
Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch - strict9
http://jiggity.com/steve.html
======
ThePhysicist
"What we want from Apple isn't new technology. We want human warmth — a
possibility of living a more fulfilled, meaningful life."

I think this sums up nicely what's wrong here: The belief that technology will
make your life more fulfilled or meaningful. I didn't watch the live keynote
(I don't have the required Apple gear) but saw excerpts on Youtube, and
frankly, I find the level of religiousness surrounding this event appalling.
Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I really don't like how emotionally charged
most products are today, in the sense that they are supposed to not only solve
a technological problem, but at the same time fulfill a social or even
religious role and provide "human warmth", as the author puts it. It's not
only Apple who does this (BMW comes to mind with their Mini commercials), but
it seems they perfected this art to a point where their events have more
resemblance to a Lenie Riefenstahl movie than a trade show (no comparison
intended beyond the aesthetics of the presentation). And does technology
actually live up to the promise? Studies show that, although we have more
superficial interactions through technology, the number of close friends
diminishes and more and more people become socially isolated. Take the metro /
subway in any big, affluent city these days, and look around you. What do you
see? People whose eyes are glued to their phone screens, oblivious to the
persons around them, looking for "human warmth" in their virtual companion.
That's really not the society I want to live in.

Sorry for the rant, I just think that especially people who are very savvy and
enthusiastic about technology and full of entrepreneurial spirit (like most
readers of HN) are especially susceptible to this kind of religious admiration
of technology and should sometimes take a step back to ask themselves what
kind of society they're actually creating with their actions.

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "Take the metro / subway in any big, affluent city these days, and look
around youself. What do you see? People whose eyes are glued to their phone
screens, oblivious to the people around them, looking for "human warmth" in
their virtual companion. That's really not the society I want to live in."

I agree with a lot of what you said but this isn't correct. True we all have
out faces buried in our devices but before that we had them buried in
newspapers. [0][1][2] No matter the decade people don't look for human warmth
on public transport. They want to get on, look down, and get off.

[0]
[http://img.qz.com/2014/01/baghi49cyaaz2ps.jpg?w=1024&h=714](http://img.qz.com/2014/01/baghi49cyaaz2ps.jpg?w=1024&h=714)
[1]
[http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/01/article-2137695-12...](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/01/article-2137695-12D9DA07000005DC-38_968x617.jpg)
[2] [https://www.wodumedia.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/02/Riders-...](https://www.wodumedia.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/02/Riders-read-their-morning-newspapers-on-New-Yorks-
subway-en-route-to-work-on-April-1-1963-after-the-end-of-the-citys-114-day-
newspaper-strike.-AP-PhotoJacob-Harris.jpg)

~~~
Shivetya
and the difference now is many of those whose faces are buried in their
smartphones are likely communicating with someone.If anything people are
communicating more.

~~~
mironathetin
People are entertaining themselves more!

~~~
TeMPOraL
From a small statistical sample of people I meet every day in public transport
when going to and back from work, I can say that almost everyone looking at
the phone is either texting or IM-ing (Facebook Messenger/Snapchat), and if
not they're usually on Facebook (which I'd still classify as mostly
communicating). Usually the only person I with a game on I can spot is myself
playing Ingress, because the city centre is full of portals ;).

And in general, looking at my life and the life of my friends, cow-orkers and
family, people are communicating _hell and a lot more_ than they used to.

If anything is a problem, it's maybe not lack of but _too much_ human
interaction. People don't find time to think for even few minutes anymore,
because there's always someone texting you, chatting to you or some
interesting post to comment on.

~~~
mironathetin
I would count img as entertainment. Just read over some peoples shoulders.

I think you shared my point, that too much communication starts to be
superficial. Subway is a undisturbed time, where reading news or books can be
done. Indeed, if you want to communicate in a meaningful way, it makes sense
to reload information from time to time.

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _that too much communication starts to be superficial_

Yes, I agree with that. I actually start thinking about clustering
communication types in different ways that it is usually done. I'd say that
writing paper letters, writing e-mails and even commenting on discussion
boards or places like HackerNews are one type of communication, while face-to-
face talk, phone call, texting and IM-ing is the other type (and of course IRC
would be grouped with going to a bar).

One type of communication gives you time to articulate your thoughts and
reflect on what you have to say. The other is about tight feedback loop, back-
and-forthing little bites of thought and emotion. Both types are of course
useful and important, but I'm starting to feel that the perceived
"superficiality" of communication is people talking too much with each other,
and not writing enough letters. _Too much human warmth_ , not enough time to
think.

Sure, our technology is a facilitator of this problem. But the nature of the
problem is different than usually portrayed.

------
gcp123
Don't tear apart the details of what the author wrote. Just squint your eyes,
and you know he's dead right. This is exactly the kind of storytelling that
was missing from Tuesday's keynote. Steve always started with WHY before he
got to the WHAT or the HOW. Tim Cook was shaking his fists in triumph after
doing nothing but showing some over-produced video that showed some cool
camera angles on the watch. Not a word about why it should exist, or what it
changes about your life. WE DID IT! WE MADE A WATCH! WOOO! My jaw dropped.
Very tacky. Too self-congratulatory.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
He's right about the iPhone but not the watch. Jewelry is a completely
different sector where individualization is not just nice-to-have but
absolutely required. They would sell a few watches to die-hard fans if they
didn't show "the 60", but they would miss the market they are trying to hit:
people who wear watches. In effect, the ONE _is_ the 60.

