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Apple Offers Expedited Apple Watch Order Lottery To Developers
An anonymous reader writes: Apple is sending out invites to random registered developers, giving them the chance to buy an Apple Watch with guaranteed delivery by the end of the month. "Special Opportunity for an Expedited Apple Watch Order," the invite email states. "We want to help give Apple developers the opportunity to test their WatchKit apps on Apple Watch as soon as it is available. You have the chance to purchase one (1) Apple Watch Sport with 42mm Silver Aluminum Case and Blue Sport Band that's guaranteed to ship by April 28, 2015."
If you want useful apps that work well, you WANT developers to be the first to get watches, so they can test applications to see how they behave in real life.
It's not going to be very many compared to the total sold, and all indications are the one they are selling is one of the less popular models...
You might say, well anyone could jump the queue then buy buying a developer program membership. But it's not that easy; as the headline mentions it's a bit of f "lottery" - I'm an iOS developer, and I did not get an email about a launch watch purchase, nor did any of the other iOS developers I asked.
There've been many other products that developers had early access to, much less shipping on launch day access - so I don't see why there would be any fuss around this.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Hmm, seems like Tim Cook (or his PR folks) have been reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer:
If you ask reaaaaal nicely, they'll let you buy their product.
And yet the sheep keep baaaaarging in...
Isn't buying the watch gambling enough?
Table-ized A.I.
Because none are interested.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
"Apple Watch Sport with 42mm Silver Aluminum Case and Blue Sport Band"
AKA "the one no body wants".
I just sent it to my spam folder with the rest of the marketing BS I get on a daily basis. Since when does Apple hold lotteries? And since when does "lottery" mean "I pay full price for the product; I just get mine shipped first?" We used to just call that "expedited shipping," and retailers tacked on a small convenience fee for it.
It doesn't mean an Apple Watch you ordered ships earlier; it means Apple will let you buy ANOTHER watch, only the 42mm Silver blue band Sport, in order to have one shortly after launch day for testing your app (since only developers can purchase these and offers are tied to your specific developer ID).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
That is my guess as to why these emails were not sent out sooner. From pre-orders Apple knows now what are the less popular watch models so this one is probably the bottom of the list (most people from the sound of it like the dark bodies more than the silver). That makes it less likely someone would buy one to re-sell, or just to order to have a watch early instead of actually needing one to to testing with, and thus any developer sales will not really affect shipping dates for anyone who ordered this model since they probably already had enough of them made to ship out some extras.
I also think that as the emails get sent out, Apple waits a day or so to see if the person bites, then they send someone else an email... I have no idea how they choose who to send these to, as I'm an iOS developer working on an Apple Watch compatible app and I didn't get one.
I would have thought the blue band was one of the more popular band colors, but perhaps not. Or perhaps that's to make up for having to get the silver watch... :-)
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Well, I know basically nothing about the smartwatch market, but there is one obvious advantage of the Apple Watch: it works with the iPhone.
Android may have more overall market share, but Apple dominates the high-end market. People who buy high-end smartphones are more likely to buy accessories for those phones.
That doesn't make them "braindead", as the arrogant luddites on Slashdot may like to claim. It just means that a) they have enough money that a few hundred on a toy is no big deal or b) they love being on the cutting edge of technology. There are people from both of those groups who use Android, and some of them have bought Android watches (without being called braindead sheeple!). But there seem to be more of those people who own iPhones, and obviously those people waited for the Apple Watch.
if you really want to know:
1) Style (which is obviously a matter of opinion but lots of people like the style)
2) Build quality (better seams/materials)
3) Battery Life (Seems a lot better than all but the Pebble)
4) Tighter control of watch notifications (rather than funneling everything to the watch you choose which notifications can go through to the watch).
5) Glances, where are short lived application status screens you can see quickly.
6) Taptic feedback, which can be really nice over buzzing or sound and can tap you on a "side" of the watch apparently.
Those are the main points I can think of now. I think the main uses of the watch for most people will resolve around glances, I think a lot of people are getting watch apps all wrong by thinking the actual app will be opened much at all. Also if a watch app "pollutes" my set of Glances with a useless screen, I'll probably end up deleting the whole app from the phone.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Isn't buying the watch gambling enough?
How is this gambling?
Apple is going to support the watch for a long time to come, as you can tell they are very attached to these things. It's gotten way more of a full media push than the AppleTV ever did, for example - and they still sell AppleTV's many years after launch.
Lots of people are buying the watch, and shipping times are quite far out now - so if you get one and find you do not like it, you can resell it pretty easily (not to mention you can just return it for a week or two after you have it if you do not like it).
Application developers have already done a ton of updates that support the watch, so it's not like there will not be massive developer effort behind getting applications to work as well with the watch as they possibly can.
