How Is the Apple Watch Doing?

Ben Evans:

But luxuries are good. If we only bought things that we need, and that have clear use cases, then we’d all wear nothing but overalls and have a single bare lightbulb in each room of our homes.

This is also the source of the confusion, I think. Reading the Watch’s launch reviews, I sometimes got the sense that the tech press was writing about it as though the luxury goods industry didn’t exist and that the luxury press was writing as though technology didn’t exist: no-one spends money on things because they’re just nice and no-one buys things that don’t last forever. The gold version brought this out best - a tech product that’s $10,000 but has the same spec as the $350 one - heresy! And a gold watch that probably doesn’t last a lifetime - again, heresy! But all rules can be broken with the right product - that’s how progress happens. Meanwhile, the irony is that it’s not actually the gold that’s the luxury but the software - that tap on the wrist telling you to turn left. In a sense, the gold case is an accessory to the software in the same way that the strap is an accessory to the watch.

Perfectly said.

★ Wednesday, 19 August 2015