I'm not saying it was a perfect launch, and they may have gotten it right
unintentionally, but they still got it right.

~~~
chromiselda
I think what that guy and what I feel is that this is the first time Apple has
made a product which is more fashion than function - if that's what you are
suggesting. I feel that the watch is more function, and consequently should
have been preceded with a Steve Jobs' "Why we need it".

~~~
echoes
Well, I was responding mainly to Jiggity's claims that this watch has no clear
purpose, no "X" that everyone "NEEDS TO HAVE" \- since it _does_ seem to have
somewhat indistinct function, it needs to sell itself mainly on fashion, and I
would argue it will succeed at that.

------
GuiA
Hacker News: your premier source for Steve Jobs fan fiction. _(laughs)_

Does the author really think that Steve Jobs would have ever said "When I open
up a website on Safari, I don't have to strain my eyes anymore"? They're still
selling 5S and 5C! Not even Asus would disparage their previous products like
that.

The rest of the piece is just as bad and devoid of substance. _(Steve rolls in
his grave)_

~~~
encoderer
Right. A product is, well, a product of its time. I doubt Apple spent much
time worrying _how can we go bigger after saying we had the perfect size_.
Seems a bigger problem is _how can we go bigger without people thinking that
's the only difference_? A 5.7" iPhone would be as out of place in 2006 (not
enough power to push those pixels, low power screen tech was non-existent) as
a 3.5" phone is today. No mental backflips required.

~~~
paulojreis
> A 5.7" iPhone would be as out of place in 2006 (not enough power to push
> those pixels, low power screen tech was non-existent) as a 3.5" phone is
> today.

Why would a 3.5'' phone be out of place, today? I see people everywhere
_assuming_ this is right, that increasing the screen size was truly needed
(and demanded), but I'm yet to see the evidence.

I mean, I'm sure that there's evidence that people wanted bigger screens (if
Apple did it...), but I can't seem to find it, except for interweb-people who
blog about... stuff. :) _Real_ people - do they want bigger screens? For them,
is the 3.5'' phone really out of place?

Anyway: I guess I can be considered a interweb-person, _tech savvy_ , heavy
user*, and all that jazz. Still, I'm proudly driving my 4s. Even the 5/5s/5c
is too big for me; I can't comfortably reach the top corners of the screens. I
do believe that habits may have changed, but our anthropometry certainly
didn't - the average human thumb is still the same length.

~~~
josefresco
Plenty of articles show that people are buying phablets and bigger screen
phones this past year at higher rates. In fact, I would argue it's the only
reason Apple made a big ass iPhone as they were losing customers in this
growing segment. Purchasing a product is a pretty god measure of intent.

~~~
paulojreis
"People are buying" and "higher rates" isn't really proper data. Also,
phablets are somewhat new, so increasing at higher rates is normal.

What I wanted to know is roughly how much are the bigger smartphones being
sold, against the regular-sized ones. The most recent Apple smartphones are
big, both, while the "regular-sized" ones are from last year or before. Does
the data supports this decision - "forgetting" about the "regular-size" and
launching only bigger ones?

~~~
josefresco
My attempt was not to share the actual data, but to allude that the data is
readily available showing that "phablet" as a market segment is growing.

Can't put my hands on the exact article and corresponding chart, but from
memory the segment has grown from around 4-5% area to closer to 10%. Again not
exact numbers, but until I find the post that's all I got.

Consumers have had both "regular" and "large" phones to choose from and
they're choosing larger and larger displays.

These are not the posts I'm specifically remembering, but do have helpful
insight:

[http://www.businessinsider.com/there-will-be-four-times-
more...](http://www.businessinsider.com/there-will-be-four-times-more-
phablets-sold-than-tablets-in-2018-2014-7)

[http://www.canalys.com/newsroom/third-smart-phones-
shipped-q...](http://www.canalys.com/newsroom/third-smart-phones-
shipped-q1-had-5-plus-displays)

~~~
paulojreis
> Consumers have had both "regular" and "large" phones to choose from and
> they're choosing larger and larger displays.

I'm sorry, but I can't read that from the data you shared. "They"'re not
choosing larger and larger displays - it was an untapped market, so people
willing to buy bigger smartphones are doing it, as they become available. We
can't assume that everyone/most/many will follow this trend and we also don't
know when it will stop growing. Also it seems natural that buying trends will,
up to a point, follow marketing trends - if almost all automakers start
selling only big cars, then people would choose "larger and larger" cars.

------
Bud
The writer says a lot of things that are just silly. For instance:

 _It 's hard enough to craft desire for a single identity. When asked to think
of an Apple Watch, people don't know what to picture. Can you imagine if the
original iPhone in 2007 came with sixty customizable skins?_

Well, um, it did come with hundreds of customizable skins. They were called
iPhone cases. They were, and still are, endemic.

 _Instead of a single, perfect product, we got a jumble of features and
choices._

Actually, there is no functional difference between the various Apple Watch
lines. It is a single product. It simply allows the user to customize the
appearance of the product. This is necessitated by the fact that this device,
unlike all Apple devices to date, is worn on your body.

~~~
karmelapple
The important point is Apple did not sell those cases when the iPhone was
first released. It didn't talk about the idea of customizing it. People will
figure out how to own their phone and make it personal.

I think the author of this piece did a great job channeling a likely, and
better, introduction.

