
Half a year later, the Apple Watch feels like a stalled platform - pmcpinto
http://qz.com/557652/half-a-year-later-the-apple-watch-feels-like-a-stalled-platform/
======
roymurdock
The Apple Watch is not a seriously compelling product, nor will it ever be as
(a) useful or (b) revolutionary as the iPhone. Apple knows this, and despite
what pundits and analysts might think, it doesn’t care.

Tim Cook and Johnny Ive may present the Apple Watch as an incredibly novel,
sexy-as-hell product in a nascent, high-value market, but they do that with
every new Apple product line because it’s their job. They know very well that
the Apple Watch will not see iPhone-like, extreme revenue generation.

Apple Watch was not designed to be a high-growth, standalone product. It was
designed to be a companion to the iPhone. As such, Apple Watch success will be
a direct function of iPhone success. As long as the iPhone continues to sell
in mind-boggling quantities with a mind-boggling growth rate, the Apple Watch
will enjoy a growing market as a complementary product with recurring revenues
every 2 years or so, in line with the iPhone.

While sales of the iPhone and the Apple Watch will not match up 1:1, the ratio
will still be high enough for Apple to make a decently profitable side
business out of selling watches to a growing subset of consumers who will find
some set of tenuous and borderline-indescribable reasons to purchase one. [1]

[1] [http://roymurdock.com/essays/2015/07/apple-watch-form-
factor...](http://roymurdock.com/essays/2015/07/apple-watch-form-factor-vs-
first-generation-problems/)

~~~
maxerickson
I think smart watches will take off when they get good enough to be a second
phone (LG almost launched this a couple weeks ago). It makes sense to get the
platform out before that happens so that users and 3rd party developers can
help improve it.

~~~
thescriptkiddie
I have the complete opposite view. Early smart watches sucked because they
just tried to be an android phone on your wrist. The most popular smart watch,
the pebble (disclaimer: I own one) is also by far the least featureful. People
don't want or need a second phone, they want the ability to get notifications,
control their music, and tell time without having to take their phone out of
their pocket.

~~~
maxerickson
So if you could get something equivalent to the Pebble that could also take
phone calls when you were on a run (or at a bar, or ...), that would not be a
good addition?

I don't think there is a big market for notifications. I think the tech is
roughly in place to do notifications well (they are still pretty bulky), so
people that get a lot out of that feature are satisfied. I pretty well implied
that the tech isn't in place to have a compact watch that can also take calls,
so I'm not really worried that early attempts failed to serve that function.

~~~
thescriptkiddie
I can already do that with the Pebble as long as I've got headphones on. I
wouldn't mind the addition of a microphone for voice input (the new Pebble
Time has this), but I definitely don't want a speakerphone on my watch.

~~~
maxerickson
I thought that only worked if you have your phone in your pocket?

~~~
thescriptkiddie
Yes.

------
braythwayt
The Apple Watch works well for my (N=1?) use case: I have an iPhone 6 plus,
and no, I don't want to pull it out of my pocket or bag dozens of times a day.

I had an iPhone 5, and loved the form factor, but not the battery life. The 6+
can handle a couple of days of use as a smartphone and mobile internet access
point. The larger screen is irrelevant to me, but the larger battery matters.

I like that when the phone rings, I see who's calling on the watch. Same for
personal messages from my daughter, son, or +1. I like paying for coffee with
a bar code on my wrist. I care about the weather and appointments on my wrist,
and yes I have used it to call an Uber. The watch needs a better battery life,
and it will be a game changer when it becomes untethered. But for now, it is
fine just the way it is. I think the Apple Watch is a successful product.

As for the post, the title speaks to the watch being a failed _platform_. It
may well be that, Apple has commoditized iOS apps, the opportunity for people
to get stinking rich from watch apps is going to be smaller.

But if it can be a successful product, I think that is enough. IMO, Apple is
playing defense, not offense. Apple wins if people keep buying iPhones. The
danger with wearables is that by the time you can make a watch that replaces a
smartphone for a lot of use cases, Apple might get disrupted. Likewise if
watches tethered to smartphones were to become essential, Apple could get
disrupted if it had a poor experience.

