Ondrej Holzman In less than a month, the expected new product from Apple will be on the market - the Watch. The first product that was created completely under the baton of the current CEO Tim Cook, who is convinced that this will be the first watch that will really matter.
The head of the California company se he was talking in an extensive interview for Fast Company not only about the Apple Watch, but also reminisced about Steve Jobs and his legacy and talked about the company's new headquarters. The interview is conducted by Rick Tetzeli and Brent Schlender, authors of the anticipated book Becoming Steve Jobs.
The first modern smart watch
For the Watch, Apple had to invent a completely new user interface, because what worked so far on the Mac, iPhone or iPad could not be used on such a small display lying on the wrist. "There are many aspects that have been worked on for years. Don't release something until it's ready. Have the patience to do it right. And that's exactly what happened to us with the watch. We're not the first," Cook realizes.
However, this is not an unknown position for Apple. He wasn't the first to come up with an MP3 player, he wasn't the first to come up with a smartphone or even a tablet. "But we probably had the first modern smart phone and we will have the first modern smart watch - the first that matters," the company's boss does not hide his confidence before the launch of the new product.
[do action=”quote”]Nothing revolutionary we did was predicted to be an immediate success.[/do]
However, even Cook does not refuse to estimate how successful the watch will be. When Apple released the iPod, no one believed in success. A goal was set for the iPhone: 1 percent of the market, 10 million phones in the first year. Apple has no set goals for the Watch, at least not officially.
"We didn't set the numbers for the watch. The watch needs an iPhone 5, 6 or 6 Plus to work, so that's a bit of a limitation. But I think they will do well," predicts Cook, who uses the Apple Watch every day and, according to him, can no longer imagine functioning without it.
Most often, in the case of new smart watches, it is said that people do not know why they should want such a device in the first place. Why want a watch that costs at least 10 thousand crowns, but rather more? “Yes, but people didn't realize it with the iPod at first, and they didn't realize it with the iPhone either. The iPad caught huge criticism," recalls Cook.
“I honestly don't think anything revolutionary that we've done has been predicted to succeed right away. Only in retrospect did people see the value. Maybe the watch will be received the same way," the Apple boss added.
We changed under Jobs, we are changing now
Before the arrival of the Apple Watch, the pressure is not only on the entire company, but also significantly on the person of Tim Cook. Since the departure of Steve Jobs, this is the first introduced product in which the late co-founder of the company apparently did not intervene at all. Nevertheless, he had a great influence on him, through his opinions and values, as his close friend Cook explains.
“Steve felt that most people live in a little box and think they can't influence or change much. I think he would call it a limited life. And more than anyone else I've met, Steve never accepted that," recalls Cook. “He taught every one of his top managers to reject this philosophy. Only when you can do that can you change things.”
[do action=”quote”]I think the values should not change.[/do]
Today, Apple is the most valuable company in the world, it traditionally breaks records during the announcement of quarterly earnings and has more than 180 billion dollars in cash. Still, Tim Cook is convinced that it's not all about "doing the most."
“There's this thing, almost a disease, in the tech world where the definition of success equates to the biggest numbers possible. How many clicks did you get, how many active users do you have, how many products did you sell? Everyone seems to want high numbers. Steve never got carried away by this. He was focused on creating the best," Cook said, adding that this remains the company's motto, even as it naturally changes over time.
"We change every day. We changed every day he was here and we are changing every day since he is gone. But the core values remain the same as they were in 1998, as they were in 2005 and as they were in 2010. I think the values shouldn't change, but everything else can change," says Cook, hitting on from his perspective another important feature of Apple.
"There will be situations when we say something and in two years we will have a completely different opinion about it. In fact, we can say something now and see it differently in a week. We have no problem with that. Actually, it's good that we have the courage to admit it," said Tim Cook.
You can read the complete interview with him on the website Fast Company <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1932/8043/files/200721_ODSTOUPENI_BEZ_UDANI_DUVODU__EN.pdf?v=1595428404" data-gt-href-en="https://en.notsofunnyany.com/">here</a>. The same magazine also published a comprehensive sample from the book Becoming Steve Jobs, which comes out next week and is being touted as the best Apple book yet. In the excerpt, Tim Cook again talks about Steve Jobs and how he rejected his liver. You can find a sample of the book in English <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1932/8043/files/200721_ODSTOUPENI_BEZ_UDANI_DUVODU__EN.pdf?v=1595428404" data-gt-href-en="https://en.notsofunnyany.com/">here</a>.