~~~
camillomiller
It did not. And what's more annoying is the way he puts it: I KNOW WHAT STEVE
WOULD HAVE DONE. I, a big nobody compared to a CEO that's worked for Apple
since 20 years, know why he got it wrong. Now I'm gonna tell you what I would
have done. This is the worst bullshit. Critique is great, and you can pull it
off brilliantly even you are a little dot compared to the big guys you're
criticizing. This is clearly not the case.

About the customization: there's two version of the Watch, one big, one small.
The rest is fashion. Apple knew, better than anybody else, that you need
fashion to sell something that stays on your wrist and everybody will see all
the time. Deem it superficial, if you want, but that's reality. Once again
competitors couldn't do something similar, because they may have the tech.
This time around even the ecosystem. Unfortunately the don't have the best
team of designers (not merely industrial designer, designer in general) a
company has ever employed.

~~~
seunosewa
Tim Cook knows what Steve would have done, but he just thinks his way is
better. It's a human thing.

------
vor_
The previous time this was submitted, it was deleted, so I guess I'll post
this again:

Over the years, I saw many presentations from Steve that I thought were bland
or off in some way.

Pointing out Steve's statement that nobody would want a big phone, implying
that a big iPhone isn't something Steve would have allowed to happen, ignores
Steve's famous habit of dismissing something and then doing it anyway. I
remember when he said nobody wanted to watch movies on an iPod, and then new
iPods came out with the ability to play movies.

I often see complaints that "Jobsian Apple" would never release multiple
versions of something, even though there was the iPod, iPod mini in several
colors, and the iPod photo; later there was the iPod nano, iPod classic, and
iPod touch. A watch is a fashion device, and it would be strange not to have
style options.

Steve got too much credit. Apple was led by a team, and many of those people
are still there. Some of Apple's most successful decisions were choices Steve
opposed or had to be convinced of.

------
DCKing
The whole premise of this article is so wrong. If Jobs were alive we wouldn't
have had this presentation in the first place.

First up, under Jobs phablet iPhones would have been out of the question. He
would have flat out rejected those, because he was simply wrong about some of
the assumptions of phone design and would be a lot slower to admit that than
Apple did without him.

Second, the Apple Watch would not have been what it was now. For the first
time in tech, Apple is second in execution with a more complicated product -
one with a more complicated, information dense interface that requires two
input methods to operate [1]. I'm not insinuating that Apple Watch will be an
inferior product (I think it's more likely the opposite), but I don't think
the execution of the product is something Jobs would have let happen in the
same way.

But that's all okay! Apple is going in a different direction, and it just
might actually be the better direction to go in. I'll be buying my first
iPhone later this year, and I very much doubt I would have done so if Jobs was
still as influential as he was.

This deification of Steve Jobs is incredibly annoying to me. The annoyance I
feel when people say "what would Jesus do?" is the same annoyance I feel when
reading these articles about "what would Steve do?". This article is just one
level above fan fiction and it has gotten more than 450 votes. Ugh. He was a
pioneer in the field, but let's appreciate him for what he's done and not for
what he should have been doing today.

[1]: [http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/smartwatch-wars-the-
app...](http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/smartwatch-wars-the-apple-watch-
versus-android-wear-in-screenshots/) \- the comments contain the gem "What
kind of bizarro world are we in now where Google releases the clean,
minimalist UI and Apple releases the information-dense but cluttered one?"

~~~
flatline
I still think the "why" of the watch was missing from the presentation, and a
lot of his points were spot on. My wife called me all excited about it and I
kept asking her what it did and she didn't have a clue.

But I'm not sure it matters. My takeaway from reading your post was "Google
released a watch? Oh...who cares." So I think you're right, Apple is still
doing more right than wrong. I just don't think of Google as a product
company, the Android brand mostly belongs to other manufacturers in my mind,
and the overall impression is still that they are all making iPhone knockoffs,
even if in many cases they are objectively superior. There's still nobody
around who can do a product release like Apple.

~~~
pinkyand
> There's still nobody around who can do a product release like Apple.

But they might just reusing old fame. another one or two non-revolutionary
product releases and , and their launches might become like everyone else's.

~~~
mark-r
Remember when people used to line up to get their copy of Microsoft Windows?
Fame is fleeting.

------
arihant
Maybe Jobs wanted to launch "The Sixty" and did not have a product deemed
personalizable enough to do so in his time?

Where they could, they have iMac, Macbooks, Mac minis. So with OSX, they do
have multiple options cause it fits. Each model is customizable into gazillion
ways based on HDD, RAM, GPU and what have you. How many variations of Macbooks
can you count which can be ordered directly from Apple store website? I bet
you it is more than the Apple Watch.

What the author misses is - Apple thinks. It did with Jobs, and it is doing so
without him. Apple did "The One" when they thought it suited. They did "The
Sixty" when they thought it suited. Copying Apple is a job of other companies,
not of Apple.

------
owenwil
This was killed already once today and is back again?

Steve was very explicit to Tim Cook and others in the Apple executive team
that they should never ask "what would Steve do." Seems to be written by
someone with little understanding of Apple today.

~~~
ryanSrich
Looks like the author is a YC alum. It's destined to reach the front page.