The last thing Tim Cook wants is to wake up one day and find people walking
into stores, buying a Pebble Gizmo2016, and asking the clerk, "What's the
cheapest phone that works with my new Pebble?"

I have a feeling that the Apple Watch 1.0 is doing enough to hedge against
watches disrupting smartphones. As the leader in smartphones, that's its first
concern.

~~~
dillera
This is my case exactly. What else can it possibly do? It tells me the time,
wiggles my wrist for all my appts, reminders, messages, slacks, and even
answer phone calls. Oh and it tracks my pathetic exercise and motion as a
bonus.

I can now leave my iPhone6 on my desk at work, and on a table and home and
never have to carry it around with me (at those locations). It does exactly
what a >Watch< should do. It's not a computer it's a 2nd screen for my phone.

------
carsongross
I really think apple missed on the aesthetics with this one: they should have
gone with a round watch and used the rotating bezel (either physical or touch)
for input, rather than a tiny crown. Even if it remained a niche product,
which always seemed the most likely outcome, at least there would be some
interesting design work to do with a circular UX.

I think that Ressence Watches (which are, ironically, mechanical) has done the
most compelling modern watch design:

[http://ressencewatches.com/watches/type-3](http://ressencewatches.com/watches/type-3)

Something like the Type 3, with a touch-rotating bezel, would nail the
smartwatch aesthetic the way that the iPhone 5 hinted at the platonic ideal of
cell phones.

~~~
untog
They should have made the watch round so that it creates design busywork? I'm
not sure that's a strategy for product success.

~~~
carsongross
Well, as I said initially, I don't think that this product was ever going to
be a home run.

Regarding busywork, it's worth recalling that "the enemy of art is the absence
of limitations."

A circular UI would introduce some very interesting constraints and give
Apples designers a chance to work in a new problem space. The tension and
interplay there could lead to more interesting innovation than the scaled down
mobile screen they are currently have.

And using the bezel, rather than a tiny crown, as the rotational input, which
a circular watch allows, is an obvious usability win.

~~~
untog
I'm sorry, that all still sounds like busywork with some buzzwords thrown in
for good measure to me.

A screen that has the size and power limitations of the Apple Watch seems like
plenty of limitations to work with, to me.

~~~
vaishaksuresh
What do you mean busywork? Many Android watches have been doing great with a
round dial, vast majority of regular watches have round dial!

~~~
untog
I'm not saying that a round face is a bad idea, just that the OP suggested
making it round specifically so that the designers can explore a round watch
face. That's busywork.

(and I suspect Apple did it at some point in the development of the watch
anyway)

------
DannoHung
It's too fucking slow! Every interaction with a non-Apple app takes like 5
seconds just to boot the app.

Siri goes away and thinks for dozens of seconds when you ask her something and
sometimes never comes back. Even once text has been translated from speech, it
sometimes takes 5 seconds to actually send a text.

The functionality is amazing, but the speed of the device is abysmal.

I love everything that it does do, but it is too painful to do it.

~~~
davidbarker
I feel the same, to the point I'm now selling my watch and can't see myself
buying v2 unless there's a huge improvement.

I use it for telling the time, tracking my activity, and reading iMessages,
but I now know that attempting to do anything else I'd possibly want to (like
replying to a message) will take twice as long on the watch as it does to take
my phone out of my pocket and do it on there. It even lags while scrolling a
notification, sometimes.

Many of my friends are the same, although don't dislike it enough to sell it.
They don't plan to upgrade to the next version, however.

Edit: I also wish notifications were smarter. I like that you can choose which
apps have their notifications show up on the watch, but it's currently all or
nothing. I'd like to be able to choose what type of notifications show up. For
example, I want notifications for Twitter DMs on my watch, but not
notifications for likes, retweets, etc.

------
DarkTree
I assume smart watches are still way too early in their development life-cycle
to analyze whether or not they are useful as a product. Remember the original
iPhone? It didn't have the app store. The first day I got my iPhone 6, I
didn't have an internet connection and couldn't connect to anything. It felt
almost useless. I think the difference with smart watches is that we already
have the power/versatility of smart phones, in effect, we have already
realized their great potential. We didn't have this standard when getting the
first iPhone to compare it to. It's possible watches will have some type of
evolution that is as great (but probably less) from the first iPhone to the
6S.

I don't see myself buying a smart watch anytime soon, but I said the same
thing about buying a smartphone years ago.

