I Apple, but not my Apple Watch

[videoadvert.tv]

So I got my Watch.

I am an Apple zealot in many ways. That annoying guy that up-sells Apple stuff to friends and family, border line religiously. Ever since I bought my first Powerbook G4 in 2001 - I have been a convert. So I unquestioningly looked forward to the Apple Watch from the moment I saw it.

But now its here - and this Watch just doesn't add up for me. It feels superficial and pointless. It adds nothing to the apple experience except another layer of abstraction. I mean how hard is it really to check a message on your phone, as opposed to your wrist? And the other stuff feels limited and limiting.

The concept looks like a classic Apple product. Its has all the hallmarks of great design, style and simplicity. but then you look closer and its like something vital is missing.

I knew why I wanted an iPod. It was going to change how I listened to my music. I knew why I wanted an iPhone. It was going to change and expand the way I used my phone. I didn't know why I wanted an iPad - until I got one and then it all made sense. But with this it feels like its been designed the wrong way around - its a product looking for an idea.

This is the first new Apple product without Steve Jobs input and boy can I sense that. He would have asked much harder questions than anyone else on the team seems to have done.

 

[supertomtom]

I personally think it's a product that doesn't fit into your lifestyle from the way you describe it. How hard is it to take the phone out and check messages? Well for many of us there are situations where being able to glance at notifications is a HUGE convenience.

It may not be something you value as a feature, then it's probably not a product that you need. Apple makes lots of products that I don't really need (e.g. iPod nano) but that doesn't make the product superficial or pointless (because I know someone will find it really useful - ironically the apple watch had replaced the function of an iPod nano for me).

I'm glad Apple made the Apple watch. It gives us options to decide whether it's right for us individually or not. For me it's been great.

 

[videoadvert.tv]

My point is this product feels like something Steve wouldn't have launched in its current state. It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new.

 

[Uppercut05]

So I got my Watch.

I am an Apple zealot in many ways. That annoying guy that up-sells Apple stuff to friends and family, border line religiously. Ever since I bought my first Powerbook G4 in 2001 - I have been a convert. So I unquestioningly looked forward to the Apple Watch from the moment I saw it.

But now its here - and this Watch just doesn't add up for me. It feels superficial and pointless. It adds nothing to the apple experience except another layer of abstraction. I mean how hard is it really to check a message on your phone, as opposed to your wrist? And the other stuff feels limited and limiting.

The concept looks like a classic Apple product. Its has all the hallmarks of great design, style and simplicity. but then you look closer and its like something vital is missing.

I knew why I wanted an iPod. It was going to change how I listened to my music. I knew why I wanted an iPhone. It was going to change and expand the way I used my phone. I didn't know why I wanted an iPad - until I got one and then it all made sense. But with this it feels like its been designed the wrong way around - its a product looking for an idea.

This is the first new Apple product without Steve Jobs input and boy can I sense that. He would have asked much harder questions than anyone else on the team seems to have done.

yeah it's not for everyone.

Personally I love it for running. I love that it makes me super motivated to achieve 30 minutes of exercise on non-running days. I love the fact that I can get notifications and absolutely no-one else knows or hears. I love that I can book reminders and timers simply by speaking to my wrist. I love the fact I have barely typed an sms in 2.5 weeks. I love that I can use it so easily when driving. I love that I can ask directions and know which way to turn without taking my eyes off the road. I love the fact it prompts me to get off my ass every hour when I'm playing playstation. I love that I can now leave my iPhone in my flipbelt when running.

There's so much I love about it that it really has changed my life. But it's probably not for everyone. Nothing wrong with that

 

[supertomtom]

My point is this product feels like something Steve wouldn't have launched in its current state. It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new.

I get the impression if an apple announced a new dog turd, people would defend it on here, as long as Jonny Ive had created it.

I talked about my objective experience with the watch and how I find it to be quite a useful product for me...in a civil way, yet I'm being implied to be a non-objective  dog-turd defender? Ok... #

 

[dexterbell]

So I got my Watch.

I am an Apple zealot in many ways. That annoying guy that up-sells Apple stuff to friends and family, border line religiously. Ever since I bought my first Powerbook G4 in 2001 - I have been a convert. So I unquestioningly looked forward to the Apple Watch from the moment I saw it.

But now its here - and this Watch just doesn't add up for me. It feels superficial and pointless. It adds nothing to the apple experience except another layer of abstraction. I mean how hard is it really to check a message on your phone, as opposed to your wrist? And the other stuff feels limited and limiting.

