QOTW: Are you buying an Apple Watch?

[TheAnimus]

i don't think many will buy the apple watch just to tell the time, but for the functionality it can offer. other watches may be more suitable for you, so i'd suggest you consider buying one that's suitable for you, as others will buy what they think is suitable for them. you may think it's ugly, but others don't. have a look at some clothes stores and you will see things you like and things you don't, and people will wear different things. some may think what you wear is ugly. it's far from a failure of concept. i'm sure it will make apple lots of money, and that's the primary objective of a commercial business. apple have so much money if the first one isn't that great, they can learn from it and improve future models and make even more money

True, but when it's a watch, that is a primary role people expect.

As for functionality, I'm confused as to what it has that the established market does not, that is, besides marketing.

I agree style and fashion is subjective.

As is, I think things like the fitbit (ok I own one) the garmin (friend I ride with has one) and MS Band (hopefully getting mine next week) are better, as they are not a replacement for your watch, so don't have to address the primary limitation, that is, unacceptable battery life for a watch role.

The fact you can't use it as a fitness tracker without the iPhone is a major limitation.

I'd actually say this device has already existed, or has in part, it's called the nano with a wrist strap, which is a bit erm, uncromulent, they may have fixed that with the UI.

To me the 'watch' has two main functions, one is notification, the other, fitness tracking. Notification, you want a better battery life, such as that offered by the pebble. Fitness tracking, it on paper, lacks many things offered by much, much cheaper devices. Notably the poor battery life and lack of expansion support for say cyclists that you'd find on Garmin.

I'm not slagging people off, calling them iSheep, it's just anything it does is currently better done by established products on the market. The price point is extravogant considering what is offered. Plus it's Apple, you know the early adopters aren't going to be well treated (No gps/3g, no Front Facing Camera etc)

[Unique]

True, but when it's a watch, that is a primary role people expect.

i'd say that was a lot of generalising about a huge amount of different people buying a product

it's not just a watch. it's a smart watch. or to be more technical, it's a computer that is designed to be worn on the wrist and be able to undertake a number of different tasks, with a huge amount of flexibility as to what those tasks can do

when buying a normal watch, the primary role people may expect may be to tell the time, but this is much more than a watch and i doubt many people will be buying it just to tell the time

As for functionality, I'm confused as to what it has that the established market does not, that is, besides marketing.

well you can research what it can do, or if you wait a few weeks until they've been despatched and people have been using them and posting reviews and comments online and talking about what they do with it, then things may become clearer. it certainly offers something very useful to me, which isn't telling the time. but for various reasons i don't want to state what that is, however i'm sure i'm not the only one that's figured this out and others will be buying for the same reasons

I agree style and fashion is subjective.

As is, I think things like the fitbit (ok I own one) the garmin (friend I ride with has one) and MS Band (hopefully getting mine next week) are better, as they are not a replacement for your watch, so don't have to address the primary limitation, that is, unacceptable battery life for a watch role.

The fact you can't use it as a fitness tracker without the iPhone is a major limitation.

maybe to you, but not to others. whilst i have an iphone i have no interest in a device telling me how unfit and lazy i am and how little i walk each day. other people may be intersted in being able to check facebook and/or twitter and texts whilst the phone remains in their pocket. i don't cycle but perhaps checking things on your wrist is safer than holding a phone, and there may be other things like that. millions of people will buy them and they will have their own reasons. i'm also sure other companies will take some of those ideas and copy them

I'd actually say this device has already existed, or has in part, it's called the nano with a wrist strap, which is a bit erm, uncromulent, they may have fixed that with the UI.

To me the 'watch' has two main functions, one is notification, the other, fitness tracking. Notification, you want a better battery life, such as that offered by the pebble. Fitness tracking, it on paper, lacks many things offered by much, much cheaper devices. Notably the poor battery life and lack of expansion support for say cyclists that you'd find on Garmin.

