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Apple's "Spring Forward" Event Debuts Apple Watch and More
samzenpus (5) writes There was a lot of news at Apple's Spring Forward keynote today. Here's a list of some of the most eye-catching announcements.
- HBO Now standalone streaming service coming to Apple TV and iOS apps in early April for $14.99 a month.
- Lowered price of Apple TV to $69.
- Apple Pay accepted at up to 100,000 Coca-Cola machines by the end of the year.
- ResearchKit Announced: Is open source and allows medical researchers to create apps, and use the iPhone as a diagnostic tool.
- New MacBook: Lightest ever at 2 pounds, 13.1mm at its thickest point. 2304x1440 display, consumes 30% less energy. Fanless, powered with Intel's Core M processor. 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0. and 9 hours of web browsing battery life. Supports many protocols through one connector USB-C. Ships April 10, starting at $1,299.
- iOS 8.2 is available today
- Apple Watch: Accurate within 50ms of UTC. Read and delete email, built-in speaker and mic so you can receive calls. It tracks your movement and exercise. Use Apple Pay, play your music, use Siri and get any notification you get on iPhone today. 18 hour battery life in a typical day. Sport model starting at $349, stainless steel price: $549-$1049 for 38mm, 42mm is $599-$1099, and gold edition starting at $10k. Pre-orders begin April 10th, available April 24th.
First bitches
It tracks your movement
Obviously privacy advocates will never make headway with Apple fans. This is a selling point to them.
Sounds like a perfect match.
more seriously, I'm shocked at how low the price is on the stainless steel watch is. 549/599? I was expecting near 1k.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
So here I am sitting in line at a California DMV office. Jesus Christ, it's like every illegal alien in the state decided to show up today. And the communists in Sacramento who want every drop out burger flipper to make $30 an hour so they can buy their illegitimate children new Xbox games. FUCK all the welfare leeches, gang bangers, druggies, drop outs, communists, and other riff raff human shit piles in this fucking welfare state.
And fuck 'restorative justice'. Criminals should fucking rot in jail.
Sorry, we're not all equal. Thats just liberal bull shit.
And that is good. Life is good. Yours is, too. If you have Apple. Now, WHAT TIME IS IT? I can't HEAR YOU! WHAT TIME IS IT?
10k for a watch? Bwanahahahahahahahahahahaha
While the iWatch might do well in China and Asia (especially the gold version), watches are an old person's deal here in North America.
Meh.
Wake me up when the iPhone 7 comes out.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
It tracks your movement
Of course it does, and they aren't just counting calories.
You'd hope you could at least melt that case down once the Apple Watch 3 comes out, but the ceramic material that's mixed in might even make that hard.
What is up with that new laptop? It has like almost no ports! I have a rMBP and even with the two USB ports and the two Thunderbold ports I still need to use a USB hub so I can plug in all of the devices I need to use with my rMBP! Booooo! BOOOOOO! We need more ports, not less!
Can get similar specs in a laptop for around $800.
The Apple marketing machine is a marvel.
How much production cost difference is there between aluminum, stainless and 18K gold?
Apple thinks their customers are stupid. They are right.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
This advertisement brought to you by Dice.com
HBO Now standalone streaming service coming to Apple TV and iOS apps in early April for $14.99 a month.
not really an innovation but, okay. There was nothing stopping this from happening before, why did it need an event?
Lowered price of Apple TV to $69.
Okay, market competition is good. this too would have happened inevitably and regardless of any innovation, unless youre an accountant on the apple campus that happens to be particularly proud of their excel pivot tables related to this.
Apple Pay accepted at up to 100,000 Coca-Cola machines by the end of the year.
Ah so the great war to control the pocketbook rages on I see. Considering soda sales have been in sharp and inexplicable decline since 2013, im not sure what this does for apple...but kudos to the innovators at Coca Cola for implementing the Apple pay api!
ResearchKit Announced: Is open source and allows medical researchers to create apps, and use the iPhone as a diagnostic tool.
Cool, but the apps store is still a draconian gulag. expect a dearth of crisis pregnancy apps to get written and a bunch of Abortion assistance apps to get flagged and removed as part of our nations proud tradition of culture warfare. And how do we handle HIPAA here?
New MacBook: Lightest ever at 2 pounds, 13.1mm at its thickest point. 2304x1440 display, consumes 30% less energy. Fanless, powered with Intel's Core M processor. 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0. and 9 hours of web browsing battery life. Supports many protocols through one connector USB-C. Ships April 10, starting at $1,299.
Small laptop gets smaller, faster, better, and more expensive despite industry-standard hardware used and widely available at lower cost but without the little white light up apple.
iOS 8.2 is available today
iOS=iOS++....I'd be concerned if the OS werent periodically patched and updated but to the apple engineers making this OS possible, good on ya!
Apple Watch: Accurate within 50ms of UTC. Read and delete email, built-in speaker and mic so you can receive calls. It tracks your movement and exercise. Use Apple Pay, play your music, use Siri and get any notification you get on iPhone today. 18 hour battery life in a typical day. Sport model starting at $349, stainless steel price: $549-$1049 for 38mm, 42mm is $599-$1099, and gold edition starting at $10k. Pre-orders begin April 10th, available April 24th.
