apple watch anticipation
John Gruber published his review of the Apple Watch earlier this week. He had many observations in common with other reviewers. But here are a couple quotes that piqued my interest.
The Sport Band is a downright revelation — I’d go so far as to call it the most comfortable watch band I’ve ever worn. I’ve rolled my eyes at Apple’s use of fluoroelastomer in lieu of rubber to describe the material of these bands, but it truly does have a premium, richly supple feel to it.
My preferred watch band choice was initially the link bracelet, the most expensive option. However, after trying my Nixon Quatro on again, I remembered having often removed it while typing on my laptop to prevent metal on metal scratches. This quote makes me look forward to the sports band where I previously expected to be at least somewhat dissatisfied with it.
Scroll to the end of a list and Apple Watch has a rubber band “bounce” animation, much like iOS. But on Apple Watch, the rubber band animation coincides with haptic feedback that somehow conveys the uncanny sensation that the digital crown suddenly has more tension. It feels like you’re stretching a rubber band.
This is one of the details I’m excited to feel for myself. I haven’t yet tried the new Force Touch trackpad, but given the responses I’ve heard from others, it seems there’s reason to believe Apple has been able to pull off some extremely subtle experiences with haptic feedback that are now the state of the art.
The general take away of the reviews I’ve read is that the Apple Watch is definitely a first-generation product. That’s an amazingly mundane conclusion, given that it’s factual.
The iPhone was once a first-generation product too, with which we had our gripes. It didn’t have copy and paste for crying out loud. The screen was too small. No removable battery. No keyboard. No expandable storage. But we ended up doing way more with that 3.5″ screen than we ever could have imagined in January 2007.
We can tally up a list of faults against the Apple Watch as well. But what I find the most interesting is the promise in the new form factor. How much has technology changed our lives since we shifted from a computer on our desk to a computer in our backpack, to walking around with a computer in our pocket. It’s naive to think we’ve even begun to realize what impact could come from walking around with a computer on our wrist.