Yesterday morning, I stumbled across an article in the Guardian where Nick Hayek Jr., son of the late co-founder of the Swatch Group and now CEO, told a Swiss newspaper that the Apple Watch is an “interesting toy.” He went on to say in the interview that Swatch would sell a smartwatch with a battery that lasts nine months.
He also mentioned something about data privacy and Apple Cloud, which is probably a more interesting discussion, but I couldn’t get past the first dismissive statement as I thought about what another CEO said about the iPhone launch back in 2007:
“The iPhone is kind of one more entrant into an already very busy space with lots of choice for consumers ... But in terms of a sort of a sea-change for BlackBerry, I would think that’s overstating it."
That was Jim Balsillie in February 2007 discussing why the iPhone was not a threat to the Blackberry business. There have since been reports of other quotes from various RIM executives about the fact that the iPhone was not a serious device because it: used too much data, lacked a physical keyboard, and was very power-hungry. In fact, it was also reported that RIM did a teardown of the iPhone when it first launched because they couldn’t believe that the device was able to perform all its claimed functions without instantly draining the battery.
Now I’m not an Apple fan boy, and I actually think the first generation Apple Watch leaves much to be desired. I wore a Pebble Steel for over a year, and despite using an Apple Watch for only a week, I already find Apple’s entrant comparatively lacking when it comes to key smartwatch capabilities. In particular, I would have preferred a stronger actuator for notifications, brighter always-on screen, and, yes, longer time between charges. That said, I respectfully believe that Mr. Hayek has completely missed what Mr. Balsillie would only come to realize about the iPhone years later:
- It’s not a “watch”. Like the iPhone before it, the Apple Watch has changed the primary function of the wrist-borne device to something beyond telling time. It is now about notifying wearers about their upcoming appointments (synched to any cloud-based calendar), informing them about progress towards daily health goals, enabling quick responses to text messages, answering calls when you can’t reach your phone, providing a boarding pass substitute, and basically a ton of stuff that has nothing to do with displaying the current time.
- It’s about the “ecosystem”. Related to #1, what makes any modern connected device successful is not how well (or long) it performs the functions of the old device it replaced, but rather how well it works with other entities to perform its new primary functions well, and how easy it is for developers to build innovative apps to continue adding new functions we haven’t even thought of yet. Certainly, iPhone and Android devices were prettier than their clunky predecessors, but iOS and Android largely enjoyed continued success because of the amazing number of third-party apps, content, and the ecosystem of developers that flourished around them.
Check out how the AnyPresence platform supports development of Apple Watch apps.