I'm not slagging people off, calling them iSheep, it's just anything it does is currently better done by established products on the market. The price point is extravogant considering what is offered. Plus it's Apple, you know the early adopters aren't going to be well treated (No gps/3g, no Front Facing Camera etc)

but you don't have the item and have never used it so how can you say what it does is done better by established products?

as for price, people said the same about many things, but many people that buy the products say they are worth the money. you can sometimes buy better items, sometimes cheaper, but sometimes people just like the way some things work for them and that makes it value for money for them. i don't think £300 for a watch is particularly extravagant considering other "brand" watches people buy around that price point for fashion reasons (i used to work in fashion retail so quite familiar with overpriced items that people love to buy to show off). it's certainly cheaper than the ipad and iphone and i thought both were good value for money, although i bought my ipads second hand and got them for bargain prices. i could have got a newer cheaper android one, but like for like spec wise i would have had to pay a bit more for a galaxy tab 2 or 3 or whatever than i paid for the ipad

i had the first iphone and loved it, it was the best phone on the market for me, and i did a lot of research, very open minded about it, except i had no intention of buying an iphone, but that's what i bought. i had the first ipad too. both great devices, even though later models have improved. i expect the same here. a great device, but in time i may wish to upgrade to a newer model. but apple stuff usually holds it's price well, and sometimes old retro products in boxes hold value well, so whilst i see people talking about buying x watch x years ago and it holding value, in 20 years a boxed apple watch model 1 could be worth more than i paid for it, but in a couple of years i may get £100 - £150 for it so i've had 2 years of use for £150 or so. i don't think the other cheaper models you refer to will hold value in the same way. so taking into consideration resale, price for price the cost of use over a period can be similar. perhaps a bit more, but a bit more to pay for something you like better is sometimes worth it

[tomthum]

Are you buying an SPYWARE Watch?




NSA & GCHQ THE ONLY GOVERMENT GOONS THAT LIKE TO LISTEN

[b0redom]

I can't see myself buying an iWatch for the foreseeable future, and I have a load of Apple gear.

I recently got a really good deal on a Garmin 920XT, so I went for that. It's got the same functionality as the 910XT it replaced (GPS, swim/bike/run metrics etc) and also the Garmin health and fitness tracking stuff.

After I bought it, I found that it could also connect to my phone via Bluetooth, and do call/messaging/application updates. I set it up, and disabled it within a couple of hours as having all those updates constantly pinging on my wrist was unbelievably annoying.

I've not done much training since doing my Ironman last month, but I decided to charge the watch the other day. It's been in use as a watch with maybe a couple of hours of running/cycling for 2 weeks, and the battery was still > 30%.

Having to charge the watch every day for normal use would be a deal breaker for me.

[peterb]

Are you buying an SPYWARE Watch?




NSA & GCHQ THE ONLY GOVERMENT GOONS THAT LIKE TO LISTEN

No we are talking about the watch - and if you think that the only world government agencies are carrying out surveillance is the UK and the USA, you need to wake up and smell the coffee. At least those agencies are operating within a legal framework!

But if you are that concerned, you had better unplug your computer from the internet, get rid of your mobile phone, and live in splendid isolation as a hermit!

[TheAnimus]

i'd say that was a lot of generalising about a huge amount of different people buying a product

It's called a watch. That should be a function it does very well.

it's not just a watch. it's a smart watch. or to be more technical, it's a computer that is designed to be worn on the wrist and be able to undertake a number of different tasks, with a huge amount of flexibility as to what those tasks can do

when buying a normal watch, the primary role people may expect may be to tell the time, but this is much more than a watch and i doubt many people will be buying it just to tell the time

Indeed, but they still expect it to tell the time, for more than a day.
[QUOTE=Unique;3452893]well you can research what it can do, or if you wait a few weeks until they've been despatched and people have been using them and posting reviews and comments online and talking about what they do with it, then things may become clearer. it certainly offers something very useful to me, which isn't telling the time. but for various reasons i don't want to state what that is, however i'm sure i'm not the only one that's figured this out and others will be buying for the same reasons[.QUOTE]My question is, why would that use not be from the established players, the moto 360 or samsung or pebble or heck, even sony? If it's more of a fitness thing, why not Fitbit or Garmin or MS?

maybe to you, but not to others. whilst i have an iphone i have no interest in a device telling me how unfit and lazy i am and how little i walk each day. other people may be intersted in being able to check facebook and/or twitter and texts whilst the phone remains in their pocket. i don't cycle but perhaps checking things on your wrist is safer than holding a phone, and there may be other things like that. millions of people will buy them and they will have their own reasons. i'm also sure other companies will take some of those ideas and copy them

Indeed, but this is something they are marketing the device directly at, they even have one called sport!

but you don't have the item and have never used it so how can you say what it does is done better by established products?

