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Nilay Patel on CNBC talking about the Apple Watch

cardfan said:
I think what's funny was that it seemed like an episode of Big Bang Theory. Nilay came off looking like one of the over excited nerds. These are the wrong people for Apple to get for this product. It was like watching a geek argue how bad the recent star trek movies were because of nerd crap when normal people loved them.

It's supposedly fashion yet you got unfashionable reviewers initially? These aren't the people who will lead a fashion trend.

If the nerd isn't excited, then how does this leave a good impression? The normal CNBC folks looked more excited.
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Exactly. Calling Katie Cotton...
 
KenAFSPC said:
Every review I read outside of The Verge read to me like the reviewer was either paid by Apple and/or fearful that they would lose the opportunity to review future Apple products. These reviews read something like "X isn't perfect and could be better, but, but, Y and Z are awesome." Every criticism was downplayed and/or was immediately followed with a series of positive comments.

Many years ago, I wrote reviews for computer magazines, and we were always instructed to do exactly this to avoid upsetting advertisers.
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And I got the feeling The Verge review was all about The Verge and getting clicks. You don't need 31 people to review this Watch. But I think that site has been going downhill for a long time. It's more buzzfeed/gizmodo than tech these days. But I guess that's what Vox and Patel want.
 
cdm283813 said:
I give Nilay Patel credit for not kissing Apple's butt over a product that obviously needs work.
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But every product obviously needs work, no product by anybody is ever released in a state of perfection. Most products never reach that state.

And you're right, tech journalists should point out flaws. However, their overarching duty is to advise their subscribers on whether a brand new product is worth a look or not. That is because many people outsource their choices to opinion providers they trust. Very few people will do their own in-depth research, for reasons as mundane as lack of time, lack of access to sources, etc.

A lot of people watching Nilay's TV appearance were probably hoping for an answer to "should I buy an Apple Watch or not?". Nilay did nothing to answer that question – or even to back up his written assertion that the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch yet (or words to that effect) – instead he left viewers confused and worried.

I think it's irresponsible to believe that Apple can produce hit after hit especially one in a Tim Cook era. It was bound to happen. Just look at Windows Vista and Windows 8. It just happens. Everybody that rises to the top eventually fall.
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Are you serious? I reckon you need to look for an opportunity to fondle that friggin' thing for yourself. Do you really think that this is the post-Jobs flop the world was supposedly bracing itself for? I did not walk away with that impression.

Apple just has to listen to the criticism and react quickly to make product better. It will be dangerous for them to believe that this watch is perfect.
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Absolutely. I would encourage you to give them hell over every serious (or not so serious) issue you encounter, but I doubt forums.macworld.com is the best channel for that.
 
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Sheza said:
And I thought The Verge offered a dumbed-down approach to technology reporting. When I think Verge I think hipsters with beards that talk about how bright the screen is and how they can definitely feel the difference in weight between the new and old models, wooooow.

And then this show? To be fair, the anchors don't seem to know jack about technology anyway so I can forgive them for making endless misstatements about the hardware but wow oh wow do they have to dumb down technology to their viewers. Unbelievable. It makes Verge look nerdy.
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Yeah, but the very fact that most of the audience can relate to these anchors that are excited about the watch will equal money in the bank for Apple. Apple already know they can sell the watch to a high percentage of loyal Apple fans who are into tech. It's the people who buy Apple because they think it's cool that they need to win over to break sales records.

And, judging from the anchors on this show and their reactions, I think Apple is going to be successful with this watch.

The crowds of people huddled around the watch cases at the Apple Store were huge yesterday. People of all ages.
 
Ugh another tech journalist that doesn't know how to play the media game. He has a valid opinion that he doesn't know how to express it properly.
 
matrix07 said:
So he now admit that his site review is **** and inconsistent?
Didn't many here proclaim that The Verge review is always good and balanced we should listen to this guy? Sound to me like Mr. Patel himself didn't get memo from our forum members.
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A review is still the personated opinion of the reviewer. I doubt that any score would be unanimous.

