“Apple has already disrupted the computer, phone and music industries — and now it’s poised to change the watch industry forever, too,” Tim Bajarin writes for TIME Magazine.
“When Apple introduced the Apple Watch last fall, I started asking people in the high-end watch world if they viewed the device as a threat. Surprisingly, many told me that the Apple Watch could very well redefine what a ‘watch’ is and does,” Bajarin writes. “The Apple Watch won’t force high-end watchmakers to change course entirely, as the jewelry aspect of their business will always have appeal and lasting value. But talking to those in the watch world gave me a real sense that the Apple Watch is a game-changer.”
“When digital watches flooded the scene, they were easily copied, explaining why the 1980s-era transition from analog to digital happened so fast,” Bajarin writes. “But Apple’s approach — they own the hardware, software and services — will be nearly impossible for watchmakers to replicate. Devices like the TAG Heuer/Google watch that run Android Wear will continue to try to compete, but from what I’ve seen from Apple, the Cupertino giant could have an edge for at least a year or two, if not more.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As long as Apple continues to operate properly — and as evidenced in smartphones and tablets by 64-bit mobile processors, Touch ID, Apple Pay, Handoff, and many other ecosystem advantages — Android Wear will never to be able to compete with Apple Watch. Apple does things right and Android struggles to follow, at a great distance (64-bit, hello?) or half-assed (flaky fingerprint recognition, contactless payment systems that nobody uses, etc.).
Even those who initially settled for the pretend iPhones offered by Android can now clearly see that Fragamndroidland is a backwards land; for followers, not leaders; a place of frustration and insecurity; an afterthought for developers; a wannabe, not the real thing; off-the-shelf processors running an off-the-rack mobile OS in hardware with inferior build-quality; a hodgepodge of devices and skinned OS versions that will never work together as seamlessly as Apple products; a kitchen with too many cooks; and, ultimately, a dead end.
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