Image from Apple
The announcement of the Apple Watch has come and gone, and yet, civilizations are still intact, and the sun still rises in the East. Apple has made a nice smartwatch, but they haven’t cyborg’d planet earth quite yet. In the end, this is the age of opinion — there will be lots of people who will love it, and lots of people who love to say they hate it.
The key point is that everyone now knows the Apple Watch exists. The scope of the coverage of the news was overwhelming. That’s the way Apple does things, and the media plays along.
And given that a certain percentage of people are predisposed to loving anything Apple does, we think we can say with confidence that the Apple Watch is already by far the most popular smartwatch on the market right now, without having sold a single unit yet. Call it the Apple Bump.
A main consensus of public reaction is that the Digital Crown feature — where a side knob is used to scroll through screens — will be a huge hit, and will likely turn into an innovation that defines smartwatches in the future. Besides, it’s about time someone came up with a new way to scroll a screen.
On the other hand, there was a lot of disappointment about the styling, in particular the square screen. Many people had anticipated a round screen like the Moto360, or something even more groundbreaking. Plenty of commentators observed that the device was thicker than they hoped. The array of watchstrap options was a real plus on the styling side, though.
As we said, the device’s functionality is truly impressive, and there was general agreement about that. A widely-distributed Associated Press article by Anick Jesdanun called the Apple Watch “a winner”, and the writer singled out the touchscreen and several of the new apps for particular praise.
Many commentators had opinions about the price range, which starts at $349 and ends who knows where. There’s an idea going around that the Apple Watch will eventually elevate the smartwatch market from the gadget range up towards the higher end watch range. It is indeed an intriguing thought that the smartwatch might be better perceived and received as a high-quality luxury product, made with precious metals and all the bells and whistles.
Echoing our observations, Mashable’s Adario Strange said battery life still might end up being the Apple Watch’s “achilles heel”. Many observers noted Apple’s loud silence concerning battery life, and most people seem to be saying that that one day’s worth of charge is simply not going to cut it in today’s world.
The bottom line? The Apple Watch is generally a very impressive device that a lot of people now know about. The analysts who said its entry into the market would transform the smartwatch market are certain to be right. How long will it be before the AppleWatch, as a fully-contained stand-alone device, starts replacing the iPhone? Two or three years, at most. That’s when this thing gets really good.