But yeah - the verge has gone down the drain pretty significantly lately.

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By the way - can someone explain the knob joke to me? English isnt my main language . Is it something sexual?
 
cdm283813 said:
If you unexpectedly fall asleep with the watch on, spend the night at someones house without the cable or you forget to charge your basically screwed. Sure you can bring along the usb charging cable in your mad rush out the door but the watch takes hours to charge up basically leaving you without a watch for half the day. Apple hasn't figured out fast charging yet.
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You're not 'screwed' - the watch will show the time for a few more days, so you lose the 'smart' functionality and you get the same functionality as every other watch.

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People need to stop bashing one guy because his opinion (that happens to be based on a week of real-world usage) differs to theirs (which is based on what Apple have told them).

Really, if someone disagrees with you, why do you care?
 
KenAFSPC said:
Every review I read outside of The Verge read to me like the reviewer was either paid by Apple and/or fearful that they would lose the opportunity to review future Apple products. These reviews read something like "X isn't perfect and could be better, but, but, Y and Z are awesome." Every criticism was downplayed and/or was immediately followed with a series of positive comments.

Many years ago, I wrote reviews for computer magazines, and we were always instructed to do exactly this to avoid upsetting advertisers.
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I guess you didn't read the WSJ, NYT, Yahoo and recode then. None of them sounded like that.
 
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KPOM said:
Perhaps since this is such a nascent category the scores should be re-calibrated. Tech sites have done this in the past. Maybe 7 is appropriate for the Apple Watch, but then 8.1 is no longer appropriate for the Moto 360 since every reviewer who has compared them has said the Apple Watch is better.
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Before asking for re-calibration, I would like to try a retail version of the watch. I want to see the extent of this lag, or slowness mentioned. For me lag, or waiting for a device to respond in 2015 is not acceptable.

From my experience in with moto360 and apple demo watches, the apple watch is much better design wise, the software and the apps I used, not so. Both reminded me why wearables are limited, both suffer from the same issues.

Come the 24th I will compare my apple watch with and iphone 6 Plus against the moto360 and Note 4. Look, for me, be it a 7 or an 8 who cares, same same. Just based on the wearable experience I don't believe any of them are over 7 anyway, so lets just say the apple watch and moto360 are the same, the concerning part for me of the apple watch is the lag, I am worried about this in the retail. lets see
 
MH01 said:
Before asking for re-calibration, I would like to try a retail version of the watch. I want to see the extent of this lag, or slowness mentioned. For me lag, or waiting for a device to respond in 2015 is not acceptable.
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Fair enough. I spent most of my try-on appointment focused on aesthetics and how easy it is to put the watch on and take it off. Actually here, the Sport band may be a negative for Apple. It feels decent enough, but putting it on takes some getting used to. The first step in getting it used will be putting it on. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the first improvements is releasing more "traditional" straps that are easier to put on.

If I have time this week I'll stop by the display and look at a "working" unit connected to the iPad.
 
bunnicula said:
Yeah, but the very fact that most of the audience can relate to these anchors that are excited about the watch will equal money in the bank for Apple. Apple already know they can sell the watch to a high percentage of loyal Apple fans who are into tech. It's the people who buy Apple because they think it's cool that they need to win over to break sales records.

And, judging from the anchors on this show and their reactions, I think Apple is going to be successful with this watch.

The crowds of people huddled around the watch cases at the Apple Store were huge yesterday. People of all ages.
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True, though I always find that the average consumer likes to think they know better, and usually slates Apple for being overpriced, and they often sing praise of Android (again thinking they know better).
 
KPOM said:
Fair enough. I spent most of my try-on appointment focused on aesthetics and how easy it is to put the watch on and take it off. Actually here, the Sport band may be a negative for Apple. It feels decent enough, but putting it on takes some getting used to. The first step in getting it used will be putting it on. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the first improvements is releasing more "traditional" straps that are easier to put on.

