SMU professor thinks Apple Watch has too much to overcome
“The first wristwatches were a flop,” Robert McMillan writes for Wired. “Called bracelet watches, they were seen as a rather unseemly replacement for the pocketwatch, a more discreet means of keeping track of the time. Though mass-produced versions first emerged in the 1880s, it wasn’t until 1927 that U.S.-made wristwatches finally outstripped sales of their entrenched competitor.”
“With the Apple Watch, Tim Cook and company are now hoping to push us through a similar social revolution. And because that’s such an enormous task, it too may be a flop — at least initially. Alexis McCrossen, a Southern Methodist University professor and author of a book on the history of clocks and watches, believes that, much like the original wristwatch, it has too much to overcome,” McMillan reports. “‘They’re making two bets,’ she says of Apple. One bet is that people want bigger screens and more visible access to information, she explains, and that’s why the iPhone 6 is bigger. But then the company has hedged that bet with Apple Watch, in case people are more interested in having information on them at all times. ‘But the thing is,’ she says, ‘your iPhone can be on you all the time too.'”
“The younger generation doesn’t wear watches,” McMillan reports. “That certainly the case with McCrosson’s students. ‘Apple Watch will redefine what people expect from a watch,’ Cook said. But so many of us don’t expect anything from our watch. Instead, we expect something from a device that slides into our pocket.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Pay on iPhone 6Astute readers of the full article will immediately note one very important omission: Apple Pay.
Nowhere in the article was Apple Watch’s ability to let users interact quickly and conveniently with the world around them, making seamless transactions using Apple Pay. Why was this fact omitted? Because if it were included, the entire premise for the article evaporates.
Apple Pay capability will sell more Apple Watches than any other feature. After the initial launch weekend rush, once average people see the early adopters seamlessly paying with their Apple Watch, that’s when the wildfire sales will begin to rage.
Dear Professor McCrossen, before you comment on something, it pays to first take the time to fully understand it. At the very least, understand the major features.
Email Robert McMillan at robert_mcmillan@wired.com and ask him if, or why, he “forgot” to mention Apple Watch’s ability to seamlessly conduct Apple Pay transactions.
This “report” is akin to critiquing the passenger jet while neglecting to mention that it can fly.
Any “report” or article that discusses Apple Watch and conveniently omits major features should be considered nothing more than hit-whoring and/or FUD.
