Are some Apple Watch features shaky?

What is Apple Watch? It is not as easy an answer as it might look.
Despite its name, Apple Watch IS A DISPLAY and INTERACTION EXTENSION TO your iPhone placed on your wrist, which accidentally happened to get a ‘watch’ in its name. Oh, by the way, it also shows the time. If you are not OK with pulling your iPhone 6 from a pocket, and you are ok with buying a new Apple Watch model every two years to not get outdated, then you can consider Apple Watch for purchase. I just would like to remind you about some important weak spots of several features that Apple Watch is promising to deliver.

There’s an Apple Watch for everyone. Apple, www.apple.com/watch

Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black. Henry Ford

What to be aware in the Apple Watch?

• iPhone dependency - Most functions will likely have limitations if the Apple Watch is not connected online to your iPhone.
• Siri - does anybody knows a non-native speaker using Siri?Please, give me a contact in the comments below the article. Are you a non native speaker? No iPhone or offline? No Siri.
• Apple Pay - the idea of paying just using my wrist is superb. Be AWARE that the feature is only available in the US, and when and how it will function in Europe remain a matter of speculation.
• Passbook - is anybody using this outside the US?
• Heart rate monitoring - Apple will have to deliver a technical breakthrough in monitoring your heartbeat using optical sensors. Optical measurement devices suffer inaccuracy that prohibits using them in serious sports or medical utilities.
• GPS - no GPS capability in Apple Watch itself. So, without iPhone - forget it.
• Navigation - Apple Maps? Apple Maps for pedestrians? Apple Maps for pedestrians in Europe? Show me somebody who uses Apple Maps for navigation in Europe - especially for walking and running. Apple Maps are far below Google.
• Daily charging - no more comments.
• It is a computer - software maintenance and issues most likely will arise.
• Activity&Fitness apps - the very same apps you will get on your iPhone. Well, Apple promises extra data from the watch accelerometer and heart rate monitor - it is rightfully questionable now whether the data will be accurate enough, or if you really need it. The future will show.
• Water resistance - It is unclear to what degree Apple Watch will be water-resistant. But I guess there will be water resistance to certain degree - otherwise ‘No comment’.

Smart watches - smart phone companions or autonomous cooperating devices?

Smart watches can establish themselves as a product category for mainstream users only if they manage pupblic perception of the following:

• smart watch is not a watch, but a ‘must have’ extension to your smartphone.
• Or smart watches must evolve into autonomous devices overlapping with smartphones in features like calls, messages and GPS.

Smart watches can’t win over traditional watches in terms of their function as a timepiece - status, portability and design attractiveness while delivering time awareness are the main angles of perception in this category.

A users decision to replace his/her watch with a smart watch would have to come as a ‘by-product’ of his/her decision to go for the advantages of using the ‘smartphone’ extension.
Otherwise a user is not gonna sacrifice the benefit of a traditional watch for the disadvantages of a smart watch.

Pitfalls with advertising smart watches as watches

Smart watches are entering the arena of traditional watches. There are two phenomena that drive the sales of watches: ‘watches built to last for ever’ and ‘watches to amaze this year’, same as my ‘necklace jewelery’. Well, the first category comes with high prices and solid designs that last. The second category comes with lower prices and trendy design excesses. Smart watches are coming from a corner of ‘upgrade every second year’ mentality. Are people ready to buy a new smart watch every second year? Or are smart-watch companies ready to produce smart watches that last for a long time, without a degradation in user experience?
I see Apple Watches coming to the market with prices of ‘rock solid ever lasting’ watches on one hand, and offering marginal design and an uncertain outlook that the Watches might be technically outdated in only two or three years from now.

Apple marketing about Apple Watch now

Well, I consider Apple Watch’s main source of information to be on Apple website¹.

The rectangular design is the constructors’ choice over the designers. Why?

Just look at which wrist-watch designs are most popular by sales.
Apart from smart watches, there are nearly NO rectangular watches on eBay², Amazon³ and Watch Store⁴.

That plus the fact that Android smart-watch competitors have already chosen rectangular shapes for their watches - why did Apple choose rectangular also? I don’t get it.

There are NO rectangular wrist watches among the best-selling watch models these days!

Look at man’s wrist-watch design details - man’s watches are NOT AS ROUNDED as Apple Watch presents itself.

Personally, the Apple Watch design reminds me of the ‘calculator watches’ design from ’70s and ’80s ⁵.

My conclusion is that the Apple Watch design is going against ‘everything’ popular in the last two decades of the watch market.

Further articles about popular watch designs here⁶ and here⁷⁸.

I am looking forward to seeing how people will adopt the Apple Watch design. I am VERY curious.