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Jony Ive On iWatch: Switzerland is in Trouble

dukebound85 said:
kinda different markets

traditional watches are jewelry that can be handed down generations.
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Did you miss the part where Apple has been hiring luxury watch/clothing execs?

It's obvious - to everyone but you - that Apple intends this product to compete in the luxury accessories market. "Kinda not" different markets. At all.
 
gavroche said:
Am I alone in being bothered by the iWatch being referred to as an accessory? This to me implies very limited functionality, and subservience to whatever device for which it is an accessory.
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Agree. It needs it's own connectivity and needs to stand on its own and iSync with all iDevices or I have zero interest.
 
Medic311 said:
Jony Ive: "Steve, I managed to finish the last project I was working on before you died. I never had the chance to show you. I present to you, the iWatch"
Steve Jobs ghost: "That's a dopey idea"
Jony Ive: "What? No it's isn't"
Steve Jobs ghost: "Yes, it's dopey"
Jony Ive: "No it isn't!"
Steve Jobs ghost: "You're right, it's isn't"
Jony Ive: "See I told you!"
Steve Jobs ghost: "It's really dopey"
Jony Ive: "Well I'm going to tell everyone that before you died that you said that with the iWatch, the Swiss are F*#&"
Steve Jobs ghost: "At this point I don't even care since all you've released are me-too products for the last 3+ years with a sick obsession with 1GB of memory for every new iDevice. I mean seriously...wtf Jony. I should have fired you back when I asked you to put the speakers inside the iMac and you initially refused...y'know...kind of like that programmer who developed a word processor without fonts and then said it wasn't a pressing issue."
Jony Ive: "Well I take back everything I said at your eulogy"
Steve Jobs ghost: "I wouldn't know because I wasn't there"
Click to expand...

That is exactly how it went down.
 
punkrockguilt said:
Did you miss the part where Apple has been hiring luxury watch/clothing execs?

It's obvious - to everyone but you - that Apple intends this product to compete in the luxury accessories market. "Kinda not" different markets. At all.
Click to expand...

You don't have to be a brain surgeon or know Apple hired execs from luxury lines to know that Apple doesn't play in any other market. Especially with their new devices.
 
No, it's not.

Sorry, but I'm not ditching my high-end Swiss timepieces for this. It may replace someone's GShock for when they're working out or at the beach, but it's not replacing anything else.
 
Many people laughed when Apple was rumored to be making a phone. I REALLY doubt Motorola and Nokia were worried in the least.. and we all know how that turned out.

jobs_hype.gif
 
technopimp said:
No, it's not.

Sorry, but I'm not ditching my high-end Swiss timepieces for this. It may replace someone's GShock for when they're working out or at the beach, but it's not replacing anything else.
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LOL. So you're definitely not ditching your Swiss watches for this product which you have zero information on, not even a little. Make some more definitive statements about a totally unknown product, please!

----------
Liquorpuki said:
Can't wait til the reveal.

Either Ive is smarter than everyone else or he's lost it
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Uhh. No, he just knows what you don't - eg he knows what he's been working on.
 
fortysomegeek said:
A CPU processor is mostly designed by robotics, computer assist. That type of engineering is totally different than watch; mechanical engineering that requires high level of precision tolerance with hundreds of moving parts that is built to last decades, centuries of use. A 60 year old watch with 600 parts can be accurate to 0.5 seconds a day after 6 decades of day to day use. Something that beats 18-36,000 bphs,rotate 60 full seconds; 8,6400 seconds a day.

Imagine a sports car running 7,000 rpms non-stop; never taking a break or rest-stop; driving on roads for 24x7x365 days a year for 60 years. Imagine the mileage and wear and tear on that car. Will it be running in optimal state? I don't think it would be as mechanically crafted as a watch.
Then imagine making 800,000 of those a year to that type of spec.

That is a marvel in engineering. The Swiss are not sitting idly. Swatch just released the SISTEM51 watch movement in a $150 watch. It has 51 parts vs 400/600 on 5 plates held by one screw. It has a 90 hour power reserve vs 40. It can go un-service for 30 years versus 3 years. This on a $150 SWATCH. That require a level of re-thinking. It is utterly simplistic in design and you have to simply marvel of that kind of engineering to get to that point.
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Wow... :eek:
 
Not a chance. High end watches are an investment; many such as Rolex hold their value or in some instances limited editions can appreciate. An electronic device that will most likely have yearly updates won't hold its value. Well crafted time pieces such as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Rolex, Breitling, Patek Phillipe, etc are investment jewelry timepieces from Switzerland that sell based on reputation, status, quality, fashion, etc. Unless Rolex or another high end watch maker joined Apple to produce a $8k+ model line, not many I know would replace their time piece with another gadget - basically it's apple and oranges. Sure it'll sell well, it's an Apple product, but I suppose in my circle and age range I can't see myself wearing a rebranded Casio.

If this "watch" is more akin to a band a la "UP24", Nike and FitBit, I could see people wearing it on their other wrist. If it's a full on watch, it has to blow people away with a lot of useful features and not just another ho-hum gadget. It won't replace my '13 Rolex GMT Master II Black and Blue bezel, nor my "Coke" Red and Black edition from the mid-90's, nor any of my time pieces.
 