Our phones do all of this, are in ubiquitous use, wont stop working if we carelessly wash our hands, and havent cost this much for nearly a decade. And the real kick in the ass is that apple will immediately slash prices 80% once an android competitor comes out and hangs around in this artificial market long enough until people realize singing talking wrist watches are about as practical as google glass.
Good people go to bed earlier.
I'm not stupid. I buy Apple products because I'm cool, and Apple products are cool.
I think you're stupid.
http://www.amazon.com/s/keywor...
Pandering to the Chinks and Gooks
Sounds like a perfect match.
more seriously, I'm shocked at how low the price is on the stainless steel watch is. 549/599? I was expecting near 1k.
Sadly I was expecting a lower price for this. When the accessory costs far more than the primary device it supports, the pricing model is rather broken regardless of features.
People also need to realize that in less than three years, they'll likely be replacing that $600 watch due to battery death or software/hardware attrition. By comparison, someone who spends $600 on a traditional timepiece expects to pass that down through generations.
$10,000 may seem like a lot compared to what you normally pay for products, (my car comes to mine), but in the watch world, it's not that far off base for a high-end watch.... if anything it's cheaper. Take a look... http://www.thewatchgallery.com...
Stand on you own head for a change! --TMBG
More iShiney for hipster fags.
The watch looks like Apple Obese Edition to me, http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/09/apple-watch-battery-life/
Too thick.
Call me when there is a watch that is half that thickness and multiple days of battery life and costs less than a decent off contract phone like the Moto X since it has less functionality than a phone.
The one thing I found concerning about the new MacBook is that it does away with Thunderbolt. So will there ever be a 5K supporting Thunderbolt connector, or will this be handled by USB-C? And will the charger for the new MacBook have ports on it? Like a mini-display port, USB, or even Ethernet?
Stainless steel is more expensive than aluminium and uses a sapphire front.
That's easily within reason to say 200 bucks for a fashion item.
Plus the higher end bands have these precision machined steel bands that are hand polished.
If you look at high end fashion watches, 1k for a high end steel watch is nothing, much less watch bands.
From Breitling:
Example for watches
example for bands.
From TAG Heuer:
Watches.
Everyone wants to scream at Apple for being a fashion brand, but the truth is is that if they were, they'd be Vertu. All gold and sapphire buttons with no real substance running some bland OS with crappy software on top.
Apple's a *fashionable* brand, and the key difference here is that a lot of people want them because they're nice products that are nice to use and look and feel nice. It's approaching consumerism from the other side where you're wanted not because you're exclusive or anything insane or insidious like that, but because you do what you do very well.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Why does Slashdot even bother posting Apple news? The comments simply fill up with Apple bashing, and major amounts of vitriol.
" If it's not Android, Linux or Open Source, it's crap. "
I just bought a new Macbook pro and Apple TV two weeks ago. Yes, I know they're always coming out with new products, but I didn't expect the Macbook to be so much different, for less money, and I didn't expect the Apple TV price drop of 30%.
Proverbs 21:19
This is so not-cool. I can't imagine people actually wearing these things!!
And you still need to have an iPhone on your person in order for it to work. So the watch battery lasts all day, but your iPhone doesn't.....Hmmmmm. Good luck with that.
And let's not forget when your battery dies in 2 or 3 years in that expensive phone - that will be funny. I think I replace (not recharge) my watch battery about once every two years. And I don't need to have a phone in my pocket in order for my watch to work.
Lame.
What sort of naming convention is this?
Should I get a watch edition watch, or just a watch watch edition watch, or a watch sport with the addition of a blue band, or a watch edition with a blue watch band, or a gold watch edition watch or just a watch watch?
does it work without an iphone?
what does it do that an iPhone does not or cannot?
will it be subsidized by ATT and Verizon like iPhones are?
who still wears watches? will they switch if they do? will they start now if they dont?
Apple is not a Rolex or Tag Heuer. Get that retarded concept right out of your head. Not anywhere near the same class of product.
If you want to equate it to a watch, think Timex.
Fancy watches are jewelry. Jewelry doesn't become obsolete in 2 years.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Except Apple is not a watch brand, so they cannot expect to be able to charge what Rolex or Breitling can. Plus who wants a watch that has to be charged twice a day?
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
And now Apple will learn that they are not Rolex.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
It has 1 port, which means if your charging it your not using any other peripheral. (yes you charge it through the USB-c port).
Powered
Hub
>> 18 hour battery life in a typical day
Anyone else think this makes the watch useless for its target audience? I've had a lot of days that started by leaving the house at 4:30, flying to another city, working and meeting all day, going to dinner, and going out for drinks and ending up back at a hotel at 1-2am...in another time zone. With only 18 hours of time, my freshly-charged watch could be dead at 8-9pm (before we hit the bar).
The kind of timepieces that can be reliably passed down through generations rarely cost $600.
How many of your previous predictions of Apple products failing came true? ... yes, I thought so.
Apple is not a Rolex or Tag Heuer. ...you want to equate it to a watch, think Timex.
