I spent about 20 minutes reading through some of the now 650+ comments, and I'm a bit surprised how common the arguments are on both sides. It feels like the entire tech community has the same basic argument every time a new 1.0 apple product is released:
Those who don't like the product:
- it is feature incomplete
- the hype doesn't match the actual product
- it doesn't actually look that great
- there are other, better products already on the market
- it is overpriced
- one or two interesting feature doesn't equate to "innovation"
And those who like the product (or love Apple) tend to have counter-points for each argument.
I'm curious if anyone has compiled a list of day zero critiques over the years for Apple successes (Mac, iPod, iPhone) or failures (Mac toaster, hifi, etc.)? It would be fun (and maybe a bit informative) for the community to review.
I think you are spot on with this comment. The reaction to this watch is not substantially different from every other reaction to a major Apple product (or OS version or whatever else they announce).
It can be entertaining to read (got me interested in the Garmin Forerunner that was mentioned) but it's just people at a bar chatting about the topic of the day.
"I'm curious if anyone has compiled a list of day zero critiques over the years for Apple successes (Mac, iPod, iPhone) or failures (Mac toaster, hifi, etc.)? It would be fun (and maybe a bit informative) for the community to review."
As someone that's followed HN and gadget-news blog comments far too closely since the late 90's, I promise you won't find a single thread too unlike this one. The only exceptions, oddly, might be the iPod nano and the iPod touch, which caught the competition completely flat-footed.
The iPhone announcement brought out everyone that owned a Nokia N95 to tell us how backward we were for being mildly impressed. The iPad brought out yawns. Every iPod model was an overpriced Archos or iRiver.
Those who don't like the product:
- it is feature incomplete
- the hype doesn't match the actual product
- it doesn't actually look that great
- there are other, better products already on the market
- it is overpriced
- one or two interesting feature doesn't equate to "innovation"
And those who like the product (or love Apple) tend to have counter-points for each argument.
I'm curious if anyone has compiled a list of day zero critiques over the years for Apple successes (Mac, iPod, iPhone) or failures (Mac toaster, hifi, etc.)? It would be fun (and maybe a bit informative) for the community to review.
Edit: fixed spacing and wording.