Make it useful

In a piece by The Guardian titled “Wall Street’s reaction to the Apple Watch? It will sell millions – but meh…” (via M.G. Siegler):

Wood said the watch was likely to sell millions in the first wave. “Honestly, if it only told the time, it would sell millions; that’s how desirable Apple products are. The challenge for Apple is how do you drive demand after the first wave of the Apple fanboys who will buy it at any cost.”

Sigh. Oh, gosh, we’ve never heard that before about an Apple product that went on to sell millions of units every quarter for years. We still hear “fanboys” about the iPhone and they sold 74.5 million of those last quarter.

So, how do you solve a problem like the Apple Watch? You make it useful. I’m getting an Apple Watch because I have actual use for an Apple Watch. Here are my use cases:

  1. Hey, an actual watch. My watch died back in December. I could replace the battery, but I’m putting the $20 toward the price of an Apple Watch. Yeah, it’s not a lot off the price but every little bit helps. I’m $20 closer to that Edition, baby.
  2. Apple Pay. I don’t currently have huge call to use it, but I will use it when the opportunity arises (as long as I’m not inconveniencing someone who’s already inconvenienced by working in fast food) and the Watch makes it that much easier. And, of course, opportunities are increasing every month.
  3. Fitness. You’re not going to believe this but I exercise. No, it’s true. OK, fine, you don’t have to believe me but check with your mom. She’ll tell you. [wink] I only really got back into exercising when it was already apparent Apple was going to make a watch with smartband capabilities, so I didn’t pull the trigger on any existing smartbands. Despite the fact that the Watch doesn’t do everything the iPhone does by itself, it does what I need: record your steps and play music to Bluetooth headphones.*
  4. Some notifications. If I can see notifications from only people I’ve tagged as favorites — my wife or my kid’s school — that’s an advantage. If I can see absolutely no notifications from Facebook or Instagram or even Twitter, well, that’s as it should be.
  5. Weather. I don’t now why, exactly, but I check the weather probably three or more times a day. Being able to check the weather on my wrist? That’s gonna save me like hella time. OK, some time. Or, I’m just gonna check the weather a lot more. Weather, weather, weather, all day long. While I stay inside. I may have a condition.
  6. Some other things I haven’t even considered.

I can’t tell you what other people might want it for. I can only say why I want it. I’m mostly looking forward to having a watch again. At this point it’s not like I’m going to fix my dumb stupidwatch. I need a smartwatch. It’s all smartwatches now. Haven’t you heard? I tried on a Motorola 360 and, uh, no. Let’s be frank, though. I’m not even considering an Android watch. The Apple Watch will work better with the platform I’ve already chosen. Also, the 38mm version is far smaller than any other smartwatch. If you’re an Android user and have chosen an Android Wear watch, vaya con Dios. I’m just sorry they don’t look better.

I wasn’t sold on the need for the Watch before, but if it saves me time, it’s going to be good. The next version that doesn’t rely on the iPhone will be even better.

38mm space gray Sport, if you’re curious.

*Speaking of Bluetooth headphones, I’m disappointed Apple hasn’t made their own (non-Beats). There are a couple I’m looking at but on the whole that market seems like it needs a swift kick in the ass.