If you’ve been living under a rock you have no idea what I’m talking about. Otherwise, you get it. The Apple Watch is taking over the world and could be anything from a game changer to a flop.
I’m a hardcore Pebble wearer. For years I wore no watch at all – just never found a use for it. Then I received my first Pebble over Christmas of 2013. I was immediately hooked. It’s more than just time. It’s definitely not a fashion statement. Yes, I’ve signed up for the new Pebble Time Steel on Kickstarter already.
Then came all of the Android watches from Samsung, Motorola, Asus, LG, and others. 2014 had quite a few of them – some more fashionable than others but none were game changers. They were stymied by short battery life and an incomplete OS. Sure, Android is leaps ahead of Pebble from a pure technology standpoint but Pebble is a more complete product and use because it doesn’t even try to be touch screen.
Now we get the Apple Watch. It’s truly meant to be a combination of fashion and technology (as seen by the top end price of around $17,000). But it suffers from many of the same drawbacks as the Android watches (short battery life, incomplete user experience) while also not being the cutting edge of fashion now. Android watches recently have really set the fashion bar very high.
But then again, this is Apple we are talking about. They are a marketing machine that has people ready to buy their products regardless of utility and value (supposedly).
I’m on pins and needles waiting because I still think smartwatches are 2 years away from being able to meet the desired uses. The biggest is the battery. Until it can last a solid 3 days it isn’t useful to me (and probably most) because I don’t want that extra charger every single day for an accessory.