~~~
Radiant
His website design is a shameless rip-off of Paul Graham's website. It's
incredibly lame.

------
joeguilmette
This article was horrible, in poor taste, and raises a litany of ridiculous
points.

That said, while I'm happy to see the iProduct naming convention die, I agree
that including the logo in the product name is a bit much. There is the old
story that the command key used to be an apple logo, but Steve had it removed
as to not dilute the brand.

~~~
GuiA
The Apple TV also has the logo in the name, although I guess it's a slightly
lower visibility product.

~~~
joeguilmette
Excellent point!

------
kenjackson
Jiggity, kill the intro to the blog post. All that insecurity stuff is BS.
Jobs was as insecure as they come. But your Jobs transcript is spot on! Just
have that as the blog entry. Keep it simple.

~~~
spencera
I agree, let the script speak for itself. It's great!

------
richard_cubano
The single version of the watch is spot on. As is the implicit point that
maybe they could have hit this year's holiday season if they hadn't tried to
make so many different versions.

The best part of what you wrote is the end, where Steve ties the watch to the
human experience. I hadn't thought about his keynotes from that lens before --
you showed me something new.

~~~
dogecoinbase
Missing the holiday season is intentional -- for one, Apple does that all the
time, to great effect re Q2 sales (they require no additional holiday sales
boost). Secondly, they deliberately licked the cookie of this product
category, which is going to annihilate holiday quarter sales for their
competitors and most likely cripple wearables teams in terms of group buyin
for the coming year.

~~~
richard_cubano
Wouldn't it be even worse for other wearable companies if people could, you
know, buy the iWatch in time for the holidays?

~~~
neohaven
Not necessarily.

There could also be a "Well if Apple is going to release something right after
the holidays, the other companies might try to make better models right after
the apple watch comes out" feeling. Sort of the feeling that Apple might get
one-upped by Samsung, et al.

------
fredsted
I just find this article a little creepy and off-base. He's yearning for Tim
to be a fake imitation of Jobs. The author has some vision of a perfect Jobs.
Guess what, Steve wasn't perfect. It's easy to say, "Steve would have done it
this way".

Tim is not a presenter, he's the CEO. And he's just really proud of his team.
It shows. So he leaves most of the presentation to other VPs.

Steve is no longer with us. Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs, and shouldn't be. He
doesn't _need_ to be. In any case, the products speak for themselves.

Apple Watch definitely needs styles. It's partly a fashion item!

------
k-mcgrady
Thank god Apple doesn't follow advice given by bloggers on the internet.
Release one watch? Seriously? The wide variety of options is one of the
reasons Apple has a shot at getting people to adopt smart watches when
everyone else has failed so far. It's why they invited fashion industry
people, and it's why many of them loved it. A wearable is a fashion accessory
first and foremost. When it comes to looks, people like options - we've seen
this with the iPhone. People quickly got bored of black, then they got bored
of white. Most people also accessorise with cases, not to protect their
device, but for aesthetic reasons and individuality.

As for all the 'Jobs wouldn't have done that' BS, how do you know? There's a
reason Jobs told them not to do what he would do but to do their own thing.
Not even Jobs new what he wanted. He changed his opinion regularly: no video
iPods, then he released a video iPod. No bigger screen iPhone, then the iPhone
5.

This is one of those things that you look at and think you could do better but
in reality dozens of the worlds smartest people have spent years researching
and working on it and they have very good reasons for not doing the ideas
you've come up with in 4 days.

------
bhouston
Not bad at channeling Jobs. Congrats. He could do it better than Cook for
sure.

~~~
jiggity
Thanks for your kind words. It took me a long while before hitting that submit
button. It's that moment when you're unsure if what you've written is any
good.

~~~
tolmasky
I found myself actually wanting the watch reading this, which caught me off
guard. Really well done.

~~~
jeznav
I think I now know why. There was a TED talk by Simon Sinek regarding how
Apple sells its products to its customers by making you believe why you should
need one than without one.

[http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspi...](http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action#t-135666)

The keynote didn't really sell me the watch. To me it was more like a 'me too'
smartwatch but with several customizable options to set it apart from the
competition. They should've stick with one model and iterate later like they
always did.

But I agree, if the presentation was worded like this, I probably would've
bought one in a whim and wouldn't think the heartbeat thing as gimmicky.

------
fndrplayer13
This article is _fantastic_. Nailed Steve Jobs, as I remember him anyhow. The
presentation that Apple gave sounded a lot like something you would hear from
Google, not Apple, in my opinion. Too many options, too many stats. Not
concise. Not moving.

~~~
honestlyCurious
My thoughts exactly. The keynote given by Cook felt dull and overdone. He
tried hard but he had big shoes to fill.

------
ZenoArrow
It's a good attempt at a Jobs-esque keynote, enjoyed that aspect, but on the
product side the only criticisms can be boiled down to...

1\. There's too much choice (option of a larger phone screen from the 6+, and
a variety of watch options). 2\. Because of this choice, you have to do more
thinking for yourself.