Indeed, but they have to communicate that feature.

i had the first iphone and loved it, it was the best phone on the market for me, and i did a lot of research, very open minded about it, except i had no intention of buying an iphone, but that's what i bought. i had the first ipad too. both great devices, even though later models have improved. i expect the same here. a great device, but in time i may wish to upgrade to a newer model. but apple stuff usually holds it's price well, and sometimes old retro products in boxes hold value well, so whilst i see people talking about buying x watch x years ago and it holding value, in 20 years a boxed apple watch model 1 could be worth more than i paid for it, but in a couple of years i may get £100 - £150 for it so i've had 2 years of use for £150 or so. i don't think the other cheaper models you refer to will hold value in the same way. so taking into consideration resale, price for price the cost of use over a period can be similar. perhaps a bit more, but a bit more to pay for something you like better is sometimes worth it

The problem is everyone I know who had one, banged on about how great it was, yet, when say finding the pub after work, it was down to us without it, because GPS, or browsing the web, because O2 was too slow on < 3g.

The marketing was obnoxious, as were many of the users, this pissed us off a bit! This is what I was trying to say, apples advertising is overt, in your face and often, demonstrably false and quite offensive, the whole Mac vs PC thing was enough to make me never consider been seen using a Mac.

[Unique]

It's called a watch. That should be a function it does very well.

do you have any reason to doubt it can tell the time? an ipod isn't a pod. it's just got pod in the name

Indeed, but they still expect it to tell the time, for more than a day.

from what i understand it can do. however as it is designed to do considerably more than just tell the time, people will typically doing more than just tell the time, and do things which may run the batter down. just like smartphones batteries can last for a long time just like non smart phones, but as they have more functionality, and people will often use the additional functionality, in turn the batter will run down quicker

i would imagine most people who would buy an apple watch would have the facilities to be able to charge the device each day/night whilst asleep, either at home or in a hotel etc, so it's not really going to be a particular problem for most. many people these days are used to charging up smart phones on a daily basis, and even having portable batteries that can charge phones, or the ability to charge in cars, so it would just be another device that requires regular charging, so not a major change to the lifestyles of most of the type of people who may consider buying a product. remember to make full use of the apple watch you need an iphone, which can tell the time too

it certainly doesn't seem to be an issue for me

My question is, why would that use not be from the established players, the moto 360 or samsung or pebble or heck, even sony? If it's more of a fitness thing, why not Fitbit or Garmin or MS?

you might not have fully ready what i posted, but i have no interest in fitness

if alternate products were what i wanted, i would have bought them if i wanted them. those products don't do what the apple watch does though

Indeed, but this is something they are marketing the device directly at, they even have one called sport!

i think you are getting too hung up on names. i hate all sports, i have no interest in sports, i have no interest in fitness. fitness and sports may be connected, but are seperate things. whilst i'm not into sports i see a lot of fat blokes in pubs drinking beer and wearing football shirts at times. just as you don't need to play an instrument or be able to do so so enjoy music, you don't need to participate in sport to enjoy watching it. i've bought the sports model and i'll be having nothing to do with sport or fitness on it. the ipod isn't a pod, the imac isn't scottish or an apple. the pebble watch isn't a pebble is it? why focus on the name of one manufacturers product, and not another? it's just a name. look at an argos catalogue and you'll see all sorts of stuff with names that may suggest to you something else. the actor called the rock isn't made of stone or rock. google glass isn't made of glass

Indeed, but they have to communicate that feature.

what feature? you were trying to say that other devices do things better than the apple watch, without owning or having used the apple watch. how can you say other devices do something better without trying the product you are saying they do it better than? even though "better" is only your opinion, it's an opinion without any real merit if you've not done any real comparison. you may find after using one for a while that in your opinion the apple watch is better than other devices for doing some or all things, but without trying you can't really tell. no consumers even have the product yet to even base your opinion on anyone elses real world comments of usage

The problem is everyone I know who had one, banged on about how great it was, yet, when say finding the pub after work, it was down to us without it, because GPS, or browsing the web, because O2 was too slow on < 3g.

that sounds like a problem with the carrier o2 as opposed to the actual device. i personally thought it was great, and a better browsing device than any other phone available at the time the first iphone came out, if that's the phone you are referring to

The marketing was obnoxious, as were many of the users, this pissed us off a bit! This is what I was trying to say, apples advertising is overt, in your face and often, demonstrably false and quite offensive, the whole Mac vs PC thing was enough to make me never consider been seen using a Mac.

well that's your opinion, but those adverts were some time ago and have nothing to do with the product being discussed. if the adverts were demontrably false as you say, they would fall foul of advertising rules in the UK, but were they?

