“After my first impressions, lengthy update, decision point and one month update, this week is when I have to officially lose the ‘skeptic’ prefix to my Apple Watch diary series and relabel myself as a fully-fledged convert,” ben Lovejoy writes for 9to5Mac. “The trigger for this realization was a fairly small one, but one which clearly demonstrated to me that – little by little – the Apple Watch is transforming itself into a gadget I eventually won’t want to be without.”
“The trigger was the arrival of Apple Pay in the UK – something I’d been impatiently waiting for ever since the U.S. launch. Annoyingly, my own bank – First Direct – for some reason delayed its adoption until Tuesday, so this week represented my first chance to try it,” Lovejoy writes. “I immediately appreciated what a beautifully convenient way to pay this is. No reaching into my pocket for wallet or phone, just a quick double-press of the side button and hold out my wrist to the terminal. As soon as I’d used it once, I knew that this was going to be my standard way to make all contactless payments.”
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote of Apple Watch back on December 30, 2014:
Apple Pay alone will sell the device.
“And this, I believe, is how the watch will ultimately prove indispensable. Not by any killer app – the one thing that makes me think ‘Aha, this is why the Watch was created!’ But rather by the drip, drip, drip of new features and applications, each of which makes my life just that little bit easier,” Lovejoy writes. “Eventually, this will reach the point where failing to strap on the Watch in the morning would mean giving up so many of those little conveniences, that I simply won’t be willing to do it.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in April:
Once people start using Apple Watch, they aren’t going to want to leave it at home. Ever. They won’t want to go to dinner parties without their Apple Watch. And that’s bad, bad news for watchmakers not named Apple.
As we’ve said before: If you don’t have an Apple Watch, you’re missing out.
SEE ALSO:
Apple Watch dominates smartwatches with 75% market share – July 28, 2015
The Apple Watch reviewed, 3 months on – July 24, 2015
Apple Watch after 3 months: It’s still personal – July 24, 2015
Apple Watch: A brilliant addition to my life – July 24, 2015
Non-techies love their Apple Watches even more than tech users – July 20, 2015
Look who bought the first Apple Watches – July 14, 2015
Apple Watch satisfaction is unprecedented at 97%; beats original iPhone and iPad – July 20, 2015
I was starting to get worried about these Apple Watch stories.
1 Day with the Apple Watch!
1 Week with the Apple Watch!
1 Month with the Apple Watch and I still love it!
Then strangely after the quarterlies came out… silence.
I was worried the next story might be, “Kids now testing my Apple Watch.”
No, I suspect most Watch owners remain quite content. I use the term “content” rather than “overjoyed” because, honestly, the killer app has yet to be invented; however, everyone seems to forget that when introduced, Apple II didn’t have VisiCalc, Macintosh didn’t have Aldus Pagemaker, and iPhone didn’t have ANY available apps.
Killer apps (so far for me):
Pay
Activity Glance
Workout
Runtastic Pro
Clock
Timer
Alarm
Weather
AccuWeather Glance
Tally Counter
Stocks Glance
WaterMinder Glance
NewYorkTimes Glance
AP Glance
c|net Glance
Meetup Glance
Breaking News Glance
I forgot the number one Killer App:
Siri⌚️🎉😃
All very nice apps, but not killer apps. A “killer app” is one not available on any other platform that everyone will buy an Watch just to be able to use. I wholeheartedly believe one will occur, but as my other examples show, that normally happens a couple of years after product introduction.
Love my watch. But just an FYI, I’m on vacation and decided to use it in the pool. No issues. However, I went to the beach and swim with in the ocean. Now it’s pretty much disrupted. Going to Apple Genius Bar next week to see what my options are. It would be killer if the sports watch was truly waterproof
You’re in a bit of trouble. It’s warranty covers showers and washing hands. Not being submersed. And not salt water. WTF? Hope you’re ready to shell out another $400
Ugh! At this point I just can’t live without it! Clearly it was the salt water. Now screen isn’t responsive and has a black spot on the upper corner.
“Tech MD”
It’s specified as only water resistant. Sorry for your loss. Have you tried putting it in a plastic bag full of rice for a day? That might dry up the insides.😢⌚️
Another anecdotal rendition of one person’s subjective analysis. Skip the BS and show me the sales data for Apple Watch.
What? You’ll only buy it if other people do? I don’t see myself buying one until the second or third generation, but that has little to do with whether other people buy it (unless it’s a dud and Apple discontinues the product).
Sorry, Fred. You aren’t important enough to get that information, and you have no right to know it anyway.
My favorite is a timer when cooking. Just say “hey Siri ” set a timer for 30 minutes. All hands free
Me too! I do that with iPhone. I love saying “Hey Siri…”
May I suggest a “killer” app? Siri. You can do SOOOOO much with Siri on the watch, all by just lifting your wrist and saying, “Hey Siri”. If that’s not enough, Apple Pay does it. Oh, wait, activity tracker is the killer app…no, it’s gotta be that you can install apps!! Nevermind, just combine everything and realize an Apple Watch makes life easier, and is a wonderful iPhone accessory.
“Apple Watch makes life easier, and is a wonderful iPhone accessory”.
Accessory is a very important distinction.
In the next 4 – 5 years the smartphone market is going to max out, with iPhone controlling the lion’s share of the market (500 K units per year).
So what does Apple do for an encore? With unprecedented customer satisfaction and loyalty (unassailable by price), Apple sells those iPhone owners an ACCESSORY that makes their lives even easier. Enter Apple Watch.
I don’t see how Apple Pay is the killer app. So few of the stores that I frequent actually have Apple Pay. For me, I don’t see the need to spend $399 for the Apple Watch just for the 2 – 4 times a month that I can actually use Apple Pay. I do have an interest in the Apple watch, but I’m holding out for v2.