I feel like it's sad that thinking for ourselves is seen as problematic. That
diversity isn't something to be embraced. Though it just shows how much some
value the status symbol aspect.

~~~
tolmasky
Its not about not thinking for yourself, its about avoiding _unnecessary_
choice. Our lives our filled with enough real decisions without the need for
inane and subtle product ones. Most people do not need to be worrying about
the voltage of their electric toothbrush. Its not because they're brainwashed
and hate diversity.

With the iPhone I'm now forced to regret the decision either way. The iPhone
6+ is _too big_ for my hands, but the smaller one doesn't support the special
landscape mode stuff and has a worse camera. They haven't even provided a
clear upgrade differentiation, I'm forced to consider tradeoffs, in a product
that I used to not think about at all.

Similarly, I am incredibly skeptical that we really needed 2 different watch
sizes (given that reviewers say both feel fine). I'm sure you'd agree we don't
need 55 sizes in between the current two sizes, so its clear that its possible
to have _too much choice_. Add to this three variations (hopefully there won't
be different capacities like with iPhones too) and its just a fact that you
created a necessity for me to try them on first before just buying them
online.

~~~
ZenoArrow
"Our lives our filled with enough real decisions without the need for inane
and subtle product ones." Considering the length of time we spend with our
gadgets it pays to spend a bit of time in those 'inane' decisions. However, if
you're a light user and just want something that works you can always choose
based on price. It's really not that hard.

"With the iPhone I'm now forced to regret the decision either way." But are
you though? Let's imagine for a second that the iPhone 6+ didn't exist. Is the
iPhone 6 enough of an upgrade for you to want it? The obvious upgrade path is
iPhone 5 to iPhone 6, if you've never wanted a phablet then the iPhone 6+ is
not for you. There, I made your decision for you.

~~~
tolmasky
That's the point, that it does exist. I don't regret the other iPhone 5's
because they actually don't exist. Since the iPhone 6+ actually does exist,
developers will start programming custom superior landscape layouts for it
that will serve to continually remind me I don't have it.

Had the only difference been physical size, the decision would be easy like
you describe, I'd be measuring on one variable that I know how I prefer. (Note
that this could be similarly fixed by apple choosing to offer the landscape
modes on the 6 too, then it would just be battery and camera that are worse,
of which battery is understandable).

~~~
ZenoArrow
"I don't regret the other iPhone 5's because they actually don't exist."
Except that they do exist (i.e. iPhone 5C). Perhaps you didn't face this
dilemma with the 5S vs. 5C because it was clear which one was seen as the
"best". It's the status symbol aspect.

Phablets are a niche market, if you have never wanted a phablet then the 6+ is
not for you. The flagship model is the 6.

As for the features you'll be missing out on, do you have the same feelings
about the superior features you can find on non-Apple phones? PureView from
Nokia is far superior to Apple cameras, you can find Android phones with far
better batteries, etc... Why is it only an issue with Apple? Again, I suspect,
it's the status symbol aspect.

~~~
tolmasky
Once again, you seem strangely convinced that I am obsessed with the "status
symbol aspect" despite my repeated listings of the differences in features I
care about. I'll try once more: the iPhone 6 is smaller, which I consider
better because I have small hands. The bigger one has iPad-style landscape
layout and a better camera that I care about. Notice how neither of those have
anything to do with impressing anyone with my status. Notice also that I don't
care that one happens to be called a phablet: it still contains features
_unrelated to the size_ that I want and don't understand why they left out of
the smaller one, and I also fear the fragmentation of the app market for
things designed for the bigger screen and arbitrarily not available for the
smaller one (as has already happened in Apple's software).

And I absolutely care about the discrepancy of features with Android as well.
I happen to stick with iOS since I develop on iOS, of course I'm sure you'll
now respond that this is really subconsciously because I want to have the
status of an obj-c programmer or something.

~~~
ZenoArrow
"I also fear the fragmentation of the app market for things designed for the
bigger screen and arbitrarily not available for the smaller one (as has
already happened in Apple's software)." That could happen, but if it happens a
lot I'd expect Apple to change their app approval guidelines. iOS now supports
dynamic layouts AFAIR so it shouldn't be a big issue for the better
developers.

As for your continued phone upgrade dilemma, if you're an iOS developer
there's a good argument for getting both (if you can afford it), but aside
from that...

Have you used a phablet before? Small hands may not be an issue, speaking
anecdotally phablets are relatively popular in Asia and Asians seem, on
average, to have smaller hands than Americans. Why does this popularity exist?
I'd suggest it has something to do with where you use your phone and what you
use your phone for.

Ask yourself two questions... 1\. Do I mostly use my phone whilst standing up
or sitting down? 2\. Do I communicate using voice calls much?

If you mostly use your phone sitting down and don't use the voice call
features of your phone much, consider a phablet. If you're often using your
phone whilst standing up, consider the smaller phone. If you use voice calls a
bunch, but mostly sitting down, it's mostly personal preference (I mean, it's
all personal preference, but the answer is less clear cut).

Perhaps the only way you'll resolve this for yourself is to try a phablet for
yourself and see if you get on with it. Do you know anyone with a Galaxy Note?

------
dodyg
A watch is a fashion accessory. If you make it only in one 'perfect
size/look/color', it becomes a gadget, which is the furthest thing Apple wants
it to be.

------
aaronbrethorst
Steve also claimed that Apple would never do a video iPod until the day it
launched.

You should read the entire article. Steve said a lot of stuff that he later
(not so much recanted as entirely) ignored.

[http://www.wired.com/2010/02/steve-jobs/](http://www.wired.com/2010/02/steve-
jobs/)

    
    
        When Mossberg in 2003 asked Jobs whether he
        planned to put video in an iPod, the CEO said
        he was turned off by the idea.
    