The concept looks like a classic Apple product. Its has all the hallmarks of great design, style and simplicity. but then you look closer and its like something vital is missing.

I knew why I wanted an iPod. It was going to change how I listened to my music. I knew why I wanted an iPhone. It was going to change and expand the way I used my phone. I didn't know why I wanted an iPad - until I got one and then it all made sense. But with this it feels like its been designed the wrong way around - its a product looking for an idea.

This is the first new Apple product without Steve Jobs input and boy can I sense that. He would have asked much harder questions than anyone else on the team seems to have done.

Exactly how I felt. I have an iMac, iPad, MacBook, iPhone, iPod Touch and Apple TV. The Watch is the only Apple product I returned and will not be owning.

 

[ripper998]

My point is this product feels like something Steve wouldn't have launched in its current state. It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new.

Really? Did you know Steve Jobs? Did you have coffee with him and discuss what he would and wouldn't do? You people need to stop bringing up his name like some sort of Saint and let the man rest in peace. There was nothing wrong with cell phone when the first iphone was introduced. They brought to market a slow phone (2G), that allowed you to run apps that no one was developing for. It was product for the sake of product. It solved no problems people had. I had a blackberry that received my email and did other things just fine. Was the iphone better on somethings at the time? Sure! Was it worse on others, yup!

Stop thinking that every time apple comes out with a new product they are trying to fix a problem. They are a corporation....they are in business to make money and sell product.

 

[samiznaetekto]

"Apple decided to make a watch and only then set out to discover what it might be good for"

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/the-apple-watch/

This "let's throw **** against the wall and see if it sticks" wouldn't happen if Steve was alive.

 

[Twyntub]

35-40 years ago, I remember well how everyone saw the future as having a computer / TV / radio / cassette player / communicator / videophone strapped to your wrist.

No-one saw the need to have a small box that would sit in your pocket to do this, but then again no-one envisaged that this box would also allow you to do sophisticated work activities like CAD, data processing or let you type a letter or even play games. After all, we had machines that did all that very well - how could a small box replace a typewriter?

For many of us, the watch works exactly as envisaged - and takes away much of the basic interaction that's simply slicker via the wrist - I never have less than 10,000 unread messages in my inbox and can receive hundreds a day. The reality is that the other activities are better on the phone - and depending on how you use your phone / what you us it for, the impact of the watch can vary greatly.

On a separate issue - is it ready for the big time? Hardware yes, I think software - no. Native apps with full access to all the APIs is essential - but isn't that exactly how things were with the original iPhone and "Safari" apps?

 

[Uppercut05]

My point is this product feels like something Steve wouldn't have launched in its current state. It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new.

I get the impression if an apple announced a new dog turd, people would defend it on here, as long as Jonny Ive had created it.

bit rich coming from an obvious Steve Jobs fanboi...

 

[loyalist]

My point is this product feels like something Steve wouldn't have launched in its current state. It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new.

This made me lol. Didn't know you and Steve were buddies?!?!

If that's the case, wasn't an iPad just a bigger version of the iPhone (when it was released) but you couldn't use it as a phone. "It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new"

 

[KauaiBruce]

My point is this product feels like something Steve wouldn't have launched in its current state. It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new.

Amazing that everyone seems to know how Steve thought.

Apple has never been in the business of offering anything NEW. Apple takes product types that others have been working on for a while and then packages it so the public decides they WANT it.

They did this with laptops, tablets, phones, and music players. Even with a rough first few weeks of shipping I believe Apple has already sold more smart watches than everyone else combined.

I love my watch. It is a HUGE step ahead of the Pebble I used for a long time.

 

[Wishbrah]

So.

Let me get this straight.

You have a feeling that some guy you've never met wouldn't have released this watch. Not only have you never met him, but you think you know him well enough to draw assumptions regarding his thoughts about the watch.

Sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here, while waiting for Space Black.

 

[GrindedDown]

My point is this product feels like something Steve wouldn't have launched in its current state. It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new.

I disagree that this is a product for products' sake. In fact, I sort of applaud Apple for taking a leap of faith in a somewhat new direction.

I truly believe that this is a product that is really in its infancy, but is going to become a very important product as innovation pushes it forward from both a developer standpoint and a hardware standpoint (such as the many sensors that were rumored to be a part of the watch and couldn't make it in either because of technology or some rumored FDA issues).

As someone who is studying development and is working towards iOS and Mac development, I am very excited about the things that this thing may be able to do in the future.

I don't totally disagree with you though. Aside from this thing seeming like a modern miracle being as small, functional, and long-lasting (over a day is incredible for such a device to me), a part of me believes far more in the potential of such a device rather than what the device actually is right now.