You're correct, it's not a Rolex nor Tag Heuer, but it's not a Timex either. It's something entirely different, much like the iPhone when it came out was something entirely different, but happened to have similarities and all the function of other phones. In this case it functions like a watch, but anyone that buys it as a watch is an idiot. That's like buying a car to use as a wheelbarrow. Sure, it can haul stuff, but it can do so much more.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
They lost me at 18 hour battery life.
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
... That is an advertised 18 hour battery life on day one with a brand new device. That means you'll probably be lucky to get 12 hours a day in a year or two, since rechargeable batteries tend to age poorly. By comparison, the upcoming Pebble Time advertised a week of battery life for the base model, and ten days for the Steel version.
They've given themselves a guaranteed six months with no DST issues.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
By the event or the comments today. Some interesting news, but nothing too earth shattering.
And the comments seem to break down to one or the either:
1. Apple is dumb, watches are dumb, I have a phone.
2. High end watches (fashion or otherwise) cost money, so the Apple Watches are in the right ballpark.
I stopped wearing a watch a long while back, but have thought about getting a more fashionable watch, to act more like a piece of jewelry. I like Apple and my iPhone, but I don't really see myself choosing to buy this instead of a nice fashion watch instead.
I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
Apple really is queen of the 9s. Do any of its prices not have a 9 in it?
It's hard to have respect for a company that doesn't respect your intelligence through ubiquitous use of a dumb pricing trick.
the little white light .
Explains why systemd has been become what is has. It has been searching all this time for that little white light to let everyone know init is complete.
Except on neither the Rolex, Tag Heuer, or Timex can I check my email or use maps to figure out where I am. There's a slab of electronics behind the glass that you don't find in either of them. I'm willing to bet the next few generations of Apple watch will have the same mounting points for the bands so all you have to do is just buy another 250/350 dollar robotic core and resync to your phone when it's time to upgrade.
I'm also not expecting to see a yearly upgrade cycle with this thing either, given that it's battery constrained. Unless a process shrink or some new design technique greatly improves CPU performance while offering the same or better battery life
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I need to stash that comment someplace for the future. You know, the "Less space than a Nomad. Lame." future.
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
TAG and Breitling have been making quality high end timepieces for a very long time. Apple can't just start out charging that kind of high end pricing with their first watch.
More to the point, TAG and Breitling don't charge the prices they do because their watches are stainless steel with sapphire. They charge their prices because of the overall design and fit and finish of their watches.
My $20 Timex digital went ten years before a battery change.
Of course, it's not actually worth anything with regards to inheritance or anything.
Will the sun eat the earth because Apple defied what you perceive to be fair pricing?
Because I really think you're underestimating market demand for these things.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
FROM JOHN DELOREAN.
>Apple Pay accepted at up to 100,000 Coke machines by the end of the year.
Need Mercedes parts ?
"Plus who wants a watch that has to be charged twice a day?"
I remember people saying that about cell phones.
Except Apple is not a watch brand, so they cannot expect to be able to charge what Rolex or Breitling can.
They're not. Rolex and Breitling's top end price is far more than Apple's top end.
Plus who wants a watch that has to be charged twice a day?
No one. And Apple Watch doesn't. Troll.
aluminum, stainless and 18K gold?
6061 Aluminim Billet 1" Diameter Rod 1' long Unpolished $9.10
316 Stainless Steel Billet 1" Diameter Rod 1' long Unpolished $23.68
That's a cost increase in just the raw material alone. Now have you ever tried to machine Stainless Steel? It's a very hard allow. By contrast aluminum cuts likes a hot knife through butter. So when are machining Stainless you are more likely to break your tooling. You need to factor that cost into the final price as well. You can try this your self. Get a chunk of aluminum, stainless steel and a hack saw and see how long it takes you cut one compared to the other.
Probably more accurate to say "The kind of timepieces that are reliably passed down through generations rarely cost $600."
Something like the Tissot Le Locle (~$600) should last a long, long time with care. In 10 years any old smartwatch from 2015 will be next to useless/worthless. That's not to say they won't be useful now, just like a phone; but it's not an heirloom.
At least south of the equator.
. Latest Mac Pro has zero internal expansion, rats-nest generator
. No expandable Mid-tower (crickets)
. iPhone batteries can't be replaced or upgraded
. Mini remains non-upgradable for memory
. OSX hosts / LAN broken, can't reference sites on your own LAN
. iOS still can't truly multitask
. PPC emulation gone, all that software is now money -> trash
. Development remains "walled garden"
. Prices... well, judge for yourself.
The single biggest thing to come out of this was the announcement of ResearchKit. I don't think people fully appreciate just how...sparse and brittle medical research data can be, even today.
Even in situations where there do exist tracking devices, they tend to be clunky, cobbed-together, user-unfriendly things that are built using generations-old, heavily-used devices--generally by dint of the fact that researchers have so little money to spend on this sort of thing.
Having an open-source platform that'll open the data floodgates? THAT is going to have some real and lasting consequences for medical research.
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Number of ports isn't the new MacBook's purpose. Thinness and lightness is. And more ports would have prevented that.
Bullshit, shill. They could have easily had more ports without sacrificing either.
Look at the video of the internals, they specially sculpt batteries that occupy all the volume of the case beyond the trackpad and logic board. More connectors would mean less battery.
