Mossberg recommends the Apple Watch: ‘A very good product, with a chance to be great’

11 years ago

“While there have been many reviews of the Apple Watch since it officially emerged in April, few of them have tackled the question of how a user might feel about the highly touted device after wearing it every day for an extended period,” Walt Mossberg writes for Re/code. “So I decided to wear one for about a month and see how I felt about it after the initial novelty wore off.”

“I started wearing my loaner unit from Apple four weeks ago, and I’m still wearing it as I type this. The only time it has been off my wrist for more than a few minutes was when I charged it overnight,” Mossberg writes. “It’s been much more of a constant digital companion than my iPhone, iPad or computers.”

42mm Apple Watch Sport with Black Classic Buckle

“So, after a month, is it thumbs-up, or thumbs-down?” Mossberg writes. “I like the Apple Watch. It’s a gorgeous piece of hardware with a clever and simple user interface and some fine built-in functions.”

“But it’s a fledgling product whose optimal utility lies mostly ahead of it as new watch software is developed. I got the strong feeling that third-party app developers taking their first swing at the thing simply hadn’t yet figured out how best to write software for it — especially since Apple, for now, is requiring that watch apps basically be adjuncts of iPhone apps,” Mossberg writes. “But that will change, and Apple’s own core apps are already rich examples of what the watch can do. It reminds me of the first iPhone a month after its debut. That phone had slow data, was tied to a wireless carrier that constantly dropped phone calls, and — most importantly — it had no app store yet. But I got enough value from it that I’ve never regretted buying the first model.”

Read more in the full review – recommended – here.

MacDailyNews Take: The longer you wear Apple Watch, the more indispensable it gets.

Mossberg’s advice to resist the temptation to use the Watch while driving (beyond navigation of course) is a good one: “If you buy any smartwatch, be prepared to be more careful on the road.” We’ve found that to be very true.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Daniel N.” for the heads up.]