Everyone who knows me knows I love Apple products. Truthfully, I love great products no matter who makes them. My primary phone is from HTC (HTC One M9). Love it. My “family” phone is an iPhone 6. Also great. I’ve had iPads and iPad Minis. I even have an Amazon Echo. Just to see if I could do more with that versus my phone mated to my Bose speak via bluetooth.
And then came the Apple Watch. Most would have thought I would have run out and picked up two. One for me and one for my wife. I did not though. I’m a watch wearer. My Omega Seamaster has been with me for 15 years. It’s all mechanical, harder than steel, can be used while swimming and can even survive going down 1000 feet in a submersible. It can withstand a smash on concrete and the titanium bracelet and shell don’t show scratches much. Oh, and it keep pretty accurate time without ever needing an electrical charge.
Sure, after a few days of non use, the spring releases all its power and the watch stops. But, all I need to do is wind it and I’m back in business. And after 10 years of use, it requires parts to be replaced, particularly the main spring. But, a human can do that easy.
The Apple watch requires a charge each day. If I’m out and about with no time to charge it, it dies. And the watch is slightly water resistant. It shouldn’t follow me into the ocean or a pool.
Folks like Seiko may already be ahead of the game here. They’ve built watches that are part mechanical, part electronic allowing human movement to charge a batter that then uses the accuracy of quartz and the power in a small battery drive time. This is what Apple needs. A beautiful watch mated to human energy. That will be the “time” I switch. Until then, I’ll get an Apple watch as part of my toy collection. Fun to wear to techie events. But not to board meetings.