Also, more ports are an adapter away for those rare individuals who need them.
And the GP is correct, people who need such things are probably more interested in the MacBook Pro. I'm in that camp.
I was underwhelmed by the watch. Frankly, I nearly coughed up a lung when they mentioned / confirmed the price of the gold model. A few will buy it simply because it's Apple. To me, it's not a something I'd drop the equivalent of a few months rent or mortgage on. The Sport model will sell quickly among the fans.
Battery life still sucks. Personally, one should not have to charge their phone once a day. A week should be the minimum between recharges.
Lastly, as a critique item, it's pretty hard to justify why one should pay almost as much for an accessory as the device it extends. The iPhones will be relegated to the back pocket just begging to be sat upon and requiring a new phone be purchased....Wait a minute....
Does the concept have promise? Perhaps. It will be initially be a success among the health AND selfie conscious. Some interesting and useful apps will be developed ( I can think of a few ). But, it will take about a year for people to decide if its worth having. That's when the general population decides it is or isn't useful. At that time, I may break down and buy one if it looks like the market for Apple Watch apps holds potential (financial) as anything other than a fad.
Did you read the words 'production cost'?
Do you have a point?
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Plus who wants a watch that has to be charged twice a day?
Once a day, it has an 18 hour charge.
:-)
Still even that is a concern. I don't want to carry a charger for evening when I'm not going home. Leave a 2nd charger at the girlfriend's, maybe that will be interpreted as a sign of commitment and make her happy.
You don't need to charge the Rolex, Tag Heuer or Timex every single fucking day either.
Fancy watches don't have li-ion batteries that lose their charge after 5 years either.
Indeed, we will see. I'm tempted to be the first to gold electroplate one and overcharge the fools.
I think a more likely high end outcome is real prestige jewelers make watch cases. That's assuming the watch doesn't flop completely.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Did you read the words 'production cost'?
Do you have a point?
Did you miss the
Now have you ever tried to machine Stainless Steel [wikipedia.org]? It's a very hard allow. By contrast aluminum cuts likes a hot knife through butter. So when are machining Stainless you are more likely to break your tooling. You need to factor that cost into the final price as well. You can try this your self. Get a chunk of aluminum, stainless steel and a hack saw and see how long it takes you cut one compared to the other.
or are you complete moron.
Breitling and Tag Heuer are not fashion watches. They are high end timepieces and built extremely well. Most of the Breitlings, and many of the Tags, have very complex and accurate automatic movements. For the non-watch crowd, automatic movements do not use batteries. Some of them have hundreds of moving parts and take great skill to assemble. That is part of the reason that they cost so much money. It takes a long time but design and build them and they tend to last a very long time. Some of them also have very good investment potential.
While the iWatch might do well in China and Asia (especially the gold version),
yes!
why? because people in China, Asia, and the Middle East (think rich Quataris) *absolutely love* our pointless opulent bullshit consumer products
Americans are, arguably, the most discriminating, least hype-driven of the wealthy classes of the world
watches are an old person's deal here in North America.
this is where I disagree
people would **love** a good reason to buy this thing
as it is, it doesn't do shit, needs a damn iPhone5 to work, and steals your privacy
American consumers need more before they fork over the cash
if they learn to design this around user function first (instead of stealing biometric data) then they'll engineer something Americans will love
Thank you Dave Raggett
Who wants a watch that only works with an iPhone? If you don't like the iPhone 7 will you really ditch your $1k smart watch just so you can switch to a better phone?
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
I still say it about cell phones. If a phone can't last several days it's a piece of fucking shit.
If you're machining stainless steel you don't have a problem machining stainless steel.
Fancy watches are fashion. Jewelry doesn't become obsolete in 2 years.
FTFY. Fashion doesn't even last a whole season, let alone a year or two.
Nobody will want your low-rent mass-produced $600 watch in a generation, let alone generations, even if it is an automatic movement.
The pass-it-down starting price is probably about 10x that.
Yeah, except that if I buy a Breitling, with a battery change and lack of abuse it will still work exactly as good in 30 years as it does today. Can we say the same about ANY "smart" watch?
The device is only useful until the software updates stop, and the devices it talks to continue to support it. Anyone who buys a $10k+ generation-1 Apple Watch is a god damn fool. And I say that as someone who usually enjoys Apple stuff.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Well, if it's an automatic watch, you either need to wear it, or keep it in a winding box...
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Well, there's always the option to just keep the phone you already have.
How does that not occur to people? If you like what you have, KEEP USING IT.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Welcome to the future.
I guess they must all be wrong.
MSFT executives can't be made to understand why this might be a bad idea.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
it used to be that your phone was mounted to your wall and never taken outside of the house unless you had a really really long cord.
Things change man. It'll be up to the market to decide who wants one. you clearly don't. I want one because there are things I don't want to fish into my pocket for, like changing what I'm listening to in my podcast player or checking maps.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
...which have 3-4 times the list price of the iWatch while being far less useful? I have no desire to own a gold iWatch or Rolex, even if I won the Powerball. I deal with this existential crisis by....not wanting one.
They've never before been successful at jumping into a new category and making hundreds of billions of dollars. You are right to bet against them.
They are, actually.
...is not enough.