My big point though, when the iphone came out, it was very cool to me, but it didn't necessarily have any one thing that absolutely couldn't be done elsewhere either. It just did everything much better than anyone else. Then, along came the app store and developer support. Then things changed drastically.......

 

[lchlch]

So I got my Watch.

I am an Apple zealot in many ways. That annoying guy that up-sells Apple stuff to friends and family, border line religiously. Ever since I bought my first Powerbook G4 in 2001 - I have been a convert. So I unquestioningly looked forward to the Apple Watch from the moment I saw it.

But now its here - and this Watch just doesn't add up for me. It feels superficial and pointless. It adds nothing to the apple experience except another layer of abstraction. I mean how hard is it really to check a message on your phone, as opposed to your wrist? And the other stuff feels limited and limiting.

The concept looks like a classic Apple product. Its has all the hallmarks of great design, style and simplicity. but then you look closer and its like something vital is missing.

I knew why I wanted an iPod. It was going to change how I listened to my music. I knew why I wanted an iPhone. It was going to change and expand the way I used my phone. I didn't know why I wanted an iPad - until I got one and then it all made sense. But with this it feels like its been designed the wrong way around - its a product looking for an idea.

This is the first new Apple product without Steve Jobs input and boy can I sense that. He would have asked much harder questions than anyone else on the team seems to have done.

Give it a few days, if it doesn't work for you just return it. In general all wearables are nice-to-have not must-have.

----------

My point is this product feels like something Steve wouldn't have launched in its current state. It's a product for the sake of a product, rather than offering something new.

Can we please give the man some respect by not putting words into his mouth.

 

[Pagemakers]

I agree mostly with the OP.

I've had my watch for a week and I'm 50-50 about taking it back.

It doesn't really do anything very well.

It's a clumsy product.

The heart rate monitor is inaccurate and if that is then so must the fitness data it generates.

I've only kept installed about 2 third party apps because they are just so terrible to use. Most are pointless.

The times I have demonstrated it's features to my mates I don't really know what to show them because nothing seems that impressive or works consistently well.

It's a strange product. I'm trying to like it but I've never had to try to like an Apple product before.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

"Apple decided to make a watch and only then set out to discover what it might be good for"

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/the-apple-watch/

This "let's throw **** against the wall and see if it sticks" wouldn't happen if Steve was alive.

Image

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-tKLISfPE

"You can make some demos, maybe a small commercial app, that demonstrates those things. The hardest thing how does that fit into a cohesive larger vision that's going to allow you to sell 8 billion 10 billion dollars worth of product a year and one of the things I've found is you gotta work on the customer experience and work backgrounds to the technology. You can't start with the technology and figure out where you are gonna sell it."

Irony.

This might be an Apple product but it's not Steve Jobs product.

snip

Snip

Steve Jobs was pretty open about his values.

Later on in that video he says, "focusing is about saying no."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8eP99neOVs

I disagree that this is a product for products' sake. In fact, I sort of applaud Apple for taking a leap of faith in a somewhat new direction.

I truly believe that this is a product that is really in its infancy, but is going to become a very important product as innovation pushes it forward from both a developer standpoint and a hardware standpoint (such as the many sensors that were rumored to be a part of the watch and couldn't make it in either because of technology or some rumored FDA issues).

As someone who is studying development and is working towards iOS and Mac development, I am very excited about the things that this thing may be able to do in the future.

I don't totally disagree with you though. Aside from this thing seeming like a modern miracle being as small, functional, and long-lasting (over a day is incredible for such a device to me), a part of me believes far more in the potential of such a device rather than what the device actually is right now.

My big point though, when the iphone came out, it was very cool to me, but it didn't necessarily have any one thing that absolutely couldn't be done elsewhere either. It just did everything much better than anyone else. Then, along came the app store and developer support. Then things changed drastically.......

You might want to reevaluate those beliefs because Steve Jobs says they are completely wrong in the videos I linked above.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

I agree mostly with the OP.

I've had my watch for a week and I'm 50-50 about taking it back.

It doesn't really do anything very well.

It's a clumsy product.

The heart rate monitor is inaccurate and if that is then so must the fitness data it generates.

I've only kept installed about 2 third party apps because they are just so terrible to use. Most are pointless.

The times I have demonstrated it's features to my mates I don't really know what to show them because nothing seems that impressive or works consistently well.

It's a strange product. I'm trying to like it but I've never had to try to like an Apple product before.