        “I’m not convinced people want to watch movies
        on a tiny little screen,” Jobs said. “To
        paraphrase Bill Clinton, ‘It’s the music,
        stupid, it’s the music!’ Music’s been around
        for a long time, will continue to be, it’s huge.”

~~~
Htsthbjig
He was totally right:

"I'm not convinced people want to watch movies on a TINY SCREEN"

Later they created a device with a much bigger screen(at least six times
bigger) and called it IPOD, but it had not a tiny screen.

The same could be said about small computers. When I got my first laptop I
considered at least 17'' necessary, which was very bulky, I told everybody
that.

Then I got lots of complaints from people when I got a 13'' macbook air:"You
said you will never use anything smaller than 17 inches".

But I didn't say that. I said that given the resolution they had at the time,
I needed 17 inches, but obviously I wanted the same screen in a smaller size
at a reasonable price.

The 13 inches macbook has more pixels on it than my old laptop.

------
trhaynes
I really enjoyed this, especially the bit about the heartbeat feature.

~~~
wwarren
Yeah, this was a way better way to introduce it than how they did it in the
video presentation

------
mamoriamohit
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO, he found a lot of variations of Mac
getting developed. There was Mac for this, Mac for that, separate Mac for
everything. He asked one question to the people developing, “If I had to buy
one for my nephew, what would you recommend me?”

He got several options. Then he asked, “If I had to buy one for my nephew,
what would you suggest from the ones you just suggested?” He got more fine-
tuned answer.

He kept asking this question until a lot of the variations were rejected. Then
he went up to the board and drew a 2x2 matrix. On one axis, he wrote,
“Personal” and “Professional”. On another axis, he wrote, “Desktop” and
“Portable”. He concluded that Apple would make only four variations of Mac,
and they would shut down development of every other variation.

Steve always went for 'less'. While current leadership released 2 versions of
phones, many versions of the iWatch, Steve always wanted the company to focus
of a subset of users.

The simple flaw in present Apple's mindset is 'lack of focus'.

First time ever, I am disappointed by the Apple. And yes, Steve would have
fired every 10th person for the glitch in the live stream and the Chinese
woman.

~~~
krrrh
I've seen a lot of people making this point about lack of focus wrt the watch,
but I don't understand it. There is only one Apple watch, with no variation in
storage or other internals. Like the iphone it comes in three finishes, in
this case steel, aluminum, and gold.

The straps have zero functionality other than aesthetics, and the mechanism
for easily swapping them is brilliant. Watches are jewelry. People who wear
them usually own more than one and wear different ones based on the rest of
their outfit. The Apple watch is more a more useful device if you wear it
every day, and making multiple styles of watch bands makes it easier and more
natural to do this. One watch for every occasion.

------
mrjasonh
totally disagree on the watch. I would never consider a watch with that
metallic band, and there a few bands I really like that apple released. I
think apple nailed it by recognizing the personal aesthetic and fashion
statement that wearing a device on your body entails

------
fizixer
I'm not sure if the article was good or bad. But boy did it make me miss Steve
Jobs. (and I don't even use Apple products).

------
broabprobe
Agree totally except for the bands. Customizable bands were a necessity for
something you wear. It's a whole new experience to wear it and I would not buy
it if it were just the band you selected as best. Otherwise this is spot on...

------
nzealand
I posted this a few days ago....

What would todays presentation would have looked like if Steve Jobs was still
around? -There would have been fewer leaks before the big unveiling.

-There would have been fewer features mentioned in the presentation.

-There would have been fewer features in the product in favor of a faster ship date.

-There would have been fewer choices in terms of colors, straps and models.

This is a totally unfair comparison, especially as I don't work at Apple and
have yet to wear the device.

But I think we are all wondering, can Apple continue to innovate as
successfully without Steve around?

~~~
72deluxe
Yes. Apple's creations didn't all come singularly from Steve's mind. Apple's
creations came from the team there.

Apple is not, and was not, one man.

It would be foolish to think that the entire company worked like some Borg
collective where Steve was the head, and all Apple drones would wither and
collapse without him. They clearly haven't.

When you buy food from Tesco, do you thank Jack Cohen and marvel at how he
could think of so many foods and products and innovate so well? How will Tesco
continue to succeed now that he's gone?!

------
mironathetin
"Why do I need it?"

That is indeed the question I ask myself since the introduction of the iPhone.
And it includes the iPad and certainly the iWatch.

I am a Mac user and although the old Mac models were not always better
technologically, Jobs made us feel good when we used them. Just think about
the awful time, when he had to re-sell the G4 to us again and again, because
there was no progress with the G5. Who could have kept the spirit alive, if
not Steve? That's one of his great achievements. That's not anymore. Apple has
completely lost its focus with Macs. If Linux were not so bad, I'd be working
on Thinkpads again, or Vaios.

The iPod when I first bought one of the 5GB original white ones, was such a
great thing to use. It reminded me of the walkmans but it was so much better.
No need to explain. But, in the meantime I use a Cowon, because it sounds so
much better.

So, yes, there is truth in this article.

------
jacquesm
The various incarnations of the iwatch are as different technologically as the
original 'coloured' imacs.

