has not made a compelling argument as to why this device needs to be a part of your life yet. Now, getting them into real peoples' hands and having them pound on it for a month or two will tell how big a problem those things are.
Honesty I think this guy named Matthew Purcell who goes by The Doctor11 on the interwebs is the perfect person to receive a review unit.
I noticed no one reviewed the Edition. We'll send it to you, but only the rose gray leather version.
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Exactly. There is no sense cutting reviews out. If they withheld product from known reviewers with some credibility, it would look like they have something to hide. It's not that people wouldn't figure it out eventually. Anyway, I think the reviews haven't been that bad. It's Apple, and they know reviews will get lots of clicks (the lifeblood of an Internet writer), and so they will engage in hyperbole both positive and negative. Joanna Stern wouldn't "bump into" Rupert Murdoch during a review of a Moto 360, so of course she's going to make a light-hearted YouTube video to accompany her written review.
No one knows, not Apple, not these reviewers, or anyone here, whether Apple has a long term winner on their hands. It's a nascent category where others have tried and failed. Apple thinks they can make it work. We'll see.
You can fully control which apps sends notifications to your watch, and which apps don't. Of course you can't control when you will get that notification, but one good thing about the watch is that all you will get is that tap. The watch only lights up and show you the notification when you actually look at it, so it isn't as apparent or distracting. There were some reviews that actually did show this off.
Also, there are different sequences of taps for each type of notification. So lets say you're getting email to your watch, once you have instinctively learned the tap sequence for mail (the same way I've learned the vibration pattern for mail on my phone) you'll know which type of notification it is without even having to look. Notifications were very well thought out, seeing as it is the driving force of all smart watches.
And I totally agree with you. Nothing or no one is forcing you to look at your watch every single time you get a notification. You can easily ignore if you are in the middle of a conversation. Or, as I suggested, if the watch deems it self a little too distracting, you can always turn on Do Not Disturb, I feature I use ALOT on my phone already.
I don't think it's a case of wrong people, more that the Watch reviews are showing up a problem that's been growing in the tech industry for quite some time.
This is an over-simpifciation but the vast majority of tech web sites still review products from a functional point of view. What does x offer over y, what specs are better, what can you do with this that you couldn't do before etc. They are, in short, reviewing things as geeks tend to. That's fine when products are aimed at the geek market but things have changed somewhat in the last decade...
We're now in a world where devices are bought on other factors and the big web sites aren't keeping up. To be fair it's a very hard puzzle to solve: how do you give a review of a device taking into account aesthetics, build quality, the 'feel' of the controls without getting savaged by a core audience that's focused on other metrics? Doubly so when you're under time pressure to get reviews out so only get to spend a few days (or in this case a week) with devices that can often only truly be evaluated after weeks or months of use.
With the Apple Watch we're seeing the first real stab at a 'luxury' smart watch and it's highlighting the limitations of the current formats. I'll guarantee we'll see the same thing in a day or two with the Macbook reviews where focus will be on ports and performance compared to other laptops. Meanwhile potential customers will be evaluating that particular device based on aesthetic appeal, weight and general desirability (assuming, of course, that performance is 'good enough').
These days I'd suggest the only way to really make good use of reviews is to read a few of them, pick out the factual information you want to know (cross-check to make sure you don't base your opinion on an outlier), maybe take advantage of the new photographs and videos to see what the product looks like outside of marketing materials then make your own decision. Ultimately are you happy paying the money being asked for a device that does (or is) x, y and z whatever those criteria may happen to be.
This is an over-simpifciation but the vast majority of tech web sites still review products from a functional point of view. What does x offer over y, what specs are better, what can you do with this that you couldn't do before etc. They are, in short, reviewing things as geeks tend to. That's fine when products are aimed at the geek market but things have changed somewhat in the last decade...
We're now in a world where devices are bought on other factors and the big web sites aren't keeping up. To be fair it's a very hard puzzle to solve: how do you give a review of a device taking into account aesthetics, build quality, the 'feel' of the controls without getting savaged by a core audience that's focused on other metrics? Doubly so when you're under time pressure to get reviews out so only get to spend a few days (or in this case a week) with devices that can often only truly be evaluated after weeks or months of use.