The problem is that earlier products like the iPad or the iPhone were unique. Apple watch is not exceptional in anything, it offers the same as the competition, but with worse durability and a higher price. Most people buy an Apple Watch just because it's Apple.
Apple Watch certainly has its uniqueness, for example the user environment, but also within other things such as health, fitness, communication, etc. the user has far more options and senses for use in everyday life than with other brands that have been around for a few years. For example, a personal trainer, connection with medical devices, Apple Pay functions, possibilities of use in services such as hotels, navigation using vibrations, methods of communication between the watches themselves, etc., etc. (and yes, unfortunately, some of these functions will not be supported in the Czech Republic, which other manufacturers have the same with us).
In addition, the potential of these watches is still developing and they still have a long way to go, however, they already have a number of usability features that the competition does not have, and on the contrary, they generally contain everything that the competition has had over the years. Everyone has a different view of the price. If I consider the functions, processing, support, the certainly rising application market, etc., the price seems proportionate to me (ie from CZK 10.000). Ditto battery life. 18 hours? Why not? It's a watch, not a smartphone. You turn on the watch sometimes, you still won't sleep with it on your hand in the evening, so you throw it on the charger, I personally don't have a problem with that.
In addition to all this, Apple has one more major advantage (um) - developers. A number of other manufacturers are not successful because they themselves were not even able to show the public what wearable technology is actually for, they did not even show it to developers who develop applications and thus buried these devices themselves.
If you don't like the Apple Watch, don't buy it. I personally don't like the design, I find it too geeky and the need to be connected to the iPhone bothers me, I don't have a problem with the others. It is the first generation.
PS: I would also like to know how to find out the battery status on the AW, somehow I didn't shoot the indicator anywhere :)
MWB App - MyWatchBattery
You're talking nonsense again.
Let's face it, the iPhone was certainly not unique.. It's not about innovation, but about the fact that Apple can make an already invented thing functional and attractive and, moreover, present it brilliantly. Anyone who saw the last Watch event and demo probably knows which one beats...
I firmly believe in the success of the watch, but I hope that demand will be satisfied and a real pre-order will be met :D
I think that the real watches will come in a year from the second generation and they will have real meaning when the battery lasts a week
So expect that in a year there will be a second generation.. And a third in another, right? :D
Yes, it is quite expected that it will be every year, after all, as with their other products.
AW are truly a breakthrough product from APPLE = never before has so much been marketed in advance, never has so much been known in advance and with such advance that many flexible (as they say nowadays) only managed to prepare, develop and market functional equivalents from the promo information and one!!! The constant brainwashing about AW is a complete phenomenon - a phenomenon that can be turned into a whip... The sales statistics are already small here and we haven't even started real PRE-ORDER!!!! AW is groundbreaking in only one way - it will get 100% of the biggest publicity in history - For the least amount of money from APPLE's pocket in history.... Wake up people, maybe this is not normal anymore (understand natural) - no one is really willing to wait for AW to get it anymore into hand and then it says 0/1???? Can't we all see - how we become "advertising space" for free... How many of you are willing to answer "YES BOSS:-)" to your boss's question if you will go and for 1 hour somewhere public proclaim the glory of his company for FREE? Well – and please be honest in your answer…..
And the hype around AW is much bigger in America...
The iPod had the same hype. The iPhone had the same hype. The iPad had the same hype. It's always a cycle - someone comes up with something, Apple does it their way and makes a fortune out of it. The watch will be great and together with the iPhone will be hyper. Personally, I'm looking forward to the Watch. I probably won't even see the Edition (maybe on someone) and I don't like the Sport because of the mat. I'm with them!
I guess we have a different memory = Jobs took the iPhone out of his pocket and that was the first time anyone saw it ….. keep filling it in yourself. Apple innovates only in marketing!
I don't see a fundamental difference from other watches, their user interface is essentially identical, unlike an iPhone or an iPad. But Apple is fashionable today, so I believe that they will be more successful than the same products of the competition.