I'm actually...impressed

[puma1552]

I wrote this thing off months ago and didn't give it another thought until yesterday. Slowly I'm coming around, even as a wearer of a $1200 steel Swiss watch.

This thing is going to take off and redefine this category. Will I buy this one? No, but come version 2, 3, or 4 when it gets a third as thin with three times the battery life, I just might. I wrote the iPad off for years until the iPad 4, now I can't live without it. I can see that happening with this as well, especially looking at how much it can do right now before developers have even had a lot of time with it, and with how restricted Apple has made the initial API...there are tons of features just waiting to be unlocked for developers to take advantage of.

Would I buy an edition? Hell no, that's just a bad buy and these will tank in value and be somewhat disposable, but if you are in it for under $750, I think you can get something that lasts a good three years, which isn't too bad.

This is going to be a winner of a product. Give it time.

 

[Che Castro]

You should have waited longer for the iPad air

 

[Flow39]

I was impressed in September, been waiting for one ever since.

 

[puma1552]

one thing id like to see - and it may come in the future - is a little less reliance on the iphone. i realize its technically an iphone accessory, but id like to see it be able to handle a run or apple pay completely indepent of the phone, etc.

make the stuff on the back of the watch flush with the case, cut the case down to 5mm thick, and youve got a pretty nice looking smartwatch i think.

 

[whtrbt7]

Why stop there? What about round watch face, touchID digital crown, FaceTime camera, automatic kinetic battery charging, dive waterproofing for 100m, maybe a sapphire skeleton version of the watch, titanium version of the watch, platinum version of the watch, flexible display bands, magnetic force band so you only have a clasp, etc.... Apple has only started and it looks like their "reinvention" of the watch will be extremely popular.

 

[Michael CM1]

one thing id like to see - and it may come in the future - is a little less reliance on the iphone. i realize its technically an iphone accessory, but id like to see it be able to handle a run or apple pay completely indepent of the phone, etc.

make the stuff on the back of the watch flush with the case, cut the case down to 5mm thick, and youve got a pretty nice looking smartwatch i think.

I think that will all come in time. With something this small, you are highly limited on what you can do. It might take Apple getting into the game and creating a demand for parts makers to develop chips that can do LTE, NFC, Bluetooth, Wifi, etc. yet fit in there and not use too much power. The original iPhone didn't have 3G, and the original iPad didn't have any cameras. So Apple leaves room for improvement.

You mentioning a non-Rolex watch that still costs a ton makes me think most people don't know the cost of watches you find outside Walmart and Target. Aside from my Fitbit, I've never paid more than $50 for something to put on my wrist. This is obviously something made more for the fancy, shiny market instead of the low-end fitness tracker market.

I'm assuming that Apple will sell a decent amount of these and corner the profitable end of the market, leaving everybody else to fight over much lower-margin products. If these sell well at all, I wouldn't doubt price cuts on this original model when updated ones come out, maybe pushing down to $249 in a couple of years. I think one would be very useful, but not life-altering like an iPhone.