The biggest announcement at Apple’s conference in 2014 was the long awaited Apple Watch. For years it had been rumoured and finally it looked as though the smartwatch revolution was finally underway. Apple fans and non-Apple fans were equally excited, the release date came and went and….
Well, not much really.
The Apple Watch seemed to be selling OK, but they certainly didn’t appear as ubiquitous on the wrists of people as iPhones were when they were first released. Apple refused to announce sales figures leading many to believe that they might not be as good as expected. Things certainly didn’t look good for Apple and, surprisingly, a follow up has yet to be announced (although it is expected). But in recent weeks it seems like more and more users might actually be ditching the Apple Watch, let’s have a look at why that is.
“It Turns Out I Didn’t Miss It”
One of the issues that many people have said about smartwatches over the years is that they have yet to find that “can’t live without” feature. Sure, some can make and receive phone calls and send and receive texts – but you already have your phone for that. Some can track your fitness activities – but once again, other (cheaper) devices can do that (and do you really want to risk breaking your expensive Apple Watch during sporting activity?)
Sure, the Apple Watch has a whole host of features that you may find interesting or exciting. But how many of them could you not live without? As columnist for the Mercury News Troy Wolverton found out, “I simply didn’t have a compelling reason to wear it. And it turns out I didn’t miss it.” While he noted slightly useful features such as storing boarding passes, he decided in the end that “(it’s) a limited device that doesn’t do anything particularly well.”
“…The Apple Watch Just Wasn’t Working Out For Me”
Other people were even more scathing than Troy about their experience with the Apple Watch. James Cook of Business Insider said that after four months of perseverance he decided that the Apple Watch “just wasn’t working out for me (and I gave it a good go).”
James was one of the early adopters of the Apple Watch and he says that he even queued up outside of the Apple Store in order to be one of the first customers to try one on. He concedes that there are some things he misses: Notifications, fitness data, the weather and the fact that it is a great conversation starter. But overall he said that it just isn’t enough and for now he will “pack it up and throw it to the back of a drawer.”
“It Was Just a Fancy £600 Bracelet”
Battery life has been a constant complaint from Apple customers about so many of their products, so it’s no surprise to see it again here. One of the biggest problems for people who actually want to use their watch is that, if the battery on a smartwatch runs out – it’s no use whatsoever. Michael Sawh of Trusted Reviews said that he could no see Apple making the same mistake as other smartwatch developers. But, he added, “I think it was the moment when I woke up at a friend’s house, lifted my wrist and saw a blank screen that I knew, sadly, that I’d been wrong.”
Despite some of the features that it does well, Michael was disappointed to realise that, unfortunately, Apple hadn’t “thought differently” with the Apple Watch. He explained, “my experience with the Apple Watch feels all too similar to how I’ve felt about every single Samsung smartwatch so far.”
He is a little more optimistic about the future, though, adding that Apple also made mistakes with the first ever iPhone and iPad. He thinks that Apple could get things right in the future if they make sure that they spend their time wisely ensuring that they get things right. But he ominously adds at the end that he’s “not convinced the world is truly ready for smartwatches.” Which is perhaps something Apple agree with and may be why the Apple Watch 2 isn’t available just yet.
“I Ditched My Apple Watch For A Regular Watch”
James Croft of Gizmodo found that he took a completely different direction to many other watch consumers. While you would often expect people who loved a regular wrist watch to perhaps be interested in the extra features an Apple Watch brings – it’s more surprising to see someone move from an Apple back to a regular wrist watch.
However, James did just that, finding that he just didn’t find most of the features useful – except one feature he really enjoyed – “the date and time!” Unfortunately the Apple Watch just didn’t seem to cut it in that department for him – he found checking the time incredibly unreliable. James explained, “You do a subtle wrist turn. Nothing. You try again. Nope. Before long, you’re snapping your wrist up like a French mime waiting for an imaginary bus.” Doesn’t sound terribly fun, does it?
James decided to look about for a watch which could allow him to check the time without accidentally hitting a child in the fact as he flicked his wrist. After picking up a beautiful Seiko watch he was amazed by the timelessness of the device, “It won’t get any better (or worse) one year, ten years, or even twenty years from now.” He considered that a mechanical watch was a piece of wearable art but that an Apple Watch is just a device which will one day go out of date and that “I think I’ve got enough of those kind of gadgets.”
Conclusion
The Apple Watch is certainly not a complete disaster, but it doesn’t seem to have learned from the mistakes of previous smartwatch releases. While it is certainly more beautiful and more user friendly than other smartwatches, it has not yet managed to stumble across that “must have” feature which will finally make everyone flock to the smartwatch.
As the Apple Watch 2 announcement appears to be just around the corner it is going to be interesting to see if it manages to resolve some of the problems that people have found with the original. Or is the Apple Watch destined to suffer the same fate as previous smartwatches from other manufacturers.
We’ll just have to wait and see…
Images: Shinya Suzuki, Dolzhen Zhargalsaykhan
Sources: Mercury News, Business Insider, Gizmodo, Trusted Reviews