While a single USB 3 port can drive a decent display, what if you wanted to hook up an external hard drive too?
I could buy the single-port excuse for Thunderbolt because it was basically an extension of the PCI-X bus and there were few devices... but we're talking USB 3. It's less than half the speed of Thunderbolt and has a gazillion more devices wanted to leech off of it
Just got to say that having an extension of your phone on your arm is a great move and goes waaay back (as a concept) ref: Dick Tracey. I'm still waiting for the full implementation of this as Dick's watch didn't need a phone (or charging).
Unfortunately it doesn't work as a standalone item which is a mistake. It should pair with all phones and OS as well.
So if I'm interested in this - I'll have to buy an iPhone. I really don't want to do that.
So congrats to Apple for V 1.0 - it's a step in the right direction.
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
What does a $200 heart rate monitor do that a dollar store watch, paper and pen wont do?
What does a smartphone do that a laptop tethered through a featured phone wont do?
Where does a car take you around town that a horse could not?
If you want to peek at a text message or a reminder during a meeting, would you rather look at your watch or awkwardly dig your phone out of your pocket? That alone will be worth the price for some.
Speaking of text messages, phone theft has dropped as kill switches have become commonplace. But if you're in a "bad" neighborhood at night, would you rather discretely check your watch for a text, or whip out your $700 smartphone?
If you live in Seattle and like to bike, would you like to be able to throw your phone into a plastic bag in a backpack in case it rains, yet still be able to answer a call?
That's what I could think of. I'm sure there's other people with better imaginations that could think of more ways a smartwatch paired with a smartphone will be more convenient than just the phone.
As much margin as jewelry, and yet will be churned like a phone!
I am very pleased to be a shareholder.
Still no SDK for the Apple TV? What a missed opportunity that is, and easily two years overdue. If it had apps that anyone could develop, it would be the ONLY STB device of its kind by now.
For a year or two, when the battery dies and it goes obsolete. good thing you paid $10k for it.
A high pixel density LCD screen and low-power CPU & graphics display takes at least as much technology to manufacture as precision gears.
Some people would rather buy what they fucking want. And if that means the difference between having a large screen phone and not having one, guess which option they'll chose?
Apple has had a replacement battery program since before the iPhone. What's stopping them from having a watch upgrade program? If you can afford to throw $10k at a watch, you can afford to spend a few hundred bucks to get your Gold iWatch 1.0 upgraded to the Gold iWatch 4S.
Keep the plated band, upgrade the computer. No big whoop.
And the Rolex, Tag Heuer or Timex wont fucking 'check your email or use maps to figure out where you are', Hateboi. Nor will they let you discretely check messages or notifications in meetings, nor take calls on a rainy bike rides while your smartphone stays safe in a watertight bag.
If you don't want an iWatch....don't fucking buy one. Zombie Jobs isn't holding a gun to your head.
Tim Cook announced Tuesday the release of Apple’s long-rumored watch, the latest in wearable technology. Here are some features of the new device:
13-megapixel camera enables users to take crystal-clear pictures of wrist
Allows wearers to start and stop the flow of time
Discreet, but not so discreet that anyone would mistake it for a regular watch
Comes in a variety of colors and styles to express your personal submission to the planet’s dominant tech company
Adjustable ticking volume
All the convenience of a traditional watch that needs to be charged every 12 hours
Built-in thinkpiece regarding the increased connectivity yet simultaneous isolation of the millennial generation
Small size and intricate circuitry able to drive twice as many Chinese workers to suicide as iPhone
Makes it easier for muggers to see whether or not you’re carrying an expensive electronic device
Another screen to throw into your current rotation of things you look at
To a new gadget. It's not a watch, glasses, tablet, laptop, tv,
It's actually new! and not improved!
I didn't catch the Apple announcement - but I wonder how the Apple Watch compares to the Pebble Time that's doing huge $$$ on Kickstarter right now?
From what I can see:
* Pebble is *way* cheaper.
* Pebble has a 7 day battery life (kinda beats 18 hours!)
* Pebble works with both iOS and Android, so if you ever want to change your phone, you won't have to change your watch.
* Pebble allows anyone to develop & ship apps without a fee.
* Both scheduled to ship about the same time.
I'm sure there is more to it than this than that...but why on earth would I buy the Apple watch?
www.sjbaker.org
Nothing like a private corporation harvesting people's medical records. God bless apple!
I can't spend that much, but it goes with my wife's white dress...
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Still $109. Still Stackry for me I guess.
See, this is a perfect demonstration of clueless, shortsighted ignorance or stupidity. I will illuminate:
Seven and earlier years ago, I purchased DVDs of some content I wished to enjoy, or to address a need, such as training or education, or a facet of my business. I spent the usual DVD prices, and I put the DVDs in my library, to be enjoyed when I so choose, and where they remain. This is what is known as a good investment, because in fact, I can still enjoy them. This is because the manufacturers of Bluray and so forth have seen to it that compatibility was, and remains, assured. In fact, a DVD played on modern gear tends to benefit further from advances made in the interim, such as scaling and the availability of digital video at the consumer level. 480p sound familiar? It should.