[AGTDenton]

A no from me - I'll stick to naked wrists and generally never caring for time. Wouldn't want to raise anyones expectations of me

[kopite]

I can't see myself buying an iWatch for the foreseeable future, and I have a load of Apple gear.

I recently got a really good deal on a Garmin 920XT, so I went for that. It's got the same functionality as the 910XT it replaced (GPS, swim/bike/run metrics etc) and also the Garmin health and fitness tracking stuff.

After I bought it, I found that it could also connect to my phone via Bluetooth, and do call/messaging/application updates. I set it up, and disabled it within a couple of hours as having all those updates constantly pinging on my wrist was unbelievably annoying.

I've not done much training since doing my Ironman last month, but I decided to charge the watch the other day. It's been in use as a watch with maybe a couple of hours of running/cycling for 2 weeks, and the battery was still > 30%.

Having to charge the watch every day for normal use would be a deal breaker for me.

Hey mate, Bit of a thread hi-jack but I was just wondering what are your thoughts on the 920xt. I've been using a 310xt for a couple of years now but I am tempted to get the 920 at some point to replace it especially as I want to one day do an ironman.

[brunoeiti]

Yes.

I tried 2 Android Watches and both where really bad... Looked like an unfinished product...

I Have macbook, iPhone and iPad usually Apple products integrate well. I hope this still true

[zmarkella]

No, I already got a smart watch - I've been using a Garmin 920XT since mid-November.

It works without a phone. I works with both Android and iPhone. With my 'normal' usage (15+ hours of training) it lasts almost a week. Any notification on the phone pops up on the watch itself - great when you're out cycling for hours and the wife wants to get hold of you.

Hey mate, Bit of a thread hi-jack but I was just wondering what are your thoughts on the 920xt. I've been using a 310xt for a couple of years now but I am tempted to get the 920 at some point to replace it especially as I want to one day do an ironman.

It's great! Honestly. Done 200+ hours of training with it. Using it as a day-to-day watch as well.

[b0redom]

Hey mate, Bit of a thread hi-jack but I was just wondering what are your thoughts on the 920xt. I've been using a 310xt for a couple of years now but I am tempted to get the 920 at some point to replace it especially as I want to one day do an ironman.

Absolutely awesome bit of kit. I upgraded from the 910xt, and that in itself was a pretty hefty upgrade from the 310xt I had before.

You don't really need a 920xt for Ironman training though. There were plenty of 310xts at Outlaw last year, and plenty of both at IM Melbourne.

I had my 910xt from launch, and the stuff I've noticed the 920xt has that the 910xt didn't are:

Better battery life
It's designed to be used as a watch as well as a GPS training device
Ability to set up your own profiles - duathlon, aquathlon etc
Colour screen
Slightly thinner
Bluetooth
Wifi
Phone pairing for call/sms/app notification

I only got mine a week or so before IM Melbourne, so I've only had it about a month, and only really used it a handful of times - didn't fancy doing too much training directly after the race!

Will probably be selling my 910xt on here when I get around to it!

[Mengz]

Are you buying an SPYWARE Watch?

NSA & GCHQ THE ONLY GOVERMENT GOONS THAT LIKE TO LISTEN

No we are talking about the watch - and if you think that the only world government agencies are carrying out surveillance is the UK and the USA, you need to wake up and smell the coffee. At least those agencies are operating within a legal framework!

Actually, they bend ( or subvert ) the law by using overseas agencies to spy on their own citizens. This way the law is not technically broken, we do the same in kind , They hate us all equally

but yea, in any case your right in principle.


~~~


BTW No to a smart watch for me.. Its my age im sure but they seem a bit camp, but that could be the apple factor

[pollaxe]

I can't really see a compelling case for them, just yet. It's something I might look at in a couple of generation's time, perhaps. I'd want better battery life and many more health-monitoring capabilities, to name but two things.

Also, if they stopped handing them out to virtually every celebrity under the sun, maybe they'd actually be able to get some stock out to the regular users!