“I went for six different try-ons in the past week or so, at each of the five New York City stores,” Tiernan Ray writes for Barron’s. “On the whole, I find the retail roll-out is a tremendous accomplishment on Apple’s part… but I think there are growing pains, as they say.”
“I’ve never seen this much effort brought to bear on the debut of a tech product in 21 years covering technology,” Ray writes. “The care taken with the watch is certainly several notches above what happens with tech products in most retail settings, such as Best Buy, where the haphazard arrangement of gadgets across the display stands; the missing or ambiguous signage; and the generally oblivious store staff, makes it seem as if the whole effort was coordinated by a Texas Twister.”
On to the growing pains. I found five things to complain about in the six visits:
1. Why are there no mirrors?
2. Why aren’t Apple Store employees wearing these things?
3. Why doesn’t the demo loop at least let you try watch faces?
4. Why are there none of the “Space Black” steel model to try on?
5. Why do some stores [incorrectly] tell you that you cannot resize the link bracelet during your appointment?
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Angela Ahrendts and Jony Ive deserve commendation for the Apple Watch retail roll-out. They are not to blame for extreme supply shortages.