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Slashdot Asks: It's Been a Year Since Apple Watch Release, What's Your Thought On It?
In an op-ed, Quartz's Mike Murphy writes that Apple Watch, the Cupertino-based company's first wearable device, hasn't been the success the company was hoping it to be. Apple unveiled the Apple Watch alongside the iPhone 6 at a media conference in September 2014. It wasn't, however, until April 2015 that the company began selling it. The Apple Watch has received a mixed response from people. While some have found the design premium-looking, almost everyone has complained about the battery life. Many have found the health-centric features of Apple Watch useful. though the lack of apps, in general, is a downer for many. Apple, which usually doesn't miss boasting sales number, remains tight-lipped on exactly how many Apple Watch units it has sold. Murphy writes: Every Apple product in the last 15 years or so has been two things: desirable and useful. They've made it easier for people to be creative, listen to a lot of music on the go, communicate with anyone in the world or find out any piece of information wherever they are. The Apple Watch looks good, but from a desirability perspective, some argue that the most interesting thing about it has been the collaborations it has had with Hermes, rather than the watch itself. Apple has always prided itself on 'thinking different', and has stood out by creating differentiating products. But different in the case of the Apple Watch right now just means "weird." Apple probably doesn't want a product where using one gets you referred to as "that guy." Do you own an Apple Watch? If not, are you planning to purchase one? Those who own it, what features do you like in the Apple Watch that you think other watches cannot offer.
I still don't want anything on my wrist. It's an interesting remote control but doesn't have that killer app/functionality you get with other apple products.
Twinstiq, game news
I'm not sure it's junk, but it shows that the Apple "halo-effect" is a crack in its reality distortion field. It work up the world to IoT, but just because Apple makes it, doesn't mean people will come.
Now that they're being seen dumped on the secondary market (dailysteals, woot, etc etc), it's a sign that there's a product manager with a new job in the warehouse in Cupertino.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
I'm certainly not Apple's core market, so I don't expect Tim to be crying into his beer over this; but in what is probably the least-favorable outcome for Apple(and 'smartwatch' in general); I basically don't have any thoughts on it. Depending on how you prefer to phrase it, it's been out for only a year and it has already dropped below even occasional attention without explicit prompts like this one; or it's been out for an entire year and failed to attract much in the way of visible fans, foes, nor has it carved out any niche applications where it is considered an absolute must-have.
Normally, that's not how Apple products work: there is often a sharp and bitter divide between those who love and those who loath; but people care one way or the other. The watch? It's just 'meh.'
weather at a glance
I've never understood this, unless that's a forecast. In which case, surely you have to select how far in advance the forecast is. If not... well, that's just one of the many tasks that windows are good for.
health data which is very useful during exercise
Personally, I've never really been convinced about that either. I mean I've played with health gadgets and they're neat and all, but ultimately, I don't need one to tell me I've been a lazy git and skipped an exercise session or taken the bus instead of walking.
But then again I don't have much interest in a fitbit either for exactly the same reasons. It provides plenty of data but not much in the way of actual information.
To each his own, I guess, but I'm kind of curious how these health devices actually help long term after the novelty has worn off.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
The "more cash than imaginable" isn't exactly true. They don't hold that money as cash, but as stock and equity in god only knows how many companies. This is relevant because if they were to try to pull on that money quickly, they would likely crash the market and kill the value of their "cash" (stock).
Steve Jobs was a self declared products guy. He wasn't really an engineer, or a designer, or a particularly great manager, but he had a great talent for knowing what products the market needed. He was certainly not a "marketing guy" since he spent most of time and effort developing products rather than promoting and positioning them, though he certainly liked an input into how his products were promoted, those inputs tended to be more like "bigger", "more groundbreaking", than anything more specific. In fact, I seem to remember he was sometimes quite critical of marketing folks displacing product guys like him in the decision making process.
I tried one at a store once. It did not find it intuitive. I would swipe on the screen and unexpected things would happen. I would use the dial and unexpected things would happen. It made no sense. But then again, most Millennial/Hipster-"designed" UIs don't make sense to me. I found the watch experience to be a lot like the Slashdot Beta or the GNOME 3 experiences: they check off every box in the hipster trendy-UI-effect-of-the-week checklist, but I couldn't actually use them to do what I wanted to do!
You remind me of my parents who would whine about how hard it was to set up a timed recording on a VCR. Do try to keep up.
(This isn't excusing bad UI design either... there's plenty of that to go around but if you can't figure out how to use the bad UI, that's on you since many/most people who use the products seem to make it work.)
1) This is dangerous, regardless if it is done hands free
Talking to a passenger is dangerous. Changing the radio station is dangerous. Having a screaming child in the car is dangerous. Driving is dangerous, get over it.
2) A car radio with Bluetooth is much cheaper if it is not already implemented.
Cheaper than a free watch?
"Frequently wrong, never in doubt."
Apple get trust because they are trustworthy. Trustworthiness is a very delicate attribute. Sony had it, and lost it. Microsoft too (many here won't be old enough to remember when).
Apple still has it because they haven' betrayed their customers. Not because of magic (the RDF).