Compare: Seven and earlier years ago, I purchased various PPC software to enjoy or address a need, such as training or education or a facet of my business. I spent a great deal more than I did on the DVDs. Many times over. Can this software still be kept running on modern hardware? Yes, of course, and no. Technically, it's no problem. The PPC emulation Apple had purchased the rights to is still technically viable. And, like DVDs, that software now runs faster under emulation than it originally did (as of about 2008, referencing emulation running under 10.6.8 on a 8 core, 3 GHz machine) -- tech has been able to boost that investment's value. So where are we today? Apple, in it's "wisdom", in harmony with the mindless sycophancy of the clueless like yourself, decreed that because PPC software is "old", it is valueless. The thing is, the only reason it is "valueless" is because Apple made it valueless. But it indeed has become valueless. And that is Apple's fault, and it was entirely the wrong thing to do. Because I, as a person reasonably savvy about the value of money, am well aware I took a barbed arrow in the wallet from Apple. You, being ignorant, continue to remain unaware of exactly what happened.
What you, and Apple are telling us is that the hundreds or thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars we spent has suddenly dropped to zero value -- and you're doing so without either a compelling technical reason, or a compelling financial one. I get the message. The message is:
The Apple platform is unstable, undependable, and a poor place to invest time, money and energy in software. Many Apple users, such as yourself, are so stupid and/or ignorant they don't understand the value of their money, and so are doomed to spend it poorly. Apple has your number. They don't have mine.
Later, when you're not either living in your parents cellar and/or in the mindset you developed while there, you may come to understand that money invested in things that become utterly unusable is money very, very poorly invested. You will learn that those who turn your investments into $0 propositions are not your friends, and are not people / companies whom you should admire or continue to do business with. Because they are out to fuck you, and fuck you they have.
I hope I used small enough words for you.
Paraphrasing someone from /. past, Apple devices are like buying a ford Ford Focus, for the price of a BMW and you're convinced you've got a Ferrari.
Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
Who wants a watch that only works with an iPhone?
Duh, iPhone users :D
If you don't like the iPhone 7 will you really ditch your $1k smart watch just so you can switch to a better phone?
Just to interject politics where they don't belong, you're saying "If you like your iPhone, you can keep your iPhone?"
Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
I think the biggest difference between a Rolex and an iWatch is obsolescence. A 50 year old Rolex is still a nice watch. A one year old iWatch (when the new version comes out) is an ugly paperweight.
Plus who wants a watch that has to be charged twice a day?
No one. And Apple Watch doesn't. Troll.
But they said "18 hour battery life" so you charge it, then within the space of 24 hours you have to charge it again.
Fancy watches are jewelry. Jewelry doesn't become obsolete in 2 years.
Actually, those "fancy watches" (generally speaking, those which are mechanical and have no batteries) have been obsolete since the seventies. A cheap quartz watch keeps better time than the very best mechanical watches. That doesn't seem to stop people from dropping tens of thousands of dollars on long-obsolete mechanical watches.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
I own several mechanical watches. They need to be completely disassembled, ultrasonically cleaned, and re-assembled (with fresh lubrication). About every five years, as it turns out.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
Except Apple is not a watch brand, so they cannot expect to be able to charge what Rolex or Breitling can.
You're right. And they don't. Gold Rolex watches are quite a bit more. At least double, if not triple, what the Apple Edition watch runs.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
Yeah, except that if I buy a Breitling, with a battery change and lack of abuse it will still work exactly as good in 30 years as it does today.
If you bought a Breitling with a battery (and are somehow proud of that) then you are by definition not a "watch guy".
Also, mechanical watches need to be completely disassembled, ultrasonically cleaned, and re-assembled and re-lubed, approximately every five (or so) years.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
In 10 years any old smartwatch from 2015 will be next to useless/worthless. That's not to say they won't be useful now, just like a phone; but it's not an heirloom.
Yes. And mechanical watches have been obsolete since the 1970s. Yet people still buy them.
What was your point again?
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
Reminds me of the Great Leap Forward.
The value in things that get passed down through generations is usually sentimental, so yeah, your Timex could be worth quite a lot to your descendants.
I agree with GP, which is why I still use my Motorola slider phone.
And yes, the majority is wrong. Most people are fucking idiots.
Also, mechanical watches need to be completely disassembled, ultrasonically cleaned, and re-assembled and re-lubed, approximately every five (or so) years.
Only if it's a shitty watch. I have a Zodiac that was made in the 70s that still works perfectly to this day. It's not once ever been disassembled, ultrasonically cleaned or relubed.
When you use an Apple product you don't look cool, you look like an unemployed "arteest" faggot.
And this can be done by any number of watchmakers who have been plying their trade for over 100 years, and will still be doing so in another 100. Good luck getting parts for your iToy in even 10 years time...
Except the vendor no longer supports your device after a few years and stops releasing updates, then apps are no longer supported and stop working, and parts become so scarce that they cost more than a new device. Yeah, just KEEP DOING THAT.
Typically in those undead films, it's the living holding a gun to the head of zombies. Just sayin' :)
under estimating how many fucking idiots!!!.
