Responding to Apple Watch

Jim Dalrymple flagged an Apple Watch hit piece by Martin McNulty in The Guardian (headline: “Goodbye Apple Fanboy: How the Watchmaker Alienated Its Audience”) for having been written by a guy who’s the chief executive of a product marketing firm that works for several luxury watchmakers — without disclosing that. The Guardian has since amended the article to disclose this.

What I find more interesting than the undisclosed conflict of interest is the desperate nature of his argument. Knowing that he represents watchmakers, his piece comes across as scared. Dismissing the usefulness of Apple Watch is not the angle they should take. The angle for mechanical watchmakers is to double down on what they already have going for them: tradition, distinction, mechanical elegance. We’re surrounded by computing devices already. It’s nice to have something purely mechanical as a break. That’s the angle.

Arguing that Apple has “alienated its audience” just makes this guy — and his clients — look foolish. I’d be furious if I were one of the watchmakers he represents.

★ Wednesday, 11 March 2015