If you have any interest in a smart watch at all, buying an Apple Watch seems much less a gamble than other watches. I bought a Pebble Time also; to me that seems more of a gamble but I want to support alternatives in the market and to me that's the most distinct in term of ideology around how a smart watch should work.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Yeah. Must be the buyers who are braindead, not people like yourself (and CmdrTaco) who can't see what Apple actually does bring to the table.
I fell for the hype and bought a first generation iPhone when Apple knocked $200 off the price. Because, what do you know, at the time they weren't actually selling like hotcakes.
Let's not forget, back then it didn't run apps, couldn't record video, had no stereo bluetooth, didn't do MMS and maxed out at EDGE speeds (when even dumbphones were beginning to ship with 3G). The battery life was lackluster, the reception and call quality was abysmal. Sure, mobile Safari was pretty awesome at the time compared to the competition - when it wasn't constantly crashing, that is.
Fast forward to today and while my phone is still technically an "iPhone", it bears only a superficial resemblance to the original model that I frequently found myself cursing at, back in the day. The battery life is tolerable, reception and call quality is excellent. The screen size has been increased and the pixel density has doubled. The cellular data connection is faster than my cable modem at home. Web pages render in the blink of an eye and Safari only seems to crash on me once in a blue moon. I don't feel like I'm missing out on any essential features - stereo bluetooth, MMS, front facing camera, 1080p video recording, the gang's all here. Heck, it even has a feature of dubious value which I don't even use - a fingerprint reader.
The Apple Watch could have some potential, but you'd be idiotic to believe that potential will be realized on first generation hardware. I've been burned enough times on first generation Apple products (Mac Mini, iPhone and the iPad) that I've decided to sit this one out. But hey, the way I look at it is: the idiots buying this thing today are subsidizing the development costs of the future model I might someday actually want.
Oh, who am I kidding? I loathe wearing a watch and I don't need one to tell me to look at my phone. The damn thing may as well be a pocket pager, for all intents and purposes.
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
they're smart. And maybe you are consistently wrong (by your own admission) because you're stupid. That's the only explanation that fits all available evidence.
Android wear supports maps (although kind of limited).
Pebble time kind of does, although the guide there to get turn by turn directions is pretty much a hack. There are links in that article to real maps apps but they just display maps I think.
Or did you just mean the built in apps I guess? I think Wear has at least some minimal map app included.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
However in the real world...
1) I think the word you are looking for is 'fashion' as in people think having an iwatch ion their wrist will somehow make them cool. good luck with that.
2) I can only assume you have not actually looked at the competition on this one.
3) And again, you missed the fact that most of the Android watches last longer? Even Apple dont rate their watch for 24 whole hours.
4) You mean just like android?
5) Um, what? is that in some way an apple only feature? Oh, I see. because apple use THAT name for it it is somehow special. hmmm.
6) Yes, a nice and effective way to reduce battery life even further. Enjoy.
BTW I do like your rationalisation at the end where anything that doesnt quite work properly must not be needed, so you can just bin it ;)
Thank god that outside the Apple walled garden there is some choice - hell, you can even get WATCH shaped watches ;)
1 I think the word you are looking for is 'fashion' as in people think having an iwatch ion their wrist will somehow make them cool.
Well actually that aspect is working just fine for a number of celebrities, so all I have to say is good luck arguing against the Apple Watch being part of popular fashion with Beyonce wearing one!
I personally think a lot of people will buy one because it is functional, and simply not ugly as is the case with many other smart watches. That is a concern for many people.
2. I can only assume you have not actually looked at the competition on this one.
You mean "felt" right? Please tell me you meant felt, because that was the whole point... yes I have. I have a good friend who loves her Samsung smartwatch. I've used a Motorola watch briefly, and also older Pebbles. The Motorola LOOKS nice (well, sort of, I find it too large) but just is not built as well. I've ordered a Pebble Time myself, so we'll see how that is.
3) And again, you missed the fact that most of the Android watches last longer?
Sorry, I thought we were talking about actual battery life, not pretend numbers that Android Wear makers like to produce.
4) You mean just like android?
How can you block a notification for Android Wear for an app that does not have a corresponding Wear app? Blocking of notifications seemed to require that. Not every app is going to have a Wear app (or Apple Watch app for that matter). You surely can't mean that applications that only run on your phone cannot have notifications appear on your watch, as that would render the watch essentially useless for notification management.
5) Um, what? is that in some way an apple only feature?
What are you thinking they are? Cards? That's not really the same thing. Those are really apps in Glance clothing. Way too many possibilities for expansion or stacking.
6) Yes, a nice and effective way to reduce battery life even further
Someone who obviously doesn't understand comparative power drain of tapping vs. even a short vibration... or how much more useful directional taps are than even vibration patterns.
BTW I do like your rationalisation at the end where anything that doesnt quite work properly must not be needed
??? what I said was that even IF an app is desired/needed I will cull it if it's too noisy on what needs to be a very minimal interface (also a primary design concern for Android Wear by the way).
