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An Artist for The Pencil – The Apple Watch…One Month On
I’m not one to faun over Apple. I like a lot of their products and in general they have a relatively good take on what I want from many of their products. Their prices are at times laughable and on occasions, their attempts at ‘Prestige’ either fall flat or grate with a complete separation from the original concepts of putting computers in peoples hands that Woz and Jobs embarked on…but I love The Apple Watch!
I didn’t order one, although I was at the Apple site at 8:20am UK time, I felt irked that even at that stage that deliveries were pushed out to 8 weeks for even the Steel versions. I decided that I would wait until the furore cooled off and perhaps take a walk to an Apple Store in a couple of months and get one. Then my luck changed.
One of our listeners, the very kind Nathan Smith, tweeted that he was tired of waiting for his watch to come and that in protest at Apple’s poor service, he would cancel his order. I leaped at the chance.
I wanted to try the watch, most certainly, but also I don’t like the look of the Aluminium version and had wanted the Steel Version form the start. Had I been able to buy a watch on Day One, I would have had a hard time justifying the extra cash for a Steel Watch just to 'trial'. Thanks to Nathan’s kindness, I had a 42mm Steel with Sport Band one week after the official launch.
The Official Launch
Perhaps enough has been said and I’m not going to lay this on too thick as Apple has already been kicked over it and even Tim Cook won’t be able to spin this one into something positive without looking like he's clutching at straws. Fortune lauded praise on Apple for a successful launch but in truth their appraisal of the events around 24th April are just as laughable as the launch itself.
Apple got it all horribly wrong. 50 unique products on the same day with zonal distribution issues and a devastatingly short supply was always going to leave the vast number of fans left out and disappointed. But…moving on.
The Build
Apple Watch is beautifully built. The product feels ‘reassuringly’ weighted and the internal markings hark back to the obsession of Jobs caring about the inner beauty regardless of the end users inability to ever see it.
There have been odd stories about the crown movement and a few about 'misting up' sensors on the back but mine has been perfect (perhaps because I didn’t actually order it. I tend to get the raw chicken in restaurants and all the faulty products going)
The Sport Band is nice as well, the fact that the strap tucks away means that there is no scraping and grating of the band on the surface of of your Macbook Pro which was what always stopped me wearing my TAG Heuer when working. This is a lively engineering and manufactured product.
The Interface
I like the interface a lot. The screen is very easy to read, the information is sized perfectly and is adjustable and the the scroll wheel doesn’t ‘Move by itself’ as I had feared it would. Glances is a great! Easy to set up exactly as you want and use and the screen ‘globes’ layout works very well, although some times with a pudgy set of fingers I can miss the one that I want.
Notifications are good but especially with Twitter, an ability to creating your own maximum length showing on the screen would be better, its annoying when Twitter is only 140 characters that you have to ‘enter’ another screen to read tweets and messages fully.
The audible notifications that the watch is working and sending through information is also very subtle even with volume up. With the volume off, the vibration is positive and apparent without being and alarming jolt.
There is one caveat…The Stand Up Notification. Even when driving, at 10 minutes to the end of the hour you will get it. I know I can switching it off but I actually like having it and when I’m sat in the office, the nudge often gets me up for a glass of water or a coffee. Mission accomplished but driving? Come on Apple, you’re better than this.
Use
One of my fears was that ALL of the smart watch manufacturers had insisted that people would wear a watch and in my own experience and in that of close friends I knew that all of use no longer wore watches and didn’t miss them. If we wanted to tell the time, we got out our phone or had other more ready places around the house where we could get it. I was right…but I was wrong. Having had the watch for a month now, I have used it just once to tell the time. Whilst I thought that was a habit I needed to get out of, its not. I don’t need a watch to tell the time anymore and if you’re buying a smart watch as a time piece when you don’t already wear one, then you really are wasting your money.
I have religiously worn the watch since Day One. I wear it because it doesn’t get in the way but mostly I wear it because its instantly given me benefits that I hadn’t realised I valued. (Fanbois chime in here with “Thats what Apple does!” No they don’t, they make shit up just like everyone else and then try and tell you that you need it when you don’t, just like every other manufacturer. Granted there are some meetings around this ideology but its a lot of guess work too and at the end of the day, the user needs to be ‘The Artist for The Pencil’
I really value the ability to be cooking and get a text from my wife in the supermarket asking me if we need anything and be able to respond using Siri when my phone is in my office. I’d like a better range on that interaction but its there and works really well.
Siri appears to have taken a leap forward. If you try and study the watch as you dictate a message then you are going to be disappointed but just speak normally (in a faint Brummie Accent) and you’ll be amazed at how often Siri gets it write and just catches up magically at the end. Get too far away from your phone though and it all collapses.
Apps
Some of the Apps are a bit lame. There are those that simply give you an information readout and allow you to scroll through it and then there are those that allow some screen interaction. The lack of some form of recognition of the direction of the watch means that there is nothing cool that means you can hold it up and use The Star Walk app to look in a particular direction and see constellations (unless I’m missing something…which is always possible)
Certain apps work really well at just the information gathering purpose and interaction back to ‘central’. Evernote appears to be a real winner here but I have stayed away from using email on The Apple Watch. The screen just isn’t big enough to make it worth NOT opening the phone up to check. Likewise, Photos is a complete waste. Don’t look at your photos on your watch, get out your phone.
The ‘Dick Tracy’ Phone is superb and has been a great help especially when I’m out with work and the floor is hard and I don’t want to risk getting out my phone, although there have been a few issues with calls that didn’t pick up and I’ve ended up having to call back.
The Personal message system is a great innovation. A friend and I have started sending heartbeats through with a message afterwards that is the ‘Location Rate’. ‘Pub Rate’ ‘Cricket Rate’ ‘TV Rate’ and ‘Beer Rate’ have all brought a smile.
The Future
This is still an open issue and one which Apple should address. This is not your 'Grandfathers Watch’ I doubt you’ll be handing this on in your last will and testament but equally, as the watch does so little by itself, simple making this thing slimmer and adding a couple of small features to the upgrade or OS will leave Apple with a very justified tag of preying on gullible customers. Equally, Apple’s upgrade cycles are legendary and I don’t doubt that this watch will be see a yearly upgrade cycle. My personal view is that Apple needs to justify this and not with some spin or hype but with proper logic and necessity.
This is anything but just a watch but equally it doesn’t do enough to warrant an empty Version 2
Accessories
There is a lack of accessories that are authorised or not at the moment but Apple does provide The Straps. They provide them at a cost though and £40 for a Silicon Band is laughable. The Price for the Magnetic Leather Band is also ridiculous. I grant you, that Pre-magnetised Cows probably don't come cheap, but the leather doesn't feel of a high enough quality and £129! Not even close.
Summary
Apple really did nail this for me as a product. It does what I'd wanted and some things I hadn’t realised I wanted. Its got me to religiously wear a watch when I thought I’d never wear a watch again and finally, it works perfectly with no set up issues and glitches.
Apart from the soap bar coating on The iPhone 6S, I think they did a great job with that too and I hope Apple continues to ‘get it right first time’ but chaps and Angela…prices and innovation alone won’t cut it with a savvy and cash-tied clientele.
Well Done Apple. First time for a while that you’ve impressed me.
Ewen
Author
Ewen Rankin