------
Rapzid
I completely disagree with his assessment of there being "too many" watch
choices. For a fashion accessory I think it's absolutely critical that they
give people room to express themselves. IMHO the "style" angle Apple has taken
is what's going to move product.

~~~
ultimatedelman
IMHO the "Apple logo" is what's going to move product.

------
hereonbusiness
"What we want from Apple isn't new technology. We want human warmth - a
possibility of living a more fulfilled, meaningful life."

What we (the corporations) want from consumers is for them to buy our
product(s), and we'll do whatever it takes to sell it to them as long as it is
profitable.

------
Aloha
It's not 'the 60'

It's 12 Cases: Stainless (38/42mm) Black Stainless (38/42mm) Aluminum
(38/42mm) Space Gray Aluminum (38/42mm) Rose Gold (38/42mm) Yellow Gold
(38/42mm)

and 15 bands: 5 Colors of Sport Band (Pink, Blue, White, Green, and Black)
Classic Buckle Milanese Loop Modern Buckle (Pink, Blue and Brown) Leather Loop
(Stone, Brown and Blue) Stainless Steel Link (Stainless and Black)

In reality, I'd bet when this thing ships it's going to be the 12 watch sku's
then an additional 15 sku's for the band,, the combination thereof to be
assembled at the point of purchase.

You cant expect to package an sell any watch like a phone, it can't be one
size fits all, not to get any real market penetration, because with jewelry,
the technology takes a back seat to the appearance.

------
Shivetya
I actually like the article but for a reason I did not suspect, he identified
another aspect of the Apple Watch I didn't quite connect the dots on earlier.
Its not a well defined product, they could not make a decision and so went
with everything. Committee designed and marketed.

------
Yizahi
Author fails to see that iWatch is actually a single model, without any
variation at all. Same OS and apps, same controls, same hardware. Counting
straps as different models is really silly. And besides, not a lot of people
are fans of metal bracelets.

Second - if we are speculating about how Steve would see iPhone 6 then saying
that he would keep THAT design and only fiddle with diagonal is also silly.
Steve would have imagined something way more efficient and pretty - no button
maybe, maybe radically different materials for body (and solve stupid stripes
vs. radio dilemma), maybe it would be a flip or slider, maybe... maybe...
Definitely not just 0.2 difference in diag.

------
Cowicide
In my opinion, I think it was too early for Apple to release a watch.

They should have waited until there was more of a breakthrough in battery
storage (to make it far slimmer) and also the ability to give it some little
bit of extra power capacity through heat off of one's wrist along with an
ability to grab solar energy combined off the watch face.

Also, it really, really needed to be able to work standalone without a tether
to the iPhone, IMO.

This was just too soon. The battery technology isn't there quite yet. This
didn't blow my mind in practicality and usability, it just looks like another
vanity watch someone wears in a vapid attempt to impress others.

I'm underwhelmed.

------
PerfectElement
>> What we want from Apple isn't new technology. We want human warmth—a
possibility of living a more fulfilled, meaningful life.

So your life's meaning and fulfillment depends on Apple? That's really sad.

------
mlopes
Not a realistic scenario. If Jobs was alive Apple wouldn't be chasing the
Android and making crappy products, so he wouldn't need to give all of those
lame excuses to try to justify poor decisions and no innovation in their
products.

I'm an iPhone user, and when my iPhone stop being usable, I'll move to a
Google phone, in spite of the size, not because of it. The real reason why I'm
moving to an Android phone is because all of the limitation that the iPhone
has and that it hasn't removed while the Android evolved.

------
ragerman
Very nicely done! The problem is Steve Jobs is dead. NO ONE ELSE could have
delivered that pitch. Anyone trying would have been reaching. Only Federighi
could even try. Perhaps even Jobs would have had difficulty. You see Apple is
a different company. There is a desperation around it now, being a behemoth
that needs to run at full tilt to stay exactly where they are. Earlier they
were a tiny David constantly taking on Goliath. It takes something special for
that desperation not to show.

------
nb1981
It's a, what, 7th, or 8th generation product? Let them move on. Of course it's
going to settle into a more MacBook style cycle of steady, measured updates
(no pun intended). Going bigger is clearly a 'we've done what we came here to
do, now lets mop up what we can from the high end to fund our other projects'.
I struggle to knock them for that.

------
Radiant
What an awful article. The whole "let's imagine how Steve Jobs would do it"
thing is so lame and morbid. His whole critique is basically "Why isn't Tim
Cook the same as Steve Jobs?!" If you need bullshit "storytelling" to like or
buy a product, then that product probably sucks.

------
edwintorok
The FSF has also made a statement regarding the new iPhone launch:
[https://www.fsf.org/news/free-software-foundation-
statement-...](https://www.fsf.org/news/free-software-foundation-statement-on-
the-new-iphone-apple-pay-and-apple-watch)

------
binarycrusader
I think the article was interesting, but it was surprisingly uncomfortable to
see the various photos where Steve was suffering from the effects of his
illness (I guess for me, it's more personal having seen other family members
go through the same and pass away...).

------
dmishe
I do think that Schiller would make for a much better presentation. Cook is
ok, but that good.

------
jamestimmins
Worth noting that "iWatch" doesn't work because it sounds like the sentence "I
watch". There's a lot of ways to take that in creepy/joking directions, which
would be an unnecessary distraction from the product.

