By John Gruber
Jiiiii — Free to download, unlock your anime-watching-superpowers today!
I asked for it, DF reader Andrew Barnett found it: a positive review of the Galaxy Gear. Will Shanklin, writing for Gizmag:
Amongst a chorus of boos, hisses, and splattered fruit, we think the Galaxy Gear is a breakthrough product. It’s imperfect, but it’s a very strong debut, and by far the most exciting wearable computing device that you can buy today.
When thinking about the press’ [sic] generally negative response to the Gear, we can’t help but remember Samsung’s original Galaxy Note. At launch, it too drew a largely unenthusiastic, lackluster response from critics. Samsung was mocked mercilessly, especially by the Apple faithful, for centering a lavish marketing campaign around a giant-sized phone that uses a stylus.
But guess what? Customers ultimately voted quite differently with their wallets. The Note sold in bunches, made the phablet a legitimate product category, and became a surprise hit. Sure, it had a lot of help from Samsung’s clever and well-funded marketing machine, but so will the Galaxy Gear.
★ Monday, 7 October 2013