Thinking Out Loud

My Hope for Apple Watch as Jewelry

As April 10th, 2015 nears, a lot of us have been talking about which Apple Watch we’re planing to preorder. Most people I know are planning to preorder the Sport. Their reasoning is usually something like “Next year’s model will be way better. I’ll spend more on that one.” Although I do understand this mentality I don’t completely agree with it. I totally agree that next year’s model will be better — it always is — but my hope is that the Apple Watch will hold hold its value for longer than a year.

I’ll be preordering the Apple Watch with Link Bracelet. My justification is that it’s jewelry. If I choose to buy another one next year, that doesn’t mean I’ll just throw out this year’s model. I’ll have two, and I will be able to choose which one I want to wear depending on the occasion. When I explained that to a friend of mine they replied “That’s how some people treated the iPhone. As jewelry. That’s why they made a gold one. But no one ever goes back and uses their old iPhone once they get a new one.” I didn’t have a response for that at the time. He had a good point. I’ve never gone back and used an older iPhone. But I’ve been thinking about it and here’s why I feel Apple Watch is different.

With my iPhone, I have to set it up. To make it my own, I have to install all of my apps. I have to enter my usernames and passwords into my various social networks. All the personality I give it, lives in the phone itself. This makes switching between phones very difficult.

A watch, on the other hand¹, is already something some people own more than one of. Some might even switch out their watch multiple times a day. Going for a run, put on your GPS enabled sport watch. Dressing up for a night out, wear your nice timepiece. The different bands will help with this sort of thing but Apple may release a watch with a new body style at some point.

Also, with the way the current watch apps work, none — or very little — of the smarts² live on the watch itself. You install an iPhone App on your phone and the Watch App seamlessly installs on your watch. If we’re allowed to pair more than one watch with an iPhone, then both watches would get the same apps. Switching between watches would be seamless because there would be little-to-no setup. Obviously Apple Watch is not out yet. This is all based on assumptions, but as it stands now, the iPhone will be a kind of hub for the watch. Apps will come from the phone, settings will live on the phone — at least for now — and both will seamlessly sync³ with the watch.