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Report: Apple Watch Preorders Almost 1 Million On First Day In the US
An anonymous reader writes The launch of the Apple Watch has got off to a good start, with an estimated 1 million pre-orders in the U.S. on Friday. "According to Slice's Sunday report, which is based on e-receipt data obtained directly from consumers, 957,000 people preordered the Watch on Friday, with 62% purchasing the cheapest variant, the Apple Watch Sport. On average, each buyer ordered 1.3 watches and spent $503.83 per watch."
Come on, most of these are being snapped up by ebay traders, hoping to restrict the supply to make a profit from the new product.
I haven't worn a (wrist) watch for decades When you have to do frequent hand washing (in the last 35 years I have been employed in the meat industry, food industry, childcare and elder care) its not worth the hassle. Of course I gave up Apple in 1988
I kept forgetting my cell phone so I decided to stop wearing a wrist watch and started to use the phone to keep track of time. Between chencking the time, receiving e-mails, SMS'es and phone calls, browsing the net, playing games or reading e-books when I'm bored it's been years since I left the house without me noticing I had forgotten the damn cellphone within a few minutes.
With a smart watch you do not have to take your phone out of your pocket every time you want "check the time"/"see who is calling(ignore,answer)"/"check a text, respond to text"/"look at a notification". While raking leaves yesterday, I was able to play music(Google Play radio) from my phone and control it with the watch, if I didn't like the song I used the watch to go to the next song. So much more convenient than pulling the phone out each time. I also use the watch as a trusted device so I don't have to enter a code each time. If I forget the phone, the watch alerts me when I am out of range.
The Apple watch is still stupid. Too expensive and the battery life is short. I get ~7 days out my pebble.
Smartwatches were the #1 most returned tech item of 2014. Some models were as much as 60% returned! They're absolutely despised by anyone who has used one. I'm one of newegg's product testers and I tested the 2nd generation of Samsung smartwatches. I and everyone gave it a horrible review then I sold it. But this time around, it's Apple fans buying the product. So who will win in this epic battle of Apple false superiority and arrogant smugness versus the strong urge to return their useless, annoying product.
I've got to admit that initially, I was *not* excited by the Apple watch announcement at all. Like a lot of people, I was thinking, "Stupid! Most people don't wear watches anymore. The smartphone is what KILLED them for many of us!" I thought the prices were insanely high for the fancier models, and it's little more than a "remote display/control for the phone" anyway.
I'm also aware of the Android watches that came first, and one of my best friends uses one. It has its good points, but I never felt it was anything I'd use myself.
But as it turns out, Apple's online ordering for the new watch went live on the day of our anniversary, so my wife offered to get me one as a gift. (Frankly, I wasn't willing to stay awake until 3AM to place an order, but the "hype machine" did at least convince me to browse Apple's site before I went to bed, just to see what configurations they had. I mentioned to my wife that if I was going to get one, I'd probably do the space grey with a black sport band -- as it was the only one I thought looked any good without spending crazy prices for the upscale editions.) Turns out she DID stay up until 3AM and ordered that one for me.
So now, as I wait my 4-6 weeks for delivery, I've been doing more research to find out exactly what this thing will and won't be able to do for me. And as the long-term reviews come out from people who got to use one for a week or more, it sounds promising. Unlike the initial reports that the Apple Watch would basically "do nothing but tell the time" when it wasn't paired up with your phone in your pocket? I'm finding out that's not quite so. For starters, it apparently has 2GB of storage in it for music. So you can use it as a music player with a pair of bluetooth earbuds without your phone anywhere around. It's also smart enough to pair to your phone via your wi-fi network, as well as via low power bluetooth. So you can walk around your house or office and the watch will be fully functional, even though your phone was left on your desk or nightstand.
Additionally, reports are coming out that as long as the watch is on a wi-fi network, you can send and receive iMessages on it without the need of a paired phone.
Then there's the fitness tracker aspect of it. My workplace just started a program where everyone gets a free FitBit and there's a website you can log into to compete with co-workers for who walked the most in a day or a week, etc. etc. It's part of the overall "wellness program". Great, but I really dislike my new FitBit. Because it lacks any GPS functionality, it's too "brain dead" to realize when I'm in a car, on the metro, in a plane, etc. etc. -- so any vibrations that happen get counted as steps taken. It can literally be 50% off on counting your steps! The Apple Watch and iPhone combo makes a far more powerful fitness tracker than FitBit.
So yeah, the Apple Watch is definitely not a "need", but simply a "want". And many people may not want it at all. That's fine. But I think I'm forced to rethink my original opinion that this was generally going to be a bad idea for Apple. What it may do is re-kindle the interest in wearing a watch around, because it finally gives people some reasons why they should consider doing so, EVEN THOUGH they carry a smartphone already.