That I'd agree with... I'm sure the battery is replaceable (I'd hope)
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
I guess it depends, in my case, I got a Ferrari for the price of a Ford focus (MBP :)
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
I'd give the watch a 2 year lifespan, personally, no more than that. It's a first gen product, after all, and improvements are bound to occur soon afterwards.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Typical lithium ion cells have a lifetime of around 500 cycles. This thing claims to last 18 hours of "typical" use, so probably less in reality but it's say 18 for argument's sake. If you charge it once per day the battery will be consumed (80% capacity remaining) in under 18 months. That tallies with heavy user's experiences of iPods and various phones.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
So the original argument is "OMG the iPhone 7 sucks, I'm screwed because I bought an Apple Watch!" to which I argue that if the iPhone 7 sucks, just keep using the 6 or 6+ you've already got.
You then extrapolate out that every iPhone ever after is also going to suck? Is there any evidence AT ALL to warrant that? And by the way, once a decision to stay with a particular phone has been reached, it clearly is set in concrete and can never be re-decided, can it?
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
And this can be done by any number of watchmakers who have been plying their trade for over 100 years, and will still be doing so in another 100. Good luck getting parts for your iToy in even 10 years time...
Goodness, the hate is strong in this one.
Let it flow through you. It makes you stronger.
Seriously, you're going with that as an argument?
It's as if you think technology exists in some separate reality from... well, anything that allows you to make a case against Apple, I guess.
I don't know a whole lot about luxury watches, so forgive the mistake about the battery. I know there are "automatic" watches as well as ones that you still use the crown to wind, but was unaware that was what the super high end was about.
Also, I'm sure that having it cleaned every 5 years is still orders of magnitude cheaper than COMPLETELY REPLACING IT EVERY TWO.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
As much technology perhaps. But high end watches are much more labor intensive to manufacture. Many of the better watches are assembled largely, or even completely, by hand. And they are assembled by skilled craftsmen. It can take years of training to learn how to assemble a high end watch like a Rolex or Patek Philippe. So the cost of manufacture, and hence, the cost of the watch is higher.
Only if it's a shitty watch. I have a Zodiac that was made in the 70s that still works perfectly to this day. It's not once ever been disassembled, ultrasonically cleaned or relubed.
Nope. The very best watches all recommend approximately the same service regimen. The fact that you have an old watch that still runs does not in fact mean that it doesn't need to be cleaned -- it means you are not taking good care of it.
Cars will run without oil for a while, too. Doesn't mean that cars don't need oil.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
And this can be done by any number of watchmakers who have been plying their trade for over 100 years, and will still be doing so in another 100. Good luck getting parts for your iToy in even 10 years time...
You might be surprised to find out that owners of mechanical watches are lately having a bit of trouble finding qualified watchmakers to service their watches. This isn't uniformly true, some cities are better represented than others with appropriately skilled people. But they're also finding it difficult to get parts for in-house mechanisms (i.e. very custom) from a few years back, which is awfully reminiscent of the problem you're pointing out in tech.
Mechanical watches were, after all, one of the original consumer tech products.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
Except Apple is not a watch brand, so they cannot expect to be able to charge what Rolex or Breitling can.
So you admit that the only reason that Rolex or Breitling can charge their ridiculous prices is "branding", eh?
Plus who wants a watch that has to be charged twice a day?
So, do you live on a planet with a 36-hour day, or are you a cyborg that requires no sleep? For the rest of us meatsacks, 24 - 18 = 6; and if you are like most humans on the planet earth, 6 hours sleep minimum is barely sustainable for more than a few days in a row.
So, what was your point again, hater?
I don't know a whole lot about luxury watches, so forgive the mistake about the battery.
But if you (by your own admission) don't know much about luxury watches, then why spout off about the comparison between the Edition watch and luxury watches?
Oh, right. This is slashdot. Smart people have this blind spot about what they actually know vs. what they think they're qualified to speak about.
I know there are "automatic" watches as well as ones that you still use the crown to wind, but was unaware that was what the super high end was about.
As a rule, there are no quartz (battery) watches in the stratosphere of luxury watches. As a general rule, there are no luxury watches worth talking about below the $5000 mark, though that is obviously very subjective. Gold versions of Rolex and Breitling start in the several tens of thousands range.
Also, I'm sure that having it cleaned every 5 years is still orders of magnitude cheaper than COMPLETELY REPLACING IT EVERY TWO.
Well, there's the problem of finding a qualified watchmaker, which is becoming increasingly difficult because most of the watchmakers are old and generally succumbing to the effects of age. And then there's the problem of finding replacement parts for in-house mechanisms, which (surprise!) obey the same laws of scarcity seen in long-obsolete tech components.
So, to summarize: you don't really know much about watches, your comparison is riddled with unintended problems, and you should at least consider not spouting off in anger about that which you don't know, lest someone call you on it.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
I smell rats.
What kind of lube are they using that it can't be solvent flushed and re-lubed without disassemble? I could see removing the face and finished parts. Also 5 year service life, babied? Are they still using a 'traditional lubrication'?
I'm guessing the fancy watch market is like audiophiles. They like to spend money and brag on it. Lubed with pure unicorn lard.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Their function is not to tell time. Their function is to distinguish class for the classless, same as a $80 t shirt and $500 jeans. None of these things is 'obsolete'.
