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How Apple Watch Is Really a Regression In Watchmaking

Posted by timothy on from the maybe-they-could-merge-with-timex dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes Apple design chief Jony Ive has spent the past several weeks talking up how the Apple Watch is an evolution on many of the principles that guided the evolution of timepieces over the past several hundred years. But the need to recharge the device on a nightly basis, now confirmed by Apple CEO Tim Cook, is a throwback to ye olden days, when a lady or gentleman needed to keep winding her or his pocket-watch in order to keep it running. Watch batteries were supposed to bring "winding" to a decisive end, except for that subset of people who insist on carrying around a mechanical timepiece. But with Apple Watch's requirement that the user constantly monitor its energy, what's old is new again. Will millions of people really want to charge and fuss with their watch at least once a day?

7 of 415 comments (clear)

  1. How big a fuss is it, really? by daemonhunter · · Score: 5, Informative

    I take my watch off at the end of the day. I put it on in the morning. How big a difference is it to set it "on a charger on my nightstand", instead of just "on my nightstand?"

    Much ado about nothing.

    1. Re:How big a fuss is it, really? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Informative

      Take it off and give the strap a sniff. Turns out, you do need to take it off from time to time.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  2. Do you charge your phone every day? by mveloso · · Score: 5, Informative

    Back in the day, you didn't need to charge your phone every day. Now you do. Big deal?

  3. Don't wear a watch... by itzly · · Score: 3, Informative

    Wearing a watch in itself is already "is a throwback to ye olden days". I haven't worn a watch in decades, and I see a lot of people without them. When I need to see the time, I can glance at the corner of the computer screen, or check my phone.

  4. Re:Bleh by OzPeter · · Score: 4, Informative

    This "article" could have just been jammed in the summary

    Nerval = Dicevertisment

    That says it all.

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  5. Re:Bleh by Anrego · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wow, I assumed you meant like he suspiciously makes a lot of dice related posts, but it's not even subtle.

    Identified as "works for slashdot" and entire history seems to be nothing but dice.com posts. It's like this guys job is literally to post dice shit to slashdot all day.

  6. Confirms that Apple's strategy is correct by Coward+Anonymous · · Score: 3, Informative

    Mechanical watches were so ridiculously convenient and useful that people would gladly wind their watches once a day. Similarly, if the Apple Watch proves convenient and useful, people will gladly charge it once a day.

    Of course, the most myopic aspect of these articles is the unwritten presumption that today's state of the art will never improve. Yes, Apple Watch will need to be charged once a day for the next couple of years, but charge times are going to improve tremendously as Moore's Law continues to plug along. The Apple Watch will improve in a way analogous to the way mechanical and later quartz watches improved far beyond the limitations of the original pocket watches and wristwatches.