AppleInsider Staff
A week after Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage at this year's WSJD Live event to discuss car rumors, Apple Music and more in a closely followed interview, the Wall Street Journal on Monday posted a snippet covering Apple Watch to its website.
During his interview with WSJ editor Gerard Baker last week, Cook artfully dodged questions about a supposed "Apple Car," while pushing forward the company's environmental and public responsibility initiatives. As can be expected, the discussion went deep on Apple's staunch consumer privacy policies.
In the clip provided today, Cook talks about Apple Watch, or more specifically why Baker should give the device a chance. Baker leads off with a question about Apple's first wearable, saying he didn't find it to be "indispensable."
"We see customer satisfaction off the charts. It's, like, 97%. What people love about it, they love the health and fitness portion of it," Cook said. "They love being reminded they've been sitting too long. People love notifications. Paying with the watch is even better than the iPhone."
While not included in the published video, Cook also revealed Apple Music statistics last week, saying the service now boasts 6.5 million paying subscribers, while another 8.5 million are trying it out for free. He went on to mention the new Apple TV, dropping the news that Apple's hotly anticipated device would go on sale today.
Cook was expectedly tight lipped on rumors of an Apple-backed car project, at first refusing to answer any questions before relenting. Still, information provided was sparse and general.
"What we want in the short term is, we'd like people as they enter their car to be able to have an iPhone experience in their car," he said. "We've developed a product called CarPlay. That's all about trying to make your life outside the car and your life inside the car be seamless."
In lieu of a full recording of Cook's interview, the publication provides a transcript of choice quotes regarding Apple's vehicle plans, its iPhone business, the future of content consumption platforms and more.
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6 Comments
Baker lead off with a question about Apple's first wearable, saying he didn't find it to be "indispensable." So that's the standard now? A product isn't good or can't be successful if it's not indispensable? I've never understood this 'need' argument with Apple Watch. There are lots of things I own that I don't really need. Does anyone ask whether someone needs an Xbox or a new pair of Nike shoes? No but with Apple Watch the first question always is "is this a must have?". So annoying.
Baker lead off with a question about Apple's first wearable, saying he didn't find it to be "indispensable."
So that's the standard now? A product isn't good or can't be successful if it's not indispensable? I've never understood this 'need' argument with Apple Watch. There are lots of things I own that I don't really need. Does anyone ask whether someone needs an Xbox or a new pair of Nike shoes? No but with Apple Watch the first question always is "is this a must have?". So annoying.
It's the bar that has been set for Apple or Apple has set for itself. You would never hear anyone ask if a product is indispensable by any other maker. Cook can only take it as a compliment and hope to make it indispensable for everyone as it improves.
When I first purchased the watch (3 months ago) the question that people kept asking me was "why do I need the watch..when I can do the same thing on my phone!?" Now my reply is "why do I need my phone (even pulling it out of bag or pocket) when I can do everything on my Watch!?" To me it is like trying to explain why texting is better than sending an email or why a "voice text" is better than leaving a voice mail..this is really hard to explain unless you use it. Tim Cook was right, Apple Pay on my watch is incredible, getting notifications and texts and answering a quick phone call when my hands are full is an incredible convenience..do I need the Watch? No. But I don't NEED a Mobil phone either..but it sure is nice. I find myself using my iPhone 60% less than I use to. When I am out and about it rarely comes out of my pocket except to take pictures of my kids. When I am home..it doesn't leave the entry table and I use the Watch through out the house. I believe in the not so distant future when the Watch becomes a stand alone wearable (even though it does a lot of stuff independent and on wi fi already) we will be asking ourselves "do I really need to bring my phone?" I love not constantly being on my phone now. Freedom.
When I first purchased the watch (3 months ago) the question that people kept asking me was "why do I need the watch..when I can do the same thing on my phone!?"
You could just as well ask, "if you have an iPad, why do you need an iPhone?" The answers are very similar.
Baker lead off with a question about Apple's first wearable, saying he didn't find it to be "indispensable."
So that's the standard now? A product isn't good or can't be successful if it's not indispensable? I've never understood this 'need' argument with Apple Watch. There are lots of things I own that I don't really need. Does anyone ask whether someone needs an Xbox or a new pair of Nike shoes? No but with Apple Watch the first question always is "is this a must have?". So annoying.
Very few things in life are "indispensable". It's all about how much convenience and utility they add to your every day life, and imo the Apple Watch adds more daily convenience than 95% of other junk out there. I don't know how the hell something on your wrist is suddenly supposed to become "indispensable" when it didn't exist the day before. Maybe they didn't sprinkle enough "indispensable" dust on it. Everything that Apple has ever made has been called a toy at some point, from the iPod, to the iPhone, to the iPad, to the Macbook Air, etc, and every single one of those products became the universal template for the entire industry.