~~~
meesterdude
> I don't see myself buying a smart watch anytime soon, but I said the same
> thing about buying a smartphone years ago.

But a smartphone solves problems. lots of problems. GPS, camera, email... it
does a lot. A smartwatch has to solve different problems, or current problems
better, to be useful. Whereas right now it's more fashion than function.

~~~
bamboo_7
Of course, the original iPhone didn't have GPS nor a camera that could compete
with any of the digital ones available at the time. I think the problem is
that almost all of the 3rd party apps run very slowly on the iWatch. I
_really_ want to know how close my Uber driver is by staring at my wrist, but
right now it's no faster than opening my phone.

------
melted
It's a watch first, computer second, not the other way around. And that's the
right way to do it, IMO. FWIW, I'm enjoying mine. Its heart rate monitor is
about as accurate as a chest strap. Its timekeeping is accurate (unlike with
Android Wear which sometimes struggles with this basic task). It shows me
which meeting I have next (if any). It tells me to stand up and shows text
messages. It lets me set the timer while I cook without touching anything.
Battery lasts a day and a half. And it'll only get better over time. That said
I don't use any apps aside from built in ones.

~~~
vaishaksuresh
If you think keeping time accurately is a notable feature in a $300+ digital
watch, you seriously need to re-think how you evaluate usefulness of a
product.

~~~
pbh101
Mechanical watches can be much more expensive and keep less accurate time.

In rare cases I've seen my MacBook Pro display stale time in the taskbar.
Haven't pinned it down yet.

In both cases the balance of usefulness paid for is found elsewhere in the
product.

~~~
vaishaksuresh
First, Not many people buy expensive mechanical watches. If they do, they
already know that the time may be inaccurate sometimes. Second, Macbook Pro is
not a great example since its primary purpose is not displaying time.

~~~
pbh101
Similarly, I don't think the primary purpose/raison d'etre of the Apple Watch
is to tell time. It certainly isn't what you're paying $300+ for.

~~~
vaishaksuresh
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then. I think it is a watch with
additional functions, not something else that also works as a watch. For me,
any smartwatch's primary purpose is telling time. Everything else it does is
secondary. Having said that, you shouldn't buy Apple Watch for _just_ telling
time. You're better off buying regular watch for that.

------
profmonocle
I feel the same way about Android Wear. I got my G Watch in 2014. I still like
it, but I'm not doing anything with it that I wasn't doing the first week I
had it.

Maybe it's the platform, or maybe there just aren't a ton of things I'm
interested in doing on my watch.

~~~
izacus
I'm not sure what's wrong about that though - it's a device that does it's
function well, what else was expected from a watch?!

~~~
profmonocle
Personally I'm fine with it. But some people expected smartwatches to have the
same momentum that smartwatch and tablet had in the early days - tons of new
apps, becoming more useful all the time, etc.

------
danso
Whew! I'm pretty sure I armchaired-critiqued the Watch when it first came out
(basically, my reasoning was that unlike the iphone, ipod, and ipad -- there
is not as much inherently appealing on paper about having a watch, because of
its physical form factor, among other things)...so now I can be a little
relieved that maybe I won't be a CmdrTaco/iPod meme 10 years from now :)

~~~
zer0defex
Have to disagree on this one. The 6th gen iPod nano
([https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare...](https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare/images/en_US/ipod/ipodnano/ipod-
nano-6th-gen.png)) is my absolute favorite, so if they made the Apple Watch
able to be an iPod without accompanying iphone AND able to support bluetooth
wireless headphones, I'm sold. Perfect fitness form factor.