With the Apple Watch we're seeing the first real stab at a 'luxury' smart watch and it's highlighting the limitations of the current formats. I'll guarantee we'll see the same thing in a day or two with the Macbook reviews where focus will be on ports and performance compared to other laptops. Meanwhile potential customers will be evaluating that particular device based on aesthetic appeal, weight and general desirability (assuming, of course, that performance is 'good enough').
These days I'd suggest the only way to really make good use of reviews is to read a few of them, pick out the factual information you want to know (cross-check to make sure you don't base your opinion on an outlier), maybe take advantage of the new photographs and videos to see what the product looks like outside of marketing materials then make your own decision. Ultimately are you happy paying the money being asked for a device that does (or is) x, y and z whatever those criteria may happen to be.
I noticed no one reviewed the Edition. We'll send it to you, but only the rose gray leather version.
Alright deal!
I guess I thought this review was unprofessional, for lack of a better word. I'm not sure if that even matters for this sort of thing but that was my take from it. To me she lost all credibility when she smeared tooth paste on the screen as though that has any importance for the device itself.
So, I just watched the Joanna Stern review, and I have to say, the video was rather good. It was a nice synopsis of her review that actually captured what a day with the watch would be like. It seem fairly balanced, and more or less met my expectations from my limited experience with smart watches. Convenient at times, complicated and unnecessary at others. She didn't pan it, but she wasn't gushing either. From what I gather, her overall impressions were, meh. That seems to fit the smart watch narrative thus far. Kind of cool technically, but no real important place in most people's lives.
Were you guys seriously expecting headlines like "The Most Revolutionary Device!"? I think most of you are upset because you feel like your favorite team lost because the reviews were tepid instead of OMG!!!
Were you guys seriously expecting headlines like "The Most Revolutionary Device!"? I think most of you are upset because you feel like your favorite team lost because the reviews were tepid instead of OMG!!!
Actually I thought her film was pretty realistic...about the negatives. I fully anticipate fumbling with the band changes. I always do on my other watches and my bracelets are a nightmare. I never expected any different with Apple Watch.
Smearing toothpaste on it is a bit much. Gross. Toothpaste goes on the teeth, not the fingers. I actually don't anticipate putting on the watch until I'm fully dressed and had my breakfast and tea. Until then my iPad or IPhone will be my companion.
But it shows anyone who lives and thinks and has the expectations she does that the Apple Watch as it is now isn't for them.
What I took away from this film and some of the other reviews is that it likely will work out fine for me! I'm not going to wear the battery down trying to do things with it that the reviewers insist on trying that are best done on a large screen and with a keyboard of some type.
It's a device to let me know if I need to go fetch my phone out of the hidden recesses of my purse or find it on whatever surface I've left it on and return an important call or text on my PHONE. It's a device that at a glance will let me know if something interesting comes up on Twitter or FB or news that is worth the time and effort to halt whatever I'm doing and read about it on my phone or iPad. It's a device meant to tell me the time, without having to look around for a clock or fumble for my phone.
I do think it is odd that some of these reviewers missed that basic point about this product and are mocking it for not being an iPhone on their wrist.
Some of their other complaints are legit though.
That's true, but it would be strange for Apple not to send review units to tech reviewers. The reviews are basically what I expected, perhaps somewhat more critical than I expected given that Apple has had months since the announcement to polish the UI and see what others have missed. I'm more interested in how it fits in, how easy it is for people to get into new habits, and whether it changes their routines. There was some of that in Joanna Stern's review, but the Verge video review seemed over the top (and contradicted by others regarding changing notifications).
I'm a bit surprised they didn't send review units to watch blogs like Hodinkee and ABlogToWatch. Maybe they are in the next round, or maybe they'll just buy units to review themselves. I'm really curious what they think about it. Gruber thinks it will be a tougher sell to serious watch people.
I really liked Nilay's review and didn't once get the impression he wasn't being open-minded. The video showed me things I haven't seen yet, such as the jerkiness, and instantly turned me off the leather loop I was planning on getting.
As someone who is excited to get the watch, I loved her video. It was very practical. Way more realistic than some other review videos I watched, and it showed some really good features that I liked. What I liked most though is how it let me envision what my own day may look like using it, and I have to honestly say I would love to have the watch. I do a lot of things that are fast paced with my hands on a the regular basis (get your mind out the gutter, thank you) and I think having the watch would make a lot of things easier, & more convenient. It's definitely not life changing, far from it even. But it doesn't have to be. It's just another option, but a good one.