~~~
eurleif
Do you remember all the feminine hygiene product jokes when the iPad was
released?

~~~
jamestimmins
Very true. Hadn't thought of that. There were a lot early on, but you never
hear about that anymore.

------
quickdraw46
Although I do agree with a lot of things being said here, I am happy that the
watch comes with a variety of options. A watch is something much more intimate
and reflective of personal style. Phones usually get covered up, the watch
wont be.

------
laacz
While other commenters are trying to find smal imperfections or errors, I read
both parts with great satisfaction. SJ fiction was spot on for me. I really
was able to portray SJ telling all of that. And I did not mind those tiny
errors.

------
engtech
That was a great article.

I love the idea of the heartbeat feature. Is that a real feature of the
iwatch?

~~~
Watabou
You can share your heartbeat with others with the apple watch, yes.

------
transpy
Man, I'm sold! Even if this is fictitious, there is just something about Jobs
that actually influences me. The stainless steel model looks indeed very
attractive.

------
LeicaLatte
Some folks do have a lot of time in their hands.

------
jesstucker
Commentary on Apple decorum at its finest.

------
ashrestha8
I just love your presentations) You understand clearly what was missing at
keynote and what all of us expected. Apple is becoming average. The iPhone
looks like it has been derived from what market wants, it did not break any
rules, and showed us we are wrong and that they know a better way. It feels
cold (rightly noticed). Please jiggity continue with your posts, its like "the
proper apple keynote)

------
mpg33
I think the iPhone's will sell themselves. The watch could have benefited from
Steve selling it.

------
mozilla
thats actually pretty good

i too believe in the single device. and explaining why its been made.
otherwise, apple is another samsung.

heck i dont even own any apple product but thats still something i liked and
respected.

turns out my next phone is the ze compact. close to the perfect size. :p

------
rootlocus
"Messy. Too many options. This is such a huge blunder."

"It's hard enough to craft desire for a single identity."

"Can you imagine if the original iPhone in 2007 came with sixty customizable
skins?"

Seriously? Is changing the wallpaper such a "huge blunder" for Apple users?

------
stef25
Firewall here at work blocked this site, reason - pornography :(

------
petercooper
_Half a billion original thoughts safely stored on iCloud._

I'm pretty sure Jobs wouldn't make a specific reference to iCloud's security
so close to the celeb hacking scandal, whether or not it was Apple's fault.

------
geuis
This, this, this. This is what is missing from Apple now.

------
jbergstroem
This was beautiful. Thank you.

------
tcc2161
A week doesn't go by without me seeing Steve Job's name in some click-bait
headline and inasmuch as the author has identified current problems with Apple
we can add the cult of Jobs to that list.

Yes, of course, Jobs had amazing charisma, and bringing Apple back from the
brink of bankruptcy with well designed products by Johnny Ive deserves its
legend. But as the novelty of these products wear off (as they should) Apple
still strives to distinguish itself (and continue to charge its premiums) by
designing superior hardware. The hardware market is somewhat saturated, but
since the tech is always improving, planned obsolescence means we get to take
advantage of superior tech and better products every few years.

The real growth market is the cloud and internet-of-things, and I think the
author got it right by imagining Jobs describing the watch as a product for
the "personal universe". Tethering to an iPhone is the first step to tethering
to the Cloud. Apple is still trying to figure out the cloud, and they keep
stumbling, and the celebrity leak (of which nothing was said to a room full of
celebrities), and the live stream screw up are the latest examples. Also,
egregiously, their indifference to producing a responsive website. They're
still a hardware company, and the hardware, combined with their tightly
controlled OS X / Unix based software, provide a solid platform for the design
of superior software, by others.

The first iPhone was severely limited and it didn't become the democratized
smartphone until after the App Store and the 3G, that is to say, after they
crowdsourced software development. The watch seems like the iPhone 2G and the
Nano watch hack as revised by Ive. I don't want this version, but I'll
probably want the one after the next, when its twice as thin, and Ive makes
another pompous video extolling its bullshit (I can't have been the only one
rolling my eyes at the "horological experts" and the "conferring on how
different cultures care about time" ... the clock was perfected years ago).

The thing about Apple is that they keep making the Modernist Future come true
- handheld communicators, tablets, and now walkie-talkie watches. Tim Cook is
proud of the fact that they pulled off the Dick Tracy finally, and who cares
whatever Samsung did a year ago. What they really need to pull off next are
the holograms.

It just seems to me as well that to everything there is a season, and Apple
has had a glorious turn of the century. It integrated itself with youth
culture, but do you think the kids of the 2030s will still crowd Apple retail
stores, presuming they still exist? Or will they see the brand as that of
their parents, and thus lame.

My greater point though is that Jobs is dead and let him rest in peace, and
let Apple grow beyond Jobs, and don't worry if one day in about twenty years
you hear some kid say Apple is lame. Apple did that to Sony, and presumably
some startup out there now, or about to be created, might do that to Apple.

------
mikecaron
Absolutely NAILED it.

------
chatman
> (Audience is in tears as they stand up and give a standing ovation)

Hilariously, genius!

------
niix
:(

------
dmilanp
Home Run

------
mp99e99
Amazing job nice work

------
ck2
Apple cult has gone a little too far when they start reanimating the dead.

------
mproud
What’s next? Don Draper doing a marketing pitch to Apple as if he was selling
the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch?