If I have time this week I'll stop by the display and look at a "working" unit connected to the iPad.
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I see a lot of people trying to tuck the loose end in the other side first. This makes things much harder than it needs to be.

It's so much easier to get the pin in the hole first then tuck remaining band in to the other side.
 
KPOM said:
Fair enough. I spent most of my try-on appointment focused on aesthetics and how easy it is to put the watch on and take it off. Actually here, the Sport band may be a negative for Apple. It feels decent enough, but putting it on takes some getting used to. The first step in getting it used will be putting it on. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the first improvements is releasing more "traditional" straps that are easier to put on.

If I have time this week I'll stop by the display and look at a "working" unit connected to the iPad.
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Aesthetics for a smart watch , 9/10 :)
 
Sheza said:
True, though I always find that the average consumer likes to think they know better, and usually slates Apple for being overpriced, and they often sing praise of Android (again thinking they know better).
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Yes, but I'm speaking of consumers who already use iPhones.
 
Blakjack said:
He was being to critical of the watch and the news anchors were just letting him know it, that's all. The average person (non tech) people really care that you have to charge it every night. The only people who complain about that are people on Maceumors, and tech bloggers.

People aren't going to really care that the watch doesn't look good to fashion people.

They aren't going to care that the watch doesn't have native GPS or that it can't tell you your blood glucose level.

It's new, it's apple, and it's shiny.

Technology has never been about whether or not people actually need it. It's always been about whether or not we want it.

The verge guy, I know he gets paid to be critical, but that's what happens when you list a bunch of negatives the average person doesn't care about
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Why invite and ask a tech expert to give his opinion on a gadget only to disagree and act like you don't care? He knows more than you. It's his profession.

"Technology has never been about whether or not people actually need it. It's always been about whether or not we want it."

lol omg how ignorant can you be?

Technology and invention has always been about solving a problem or fulfilling a need. remember the saying..."necessity is the mother of invention".

Some people in this thread like the anchors on the show let their personal feelings get in the way of listening to Patel objectively. It's the reason I stopped watching CNBC and watch Bloomberg for my financial news.
 
MH01 said:
the concerning part for me of the apple watch is the lag, I am worried about this in the retail. lets see
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This is the Verge's big win here - somehow people believe that the Apple Watch is laggy.

The Apple Watch OS is fluid and there is no lag. The only lag you will get is when using 3rd party apps, and this is because of Apple's decision to handle all the 3rd party app processing on the iPhone, and the iPhone tells the watch what to do over bluetooth. It has nothing to do with the speed of the Watch OS processor, it really has to do with Apple's initial concern over developers writing apps which drain the Watch's battery.

So place your 'concern' over the battery, not the processor or GUI.
 
tresmith said:
Why invite and ask a tech expert to give his opinion on a gadget only to disagree and act like you don't care? He knows more than you. It's his profession.
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The tech expert who couldn't figure out how to turn off notifications?
 
Cringeworthy. He's too lazy to spend 30 seconds to dock/charge the watch each night, and more obvious is that he's too lazy to put together a coherent argument or opinion.
 
I really hate this guys personality. I don't think about should have gave him a watch. I prefer Apple to give the watch to someone I can stand to listen too.

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Wishbrah said:
Cringeworthy. He's too lazy to spend 30 seconds to dock/charge the watch each night, and more obvious is that he's too lazy to put together a coherent argument or opinion.
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"The upkeep and charging."
I think it's hilarious. As well as he said "Its another USB."

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tresmith said:
Why invite and ask a tech expert to give his opinion on a gadget only to disagree and act like you don't care? He knows more than you. It's his profession.
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Is it his profession? Yes.
Is he a tech expert like his title says? "HELL ****ING NO!
 
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