He said in ⬇️deep⬇️ ########.

No need to cover **** up and use the word "trouble". Just say it. The macrumors head line should read
"Jony Ive on iWatch: Switzerland is in deep ****"
Think about how many more people would click on it lol.
 
iwayne said:
If Johnny Ive thinks that people buy high end watches aka
"Switzerland" are going to stop buying Rolexes, Breitlings or even Tag-Heuer for a iWatch then he's in trouble. People don't buy those watches for function. I think Apple may be clueless on this one. How many women wear smart-watches?
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How many women used MP3 players before the iPod?

Just pointing out how silly your comparison is.

But I do agree with you and I'm also not expecting Apple to cut into the over $5,000 watch market in a meaningful way. But I don't think that is what Ivy meant literally. I think he was saying that Apple is going to make a very compelling watch.
 
cdmoore74 said:
Rolex is operating out of Switzerland so we are positively screwed price wise. Would have felt better if he said Casio and Rolex are screwed.
And what's stopping Rolex (and others) from making a Android Wear smartwatch? Apple best "watch" its step!
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mozumder said:
People that buy $10,000-$50,000 watches aren't going to not buy them because of Apple.

There was an interview with one of the luxury watch vendors CEO back when the first digital watches came out in the 70's. The interviewer asked about the threatening competition from digital watches, and the CEO gave back the answer "We're not in the watch business. We're in the Jewelry business."

The Swiss watchmakers have nothing to worry about.
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There was an article in the WSJ a week or so ago about how the Swatch Group is basically scared about the iWatch to the point they are going to introduce watches w/ "smart" functionality next year. They will not be tethered to a specific OS, but will have BT to sync with apps and traditional computers.

While I'm sure Ive's was speaking with a great deal of hyperbole, many swiss watchmaker companies consist of many lines from upper crust to low end -- remember a $60 Swatch watch is a swiss watch too. Apple will put pressure on the lower end, not the very high end. But that could be enough to pinch the Swiss watch companies because they sell a lot more sub $500 watches than +$5000 watches. The reason they bought up the lower end makers was because they couldn't exist on high end product alone.
 
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I think if Ive really said this, the iWatch is gonna be one bad a$$ device. And I don't think he meant it literally. I think he just meant iWatch is one bad a$$ device. I have a feeling that what we envision the iWatch to be is nothing like it's gonna be. Hopefully we'll all find out in a few more days.
 
dukebound85 said:
kinda different markets

traditional watches are jewelry that can be handed down generations.

Any watch apple makes will be obsolete after the next revision, or within a couple years.
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Yeah, that's what I thought. The first iWatch will probably lose update support after 4 years.
 
gyang333 said:
For those trying to make connections to other pieces of technology (home phones, cameras) that have been made obsolete or redundant by newer technology, there's one major flaw to your arguments. Swiss watch companies have long re-branded as a status symbol or timepiece that lasts multiple generations. They have shed the title of "technology". An iWatch that needs to be replaced every few years will not replace timepieces that are sold on the premise of being passed down generations.

The only brands I can see affected by this potentially are Citizen, lower end Seiko (sub $1000), Victorinox, Tissot (potentially), boutique diver brands that sell in the range of $300-$1000 like Helson, MKII, Christopher Ward, etc but even the boutique brands might not be affected as they're so cult-based I think they'll be okay.

Oh I think designer brands like Fossil, Michael Kors, Guess, Kenneth Cole, Diesel, G-Shock, etc are screwed if the iWatch is designed and looks good enough.
Click to expand...

This is the savviest post in this thread so far.
 
Haynzee said:
Surely though there are two types of watch buyers? The practical ones who will love the iWatch but then theres the "showey" types who use a watch like wearing a necklace. Apple may make a high class iWatch but then people who buy these "showey" watches surely don't want a watch everyone else has?

I think High end watch companies are safe, its the middle range ones who are "in trouble".
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Considering how horrible most smart watches are, if they just looks good enough to be compared to top end watches, that would be a revolution in itself.

Maybe that means they ARE fashion items. Wearable will have to be. You think everybody will just start wearing the same crap, especially if they are ugly, like people all have phones that sort of look similar, not a chance.
 
The sickening arrogance that has diseased Apple, as explained by 9to5Mac's article "Seeing Through the Illusion: Understanding Apple’s Mastery of the Media", has really got me thinking. Month by month I am getting to be more and more embarrassed to an owner and promoter of all things Apple.

That is not to say that I don't like using Macs even my Windows 8 installations run on Macs. Two MacBook Pros, three minis, a Mac Pro, three iPhones and three Time Capsules since 2008 is not a bad run.

Apple seems to be less interested than the products I'm interested in like the mini, ACD, pro apps and upgradeable computers. At the same time they are spending a tonne of money on ghetto headphones, hiring filthy-mouthed rappers and have moved operating systems into a yearly fashion show mode.

I am only one consumer and I speak only for myself. I have just about had enough of the Tim and Jony Show. The magic is just about gone.
 
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