~~~
wietsehage
It does support both actually. Apple Watch supports Bluetooth Headsets [2] and
untethered music playback using the 2GB internal memory [1].

[1] [http://m.imore.com/how-add-apple-music-playlists-your-
apple-...](http://m.imore.com/how-add-apple-music-playlists-your-apple-watch)

[2] [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204218](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT204218)

------
rubidium
It's a watch... what more do you want it to do than then text message,
notifications, fitness tracking, and telling you Uber info?

That seems like a pretty full plate for a 42mm screen.

~~~
vlehto
Show time, cost less than 100e and have battery life of 1 year. Just like my
old watch.

I don't expect to get these. But you asked what I _wanted_.

------
jakejake
It's interesting that new devices always have a ratio of "cool factor" vs
dorky, show-off or elitist (partly due to jealousy as well as actual
dorkiness). The iPhone for example, I'd sa initially had about 90% cool
factor, and about 10% of the negative. It's evolved to where probably only a
tiny minority of people consider an iPhone to be dorky.

Google glass, on the other hand, seems in my observation to have launched with
about 25% cool factor and 75% dorky, show-off, elitist kinda vibe to it. It
devolved from there.

Despite Apple's reputation for coolness, the watch seems like it's at about
50/50 on the scale at best. I love technology and probably have a reputable
score on the dorkiness scale myself. But, when I see Apple watches, they even
seem a bit much for me.

------
lectrick
They need to get the battery life above "1 day". I think that's what's
stopping MANY people. In my case, I almost _need_ sleep tracking (diagnosed
with a sleep disorder).

~~~
PhantomGremlin
_diagnosed with a sleep disorder_

I think this is a great future market. It's quite unfortunate that, although
the Apple watch has a pulse oximeter in it, the functionality is currently
disabled. Reportedly because it would then be a medical device in the eyes of
the FDA.

Good sleep tracking, just that one function, could conceivably sell millions
of units.

~~~
lectrick
Wow. I sincerely hope they're working on that! Seems like a silly distinction
to make

------
rchaud
I recently imported the Huawei Mediapad X2, a 7-inch phone with a 16:10 1200P
screen not unlike the Nexus 7. I use it both for phone functions (BT
headphones) but also as my primary web browsing, magazine/ebook reading and
mobile gaming/XBMC device.

A smartwatch is the perfect accessory to a device like this, which is too
large/unwieldy to use at the gym, or pull out for things like map directions,
public transit arrival times, email notifications, etc. None of these are a
problem with smaller phones, like the 6 Plus or Galaxy Note.

The Apple Watch is a poor solution for this, because, like the 2001 iPod, it
requires a Mac device to work. And even if it didn't, like Android Wear
devices, it must be tethered to a smartphone for most of its functions, as
opposed to functioning as a standalone device.

I understand Apple, Google, etc. don't want to cannibalize device sales, but
it seems ridiculous to me that a V1.0 smartwatch costing $300+ can't even
support music playback on local storage, or have a built-in GPS and maps that
work offline. If I'm on the go, I'd like to limit the number of expensive
devices I'm carrying with me where possible. I think the same goes for most
people, otherwise people would still be carrying their flip phones and digital
cameras around. Yes, of course there are hobbyists who need their DSLR with
them all the time, but the majority of people are happy with a solution that's
good enough and convenient enough.

I'm not even thinking about more advanced features like a built in video
camera that, with the appropriate strap, could act as a body cam or a helmet
cam. I'm sure future versions will offer such functionality, but V1.0
functionality is already so limited, I simply can't muster any enthusiasm for
this class of devices yet.

------
mdorazio
I'm still trying to figure out what an Apple Watch does that my iPhone doesn't
do better. Notifications might be nice, but if I'm sitting down my phone is
generally on the table/desk in front of me, and if I'm on the go I probably
have my phone out anyway, or can pull it out in about a second. Fitbit-type
functions would be nice, I suppose, but I'd rather just get a Fitbit for a
fraction of the cost.

A smart watch just doesn't seem to add anything significant in the way that
smart phones did. Smart phone benefits over a laptop are huge, but smart watch
benefits over a smart phone are quite small. I think we're just seeing the
natural limitations of a product with this form factor.