I also agree with the OP. The watch does a bunch of good things. But nothing great. Mostly everything I find it does do, is very inconsistent. And I know ppl will point out that all Apple products are buggy at first. But I think they sort of rushed this out. They should have ironed a few more bugs before releasing it. It's not really made as a product for the mass public. More like a "niche" product. I wouldn't even be surprised if sometime in the future they discontinue it. Just my opinion.

 

[lchlch]

I agree mostly with the OP.

I've had my watch for a week and I'm 50-50 about taking it back.

It doesn't really do anything very well.

It's a clumsy product.

The heart rate monitor is inaccurate and if that is then so must the fitness data it generates.

I've only kept installed about 2 third party apps because they are just so terrible to use. Most are pointless.

The times I have demonstrated it's features to my mates I don't really know what to show them because nothing seems that impressive or works consistently well.

It's a strange product. I'm trying to like it but I've never had to try to like an Apple product before.

I was under the impression that the HRM is as accurate as an EKG. I wouldn't call that inaccurate.

I remember there's a thread about ways to show off here. Take a look at that.

 

[Pagemakers]

I have recently undergone a minor cardiac procedure and I can assure you the heart rate data the watch provides is not desperately accurate.

Saying that there is is app on the App Store called Cardiio. For the 7 hours I was hooked up to hospital heart monitors I tested the Cardiio app against the hospital equipment and it was 100% accurate 100% of the time.

Yesterday I went on a 40 minute quad bike ride and the watch was giving about 60-80 bpm. My heart rate should have been about 100+ (my band was tight).

The watch throws data to the apple health app. Open it and go to the heart rate part (if you've enabled it) then show all data. You can see the inaccuracies there.

When you force the watch to take your heartbeat it may well be accurate because you are standing still but the watch collects data every 10 minutes in the background and depending what you are doing at the time seems to cause huge data inaccuracies.

 

[lchlch]

I have recently undergone a minor cardiac procedure and I can assure you the heart rate data the watch provides is not desperately accurate.

Saying that there is is app on the App Store called Cardiio. For the 7 hours I was hooked up to hospital heart monitors I tested the Cardiio app against the hospital equipment and it was 100% accurate 100% of the time.

Yesterday I went on a 40 minute quad bike ride and the watch was giving about 60-80 bpm. My heart rate should have been about 100+ (my band was tight).

The watch throws data to the apple health app. Open it and go to the heart rate part (if you've enabled it) then show all data. You can see the inaccuracies there.

When you force the watch to take your heartbeat it may well be accurate because you are standing still but the watch collects data every 10 minutes in the background and depending what you are doing at the time seems to cause huge data inaccuracies.

There are test done by credible sources that conflicts your experience.

So rather than inaccuracies im wondering if the watch is not able to detect your heart rate at all. When the watch is unable to detect your heart rate it defaults to the previous readings. Which would explain the 60-80bpm.

Do you have tattoos covering your wrists? Or perhaps you could try loosening the watch a little? Did you use the workout app?

Wearing it too tight might constrict the blood flow causing the bpm reading to be lower than normal.

Otherwise I think you have a defective watch.

 

[Fredo C]

After 9 days of living with it I am beginning to turn more pessimistic. In the real world the thing just doesn't work as advertised. It's so slow, awkward, and inconsistent that it becomes an added nuisance instead of a convenience. I love the promise of what it can do but the execution is poor, to me at least.

I'll probably keep it as I hope software updates will fix a lot of the issues, but I'm beginning to think that V1 of the watch isn't going to improve dramatically. I am shocked at times that Apple released it in it's current form. How could they not see the same issues after years of development and testing?

My biggest gripe is Siri and voice dictation. So often nothing happens, just sits there doing nothing, and multiple attempts are needed to send a simple text. The screen then starts shutting off to save battery and has to be awakened again. Terrible.

I tried making a phone call today on my home wifi, the phone was upstairs and I was downstairs, and it took multiple attempts to do it through voice dictation. This is one of the main reasons I bought the watch, so I wouldn't have to lug the 6 Plus everywhere. What's the point if I can't make a simple phone call?

The 3rd party sports apps are terrible. All I want is to be able to check a quick score without taking out the phone. The Score wouldn't even load, I had to remove it from glances. ESPN requires multiple taps to refresh the scores of my favorite teams. By default it will open up to the score of whenever I last used the app. At this point grabbing my phone and swiping down to the widget is faster and less frustrating.

I could go on, but the point is that Apple has a lot of work to do. For me right now the watch is only useful for the watch faces and fitness aspects (I'm a casual fitness person and the HRM and workout app I find quite good). Is that worth the $600 I paid? I'm afraid not. I want to love this thing but it's just not there yet. I couldn't recommend it to anyone who is not a hard core Apple enthusiast, which is almost everyone in the general public.