Many people have observed this behavior, decided 'rich people are stupid' and attempted apples current strategy. Most fail. What they don't see is the number of blow jobs (real and figurative) given at Rolex shops. Unless apple hires some 'head geniuses' (the ones with dirty knees) for it's stores in high end locations their efforts are futile.
Marketing to the rich is a specialty. Marketing to rich trailer trash is voodoo. There is no telling where they will jump next. They are all surrounded by opportunists already.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Cook just sucked in TWO big pages from history and shit a brick.
1) on price the Apple Watch is a Lisa.
2) on functionality the Apple Watch is a Newton.
And that "One More Thingy"! The curse of the DOW.
Looks for big declines in sales and stock and cash, increases in dis-harmony and then the jettison of Cook and Ivy, and the return of Woz in 2018 to coincide with Steve's return anniversary of 1998.
Ha ha
The one with the larger screen which also happens to have the corresponding larger battery?
So, to summarize: you don't really know much about watches, your comparison is riddled with unintended problems, and you should at least consider not spouting off in anger about that which you don't know, lest someone call you on it.
As opposed to being a cunt and having to show how smart you are after he already admitted he was wrong.
There's no way that getting a luxury watch periodically maintenanced is more expensive than buying new, twice, in the same time period. For that amount of money you could fucking fly to Switzerland to have it checked out and cleaned every 5 years.
Twit.
"If you want to equate it to a watch, think Timex."
Because said Timex keeps time within 50ms of UTC? I mean, THAT IS the purpose of a watch, is it not? To keep time accurately? So the Tag Heuer or the Rolex keep time better than this? Do they automatically keep themselves synchronized to UTC? I'm sure the Apple watch does.
Or, do you mean a "watch" is a status symbol. In that case, you're probably quite correct about those two brands, and others as well. I notice you don't mention Patek Philippe. Now THERE is an expensive watch, if you really want a status symbol.
The kind of mechanical timepieces that can be reliably passed down through generations rarely cost $600.
FTFY, a quartz timepiece will last for generations no problem, all you have to do is change the battery every now and then.
How long do you intend to repeat stupid statements? Pretty much everything about a phone is a compromise with trade-offs. If you want a phone that will last several days without recharging, I'm sure there's plenty out there, so you can buy one. It won't do as much as my iPhone, but you may not care about that stuff. I'm happy charging daily (although it will last for two days), and I like my phone.
That's one of the benefits of an active market: each of us can get what best suits us.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
As one who works for a company that machines both aluminum and steel, the aluminum is a lot easier to work with, and causes fewer problems.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Then you have shitty mills and tooling.
Even the apple fanboys I know aren't interested in their overpriced android watch knock off. Can't wait to see who'll be the biggest sucker, the one to buy the gold one.
I think you replied to the wrong person. My argument is that you can't just keep you're phone because they become obsolete quite quickly, so you are forced to update every couple of years.
I see you didn't actually address the point. Consumer Electronics are a different market segment from luxury jewellery for the reasons I implied. Apple is about to learn this the hard way.
I agree. I own a 45 year old Rolex and I've never touched it and it still works fine. It was an inheritance which sits in a box for the next inheritance. I also own a 20 year fake Tag I bought for $10 in 1995 and the same applies.
I see you didn't actually address the point. Consumer Electronics are a different market segment from luxury jewellery for the reasons I implied. Apple is about to learn this the hard way.
I find that when certain keywords like "iToy", "fanbois", "sheeple", "Crapple" and so on are in the post, addressing the point with factual rebuttals tends to be futile.
That train has already sailed.
For the record on this one, the idea that there will be a thriving industry for the repair of niche mechanical timepieces in 100 years but not one for niche electronics is not a point that can be easily answered, but a decade from now? Are you kidding?
Oh there'll be a niche market, that is my point. The Swiss watch market (ie real watches) is somewhere around 30mil units per year. If Apple get anywhere close to that I'll eat my hat. The iWatch is a toy, because it is mostly gimmick value, it needs to be charged daily which is a ridiculous concept for a watch, and it will probably be obsolete in less than 10 years. I'm sorry if this offends you.
Nope. We monitor those things carefully.
The fact is that steel is harder than aluminum. At a very minimum, that means that milling steel takes longer than milling aluminum, and so we're tying up an expensive machine significantly longer for steel.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Who wants a watch that only works with an iPhone? If you don't like the iPhone 7 will you really ditch your $1k smart watch just so you can switch to a better phone?
Or you will keep your old iPhone for a year longer. This isn't an Android phone that obsoletes every 30 seconds, when a new Android phone comes out. ,
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
You mean the one that doesn't exist yet? No large screen phone is going to last 'several days' without charging, thus making them 'pieces of shit', according to you.
So, back to square one: either people buy what's available with today's technology, or they listen to you and do without. Cuz reasons.
You mean the one that doesn't exist yet? No large screen phone is going to last 'several days' without charging, thus making them 'pieces of shit', according to you.
The definitive "big phone" line is the Galaxy Note series. I have an aging Note II and I still get over 2 days on it. The Droid Maxx was marketed specifically as having a huge fucking battery that gave you days of usage. Pretty much any large phone that isn't the Nexus 6 or iPhone 6 Plus has a similarly capable battery.
You're a retard.