~~~
nilkn
The watch is a pretty decent fitness tracker. Certainly better than an iPhone.
It's more expensive than a FitBit, though the FitBit Surge is not cheap at
$250.

Notifications are actually really nice. My phone has been on silent for
months. When I'm at home, I never, ever have my phone with me anymore.
Basically wherever I go I just put my phone down and forget about it because
the watch is a sufficient proxy. Is it life changing? Nope, but it's
definitely convenient.

I've taken phone calls through my watch when cooking before. That was actually
really cool.

I think you're forgetting that it's also, well, a watch. I always find it
silly how people underplay the fact that smartwatches are also just watches.
In my case, I have the time, date, temperature / weather conditions, next
meeting time, activity tracking, and the time of sunrise/sunset all available
with a split second glance on my wrist. Again, it's not life changing, but it
sure is convenient. The sport band is also way more comfortable than almost
all traditional watches I've ever worn; I often barely notice I have it on.

I flew a bunch recently and I loved having my gate and terminal information
for my next flight right on my watchface.

I don't regret getting the watch at all. It's been a really pleasant companion
on my wrist.

I've never really understood why people are mystified by smartwatches. They're
just watches that do more and provide more information. People wear them for
the same reason they would wear any watch. They're not even that expensive.
Maybe $350 sounds like a lot, but I can find you hundreds of Citizen quarts
watches for that price or more. $350 is just not high in the watch world.

~~~
mdorazio
Great points. I think I'm just not a smart watch person in general. The added
convenience factor just doesn't seem worth wearing a bulky device on my wrist
that I can't use to get work done. I still have an iPhone 5s because I like
being able to easily carry my phone in a pocket everywhere, and still have
full-fledged input/output and connectivity capabilities. If I had a phablet
things might be different.

------
jakejake
I find it ironic that the iPhone itself probably got a significant number of
people out of the habit of wearing watches. Once my phone could tell me what
time it was, that was the end of my watch-wearing days. Though, I never really
liked them anyway.

~~~
rchaud
Cell phones have always been able to tell time. I wore a watch all the way
until I purchased my first dumbphone. I'm not interested in watches for
accessorizing/aesthetic purposes, so as soon as it's primary function was
supplanted by my phone, I ditched it.

------
jbob2000
Everyone who wasn't wearing rose-tinted glasses knew this. Even when the
pebble came out, I was skeptical. What can you do with an interface and
battery that small?

It's too awkward to hold your arm out for the amount of time needed to
meaningfully interact with it. They're big and clunky on small wrists, and the
screen is way too small for people with big fingers. For the price you pay for
one, you can get a really nice designer watch, which isn't limited by the
lifetime of lithium-ion batteries.

It's just a silly gimmick, but so many people have buyer's remorse about it,
that they forced themselves into the habit of using it.

~~~
lemevi
I don't think my pebble time is a gimmick. Not having to fumble through my bag
to pull out my phone on every other notification or to check the time makes
the pebble worth it. It's not a gimmick, it's a time saver.

I also no longer have notification noises on, I just have a thing on my wrist
that vibrates. Again, a not insignificant quality of life improvement.

If I used iOS instead of Android I'd probably have an Apple Watch instead of a
PT, since that works better with that platform.

I don't really care about smart watches being a platform for apps. Maybe that
has stalled, but it doesn't matter to me. I haven't found a single app for the
PT I think is useful. It doesn't mean I don't find my PT useful. If I lost it
today, I'd order another one without hesitation.

~~~
jbob2000
Perhaps this is where you and I differ, but I can honestly say there is no
notification I have received in the last week, even month, that required my
immediate attention. Every single one could have waited 5-10 minutes until I
was able to pull out my phone. And my phone is generally on the desk in front
of me, so I can see the notifications anyways.