I'm a developer, so I understand both systems. You appear just to be against Apple even when they have good ideas, and have not really looked in depth into how the Apple Watch varies from Android Wear, or Pebble.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It turns out, people prefer lightweight watches, with faces they can read, that don't have to get recharged on a weekly basis.
That doesn't make any sense based on initial sales, and who is buying them.
What about the people who prefer NO WATCH (like myself) that are moving back to wearing watches just because of the added features smart watches offer?
It's way to early to say what people "prefer". I would say for a long time, that a large majority of people will be wearing "normal" watches, but that's simply because of cost. Saying what they would PREFER to have is a whole different ballgame.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple did invite a number of developers to test Apple Watch apps at the Apple campus, I think back in January. I didm't get an invite for that, a friend of mine did. I don't think it's feasible for them to have got such new hardware into many developers hands earlier. I think possibly if you had asked Apple and had an app to test at that time they would have let you in (I didn't try as I wasn't ready to test then).
I'm sure if you got the email you'll be able to buy one, otherwise everyone would get the email instead of a handful.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The expression 'MacJob' used to mean a crap job; so this MacWatch....
$20 to the charity of your choice says it won't receive software updates in 2018, despite known vulnerabilities.
What "vulnerabilities"? You don't run code on the watch. It doesn't browse the web.
Also an open question how upgrades will really work - like say if in two years you get a new replacement module for the core of the watch. Or you simply get a large discount on a newer model by trading in your current watch center, but you keep the bands... lots of ways to play it to make it all work out well for purchasers.
There are too many open questions for how this all works yet to claim the watch cannot be upgraded in an away, or that even matters...
Who buys a smartwatch for more than $100?
That's really the wrong way to look at anything that improves your life, for any amount of time. I would personally say any purchase of ANY normal watch for any amount is a sucker purchase, but that's because what they do has little value to me. And yet people all over the world buy watches every day.
Even if the watch dropped dead in one years time and I had to buy a new one from scratch (which will not happen because warranty+Applecare) it would still have enough value to me to be worth purchasing, the same way an iPhone is expensive but has a ton of value to me.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple just wants people to buy their watch...
Which people will not continue to do unless there are apps that work well. Initial reviews are important to mid-to-long term success, and over a longer term to customer satisfaction that leads to purchase of further upgrades (or, for the more cynical, accessories where we all know the real money is).
Even ascribing the most cash-driven motives to Apple still yields a better payoff by getting developers watches early.
In fact you could easily ascribe the desire for Apple to get watches to developers early as being driven solely by the impact on accessory sales alone.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Difference is Apple had sales of about a million watches in the first day, just in the USA alone. The only reason for this lottery at all is that general sale of is sold out till June at least.
By contrast Google Glass, over what, 18 months, perhaps sold a few hundred Google Glasses. I'd be very surprised if Apple didn't sell more $10,000 Edition Watches in the first day than Google ever sold Glasses.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
If I was a developer I would have dismissed the email as spam after reading that subject line...
Yeah. Must be the buyers who are braindead, not people like yourself (and CmdrTaco) who can't see what Apple actually does bring to the table.
No, people like himself (and CmdrTaco) can see that what Apple actually does bring to the table is mostly marketing.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The expression 'MacJob' used to mean a crap job; so this MacWatch....
Never heard that expression. Ever.
Oh, I see now; that refers to a low-paying EMPLOYMENT, as in a job a McDonald's. Hence "McJob" (prounounced "Mac-Job").
Nothing to do with Apple. Nice try, hater.
Nothing to do with Apple. Nice try, hater.
Grow a sense of humour; or are you so insecure that anything that suggests that somebody hasn't prostrated themself in humble adulation is taken to mean that they are 'haters'? You wouldn't last long as part of an engineering team with that sort of sensitivities; we all get teased for aspects of what we do, in a friendly way - it's part of belonging. Perhaps it is way of saying "We know you understand because you are one of us".
If you want my opinion without any hint of humour, then it is like this: I think the Apple Watch is a kitchy little gadget that doesn't add much value to one's life.
- Is it an impressive, technological achievement? Well, in a modern context, not really - it is just a gadget on par with many others, and it will be dated in another year from now.
- Is it beautiful? Not to my eyes, but then I appreciate function over form, and I don't find women more sexy in high heels either, just to pick something at random.
- So, what is the point of owning an Apple Watch? Beats me, really.
Whether the Apple Watch is going to be a success remains to be seen, I think. It tries to latch on to the same instincts that has made fashion or reality TV a commercial success: the instinct to follow the crowd without having to think about anything essential. No, I'm not a neck-beard, but probably only because I have taught myself to shave with an old-fashioned straight razor, which I find is a satisfying skill.