Linked List: March 9, 2015

Monday, 9 March 2015

Joanna Stern’s First Look at the New MacBook 

Joanna Stern:

Like the first Air, this is Apple’s attempt to reimagine the laptop all over, now for the smartphone and tablet age. Based on my short time with the machine, I think Apple will turn the laptop industry on its head (again), but just like with the original Air, it may be moving too fast for some.

The comparison to the first Air is perfect. There are definitely many people who are ready for this today. But it’s really a statement about the future. Ports are going the way of optical discs and hard drives. But there’s a reason this isn’t replacing any of the existing MacBook Airs today.

Gigaom Shutting Down 

Om Malik:

Gigaom is winding down and its assets are now controlled by the company’s lenders. It is not how you want the story of a company you founded to end.

Every founder starts on a path — hopeful and optimistic, full of desire to build something that helps change the world for the better, reshape an industry and hopefully become independent, both metaphorically and financially. Business, much like life, is not a movie and not everyone gets to have a story book ending.

This surprised me. Then I thought about it, searched my entries in Movable Type, and realized I’ve only linked to Gigaom once in the last six months, and four times in the last 12 months. I used to link to reporting at Gigaom a couple of times every month. They’ve been going downhill for a while.

iPad as a Benchmark for Apple Watch Success 

Charles Arthur, writing for The Guardian:

The real question is whether the watch can become an unstoppable money-maker like the iPhone rather than a shorter-term fizz like the iPad — which nevertheless generated $27.8bn in revenue in 2014.

That seems awfully dismissive of the iPad’s continuing success. Yes, unit sales are down, but they’re not collapsing, and as Arthur says, they generated $27 billion in revenue last year. If Apple Watch is as successful as iPad, that would be an amazing success story for Apple. Amazing.

(I can even imagine a scenario where Apple Watch sales taper off like iPad’s have. I think a major difference between iPad and iPhone is that phone users upgrade every two or three years — partly because of contracts and the subsidies carriers offer, and partly because phones take a physical beating. A lot of people out there bought an iPad a few years ago and they’re still using it. Apple Watch could be like that — not something you buy and replace every two years, but something you buy and just use for many years. Maybe not “many years” by the standards of mechanical watches, but “many years” by the standards of the phone market.)

Apple Watch as an iPhone Sales Engine 

John Paczkowski, writing for his new gig at Buzzfeed:

And that’s where Apple’s larger strategic vision for Apple Watch comes clear. Fine, the Apple Watch may well “empower and enrich” the lives of those who wear it. As I said, the use-cases on parade today were compelling, and I haven’t even touched on the possibilities hinted at by the debut of the associated health diagnostic platform ResearchKit. But it’s also going to power iPhone sales. It’s going to push veteran iPhone users to upgrade to new iPhones and it’s going to give folks on rival mobile platforms one more reason to switch.

Apple Watch Water Resistance 

Apple, in the small print on the Apple Watch “Health and Fitness” page:

Apple Watch is splash and water resistant but not waterproof. You can, for example, wear and use Apple Watch during exercise, in the rain, and while washing your hands, but submerging Apple Watch is not recommended. Apple Watch has a water resistance rating of IPX7 under IEC standard 60529. The leather bands are not water resistant.

IPX7 is 1 meter of submersion for up to 30 minutes. Proper waterproofing would be great, but this is far better than I feared for Apple Watch.

Apple’s Fork 

MG Siegler:

Just look at who Apple has hired in the past couple of years. This should be obvious. Not only is Apple not resting on their laurels, they’re pivoting the company in a pretty big way that’s flying under the radar to all but those watching most closely.

And it feels like a smart bet. Because Apple is at a moment of absolute strength, they can use that clout to get the talent on board to change the engine mid-flight. That doesn’t mean it will work, of course. But it sure seems better than sitting back and atrophying as more nimble opponents approach. This is when you take risks.

Agreed. I don’t know if Apple Watch is what they should be doing, but I do know what they should not be doing: standing still.