Apple Watch flop: What's A Smartwatch Good For?
Apple Watch got the second ranking as the most popular search on Google for a trending consumer tech 2015 category, and was in the first place as the top luxury watch brand, according to the Netbase survey. Moreover, the user satisfaction score reached 97%, it has beaten iPhone and iPad, according to Apple Watch user research. But, the Slice Intelligent surprised us with their data, which revealed the Apple Watch sales were down 90% since its launch. What makes the Apple Watch flop? Is it a smartwatch that we were looking for?
These questions will have various answers. But, I will try to simulate how Apple Watch - as a smartwatch - is used in our daily life, in order to answer the questions.
A Morning Routine And A Journey
I have set my Apple Watch at night as an alarm while it's charging. In the morning, when its alarm wakes me up, I touch it once to turn it off and get my iPhone to see all the notifications. I start to use Apple Watch when I am about to go to the office. During the home-office journey using a public transportation, I feel vibrations from the device on my wrist, usually SMS and WhatsApp notifications. I will take my iPhone instead of answering it directly through Apple Watch because it's not as comfortable as when using the iPhone. Occasionally, I raise my hand to see the time to make sure I'm not late.
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In the office, I'm interested in checking the calories that I've burnt. I put my iPhone on my desk and use it to answer my email, to check my Facebook, or else. I don't use my smartwatch to do such things. And then, Apple Watch reminds me not to sit in my chair too long. I love this feature. So, I will get out of my chair and walk around the office to greet my colleagues. When I see the SMS notification, for example, I will take my iPhone to type the answer. At the end of the working day, the device that I wear on my wrist is still useful as a clock to check when the next bus will come.
At home, I always want to know how many calories I have burnt. So, I check it on Apple Watch. Then, will remove the device from my wrist and start to relax in my living room with my iPhone around. I will charge the Apple Watch and ensure the alarm has been set properly for tomorrow.
During the weekend, if I am home most of the time, I will not wear the Apple Watch but my iPhone will always be around me all the time.
From the simulation above, we can see that Apple Watch is more useful for the things associated with the physical body and it is of course, useful as a clock. I will not use it to check the weather, maps, or Instagram through it. I prefer to use iPhone for such things.
Apple Watch is a smart device, almost similar to the iPhone in terms of functions. It's like an iPhone in a small form. It has the App Store with all kinds of applications. But, is it really that useful for the users who have the iPhone, considering the fact the iPhone can do it much better? Isn't it useless?
Apple Watch as a smartwatch is a device that we attach to our body (wrist). It's connected to our physical body directly through our skin so we can use it all day long. It something that iPhone cannot do. So, this should be its main focus of development. Smartwatch should be a device used to give the best information regarding our physical body, such as heartbeat, the Oxygen level in blood, and so on. Furthermore, a smartwatch can process the data directly and has its own UI, while a health tracker needs a smartphone for its application to process data. That is why smartwatch is better than health tracker.
A watch was born to show the time, that's why it's supposed to be the second focus of Apple Watch or any other smartwatch. It also should work as a smart digital assistant, which can be your time manager to remind about certain things when needed, give you directions, and some other things. It needs a smart AI system to know all your activities, schedules, energy, and the challenges you may find. At this point, digital assistant in an Apple Watch will help us a lot because we can feel the notification directly and we can check it ease while our iPhone is always in our pocket or bag.
That's my opinion. What's yours?