 

[lchlch]

After 9 days of living with it I am beginning to turn more pessimistic. In the real world the thing just doesn't work as advertised. It's so slow, awkward, and inconsistent that it becomes an added nuisance instead of a convenience. I love the promise of what it can do but the execution is poor, to me at least.

I'll probably keep it as I hope software updates will fix a lot of the issues, but I'm beginning to think that V1 of the watch isn't going to improve dramatically. I am shocked at times that Apple released it in it's current form. How could they not see the same issues after years of development and testing?

My biggest gripe is Siri and voice dictation. So often nothing happens, just sits there doing nothing, and multiple attempts are needed to send a simple text. The screen then starts shutting off to save battery and has to be awakened again. Terrible.

I tried making a phone call today on my home wifi, the phone was upstairs and I was downstairs, and it took multiple attempts to do it through voice dictation. This is one of the main reasons I bought the watch, so I wouldn't have to lug the 6 Plus everywhere. What's the point if I can't make a simple phone call?

The 3rd party sports apps are terrible. All I want is to be able to check a quick score without taking out the phone. The Score wouldn't even load, I had to remove it from glances. ESPN requires multiple taps to refresh the scores of my favorite teams. By default it will open up to the score of whenever I last used the app. At this point grabbing my phone and swiping down to the widget is faster and less frustrating.

I could go on, but the point is that Apple has a lot of work to do. For me right now the watch is only useful for the watch faces and fitness aspects (I'm a casual fitness person and the HRM and workout app I find quite good). Is that worth the $600 I paid? I'm afraid not. I want to love this thing but it's just not there yet. I couldn't recommend it to anyone who is not a hard core Apple enthusiast, which is almost everyone in the general public.

Out of curiosity do you have the same problem with Siri on the phone?

Btw you don't need to call using dictation. Maybe try the friend button or maybe, contacts?

And is background app refresh turned on on the phone?

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

After 9 days of living with it I am beginning to turn more pessimistic. In the real world the thing just doesn't work as advertised. It's so slow, awkward, and inconsistent that it becomes an added nuisance instead of a convenience. I love the promise of what it can do but the execution is poor, to me at least.

I'll probably keep it as I hope software updates will fix a lot of the issues, but I'm beginning to think that V1 of the watch isn't going to improve dramatically. I am shocked at times that Apple released it in it's current form. How could they not see the same issues after years of development and testing?

My biggest gripe is Siri and voice dictation. So often nothing happens, just sits there doing nothing, and multiple attempts are needed to send a simple text. The screen then starts shutting off to save battery and has to be awakened again. Terrible.

I tried making a phone call today on my home wifi, the phone was upstairs and I was downstairs, and it took multiple attempts to do it through voice dictation. This is one of the main reasons I bought the watch, so I wouldn't have to lug the 6 Plus everywhere. What's the point if I can't make a simple phone call?

The 3rd party sports apps are terrible. All I want is to be able to check a quick score without taking out the phone. The Score wouldn't even load, I had to remove it from glances. ESPN requires multiple taps to refresh the scores of my favorite teams. By default it will open up to the score of whenever I last used the app. At this point grabbing my phone and swiping down to the widget is faster and less frustrating.

I could go on, but the point is that Apple has a lot of work to do. For me right now the watch is only useful for the watch faces and fitness aspects (I'm a casual fitness person and the HRM and workout app I find quite good). Is that worth the $600 I paid? I'm afraid not. I want to love this thing but it's just not there yet. I couldn't recommend it to anyone who is not a hard core Apple enthusiast, which is almost everyone in the general public.

This goes with my point of it does some good things. Nothing really great. Mostly buggy. I am an Apple fan, but I wouldn't either recommend it to a non Apple fan. There may be potential in a watch like this one day. But for the majority of ppl. It's to much money for something that at this point in time does so little, and is so buggy.

 

[Fredo C]

Out of curiosity do you have the same problem with Siri on the phone?

Btw you don't need to call using dictation. Maybe try the friend button or maybe, contacts?

Siri on the phone works much better in terms of being able to execute commands.

I want to be able to raise my wrist and send a text or make a phone call. This is supposed to be one of the killer features, and Apple is pushing this very hard. I don't want to fiddle with buttons. I have tried holding down the crown to activate Siri (works a little better but not much) and using contacts, and the watch just doesn't execute consistently. When it does execute it is often painfully slow.