I have to ask, what are you doing that it is so important for you to see the
notifications immediately? I just have a hard time imagining what notification
is so important that you need something vibrating on your wrist to tell you of
it.

~~~
nilkn
For me, it's not about notifications being so urgent. It's about convenience.
I definitely do get very important notifications sometimes, but probably very
few that need to be responded to faster than 5-10 minutes.

The thing is that I never have to even remember to check. That's why it's so
convenient. I've completely eliminated "check phone for notifications" from my
mental to-do list. That's a task I simply never have to do again. That might
not count for much for you, but in my case I like just being able to place my
phone down, forget about it for potentially hours, and still not have to worry
about missing anything.

------
charlieegan3
I didn't think I wanted one until I saw someone else using one. I bought one
and used it for a week before returning it. I didn't keep it because: the
screen was unusable when damp, the connection to my phone was really slow, the
watch itself was also slow. The strava app was particularly bad.

It was good for pausing music and choosing podcasts with the overcast app.

I've now got a Garmin 235. It's much more comfortable, has a GPS, better
battery etc. It also does all the health stuff and has an HRM.

------
VLM
Might be useful to turn it around and consider how the phone ecosystem has
changed. I got my phone, I play podcasts, audiobooks, email, web browser,
maps, music, kindle app, and nothing has changed in several years on my phone.

The article was very unclear about what rapidly changed in the phone market
for all but the earliest adopters. And given that its basically a phone 2nd
display, its not new at all.

------
giaour
I bought an Android wear watch, and it's mostly just good for politely
declining phone calls when you're in company.

------
anthony_franco
The biggest issue with the Apple Watch is that third-party apps are heavily
stunted. Basic things like audio/video streaming and audio recording aren't
supported yet (only for Apple's own apps). Once the OS is upgraded to support
additional features I think we'll see the ecosystem expand a lot more.

------
vermooten
A propos of nothing, I love my Watch (a self-gift 2 weeks ago) but I can't see
a thing on it except the time unless I have my glasses on. And I really only
have my glasses on when I'm working on my laptop (which is a lot) in which
case I can see the time on the screen, no need to move my arm.

But I still love it.

------
mst
When the iPhone was about this mature, it didn't even have native apps yet.
One presumes that the watch will become substantially more powerful and better
utilised over time too.

~~~
jinushaun
Maybe it is just me, but iPhone in 2007 was revolutionary and mind-blowing.
You had grown men crying and falling off their seats during the keynote.
Before native apps, before GPS, before 3G—the iPhone blew people's socks and
changed the world. The critics and skeptics were quickly silenced in 2007.
People broke contracts and paid extra fees! People switched carriers and put
up with bad voice quality and dropped calls to continue owning one. Millions
put up with a slow buggy phone. People didn't have buyers remorse and return
it en masse—they bought a new one each year! Year after year you had long
lines at stores on launch day.

Does anyone else not remember this?!

From comments online, I find it really hard to believe that the world has
collectively forgotten that. Did I live in a bubble, or is everyone else's
memory of 2007 just way off? From what I remembered, it was outright mass
hysteria.

The watch, OTOH, just doesn't excite people the same way. Critics and skeptics
have not been silenced. It doesn't even excite their owners the same way.
People are buying and returning the watches. Owners are defensive when talking
about the watch, instead of the cult-like adoration and mass hysteria that
followed the original iPhone.

------
sirmiller
Looks like you have been living under a rock.

I constantly add new stuff to my watch. Ranging from simple apps to complete
workflow solutions.

Give me 2 more month and I can replace one of my DevOps with my watch.

~~~
sirmiller
To elaborate a little with one example:

1) One of our server goes down. 2) My watch tells me about it. 3) I can decide
a) Reboot it b) Replace it c) Send a callout to my Ops team.

All in less than 10 seconds ... used to take 10 minutes, including taking out
my laptop, checking what's going on, finding out who's on call.

We have a few dozen of these.

~~~
untog
_All in less than 10 seconds ... used to take 10 minutes, including taking out
my laptop_

If it's possible with an Apple Watch, surely you could also do it on your
iPhone?

That's the problem with the watch for me - not that it can't do things, but
that those things are also possible on an iPhone, and the extra
expense/remembering to charge/etc isn't worth it for the ~3 second
convenience.

