Neil Hughes
Speaking at a live event this week, Apple's chief designer Jony Ive said creating the forthcoming Apple Watch was a "humbling" experience that presented an even greater challenge than designing the iPhone, due to the legacy of traditional wrist watches.
In statements made at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Ive said that the societal expectations for a wristwatch made designing the Apple Watch a daunting task. Ive's comments were summarized on Friday by The Wall Street Journal.
"Even though Apple Watch does so many things, there are cultural, historical implications and expectations," Ive said. "That's why it's been such a difficult and humbling program."
Ive was present at the museum to accept the 2014 Bay Area Treasure Award, a lifetime achievement award celebrating his "revolutionary" work at Apple. Ive is the 15th recipient of the award, which recognizes artists and creative leaders in the region who have redefined visual art.
In designing the Apple Watch, Ive focused not only on fashion, but also customization. Wearable devices are deeply personal, and both the hardware and software of the Apple Watch will feature levels of personalization not usually seen in Apple products, including different sizes, collections, straps and even watch faces.
In previous comments, Ive has said that the Apple Watch was three years in the making before it was unveiled in September. In that time, the company has brought on a number of fashion experts, including designer Marc Newson and former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, to help ring the product to market.
In addition to fashion, the Apple Watch will also focus on fitness and health tracking. The device will start at $350, and is set to go on sale in early 2015.
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
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136 Comments
There's an Ive quote from last night that sums up ?Watch perfectly, I think: [QUOTE]"When we se something huge and powerful we aspire to make it small and meaningful."[/QUOTE]
It's Apple hardware that runs iOS - adapted perfectly to a watch form factor. It'll be a hit. Just sit back and watch the rest of the industry try to respond. It'll be pure comedy.
I wonder sometimes if maybe they're trying to to make it do too much. Maybe trying to do what a fitness band does well, and what a fine timepiece does well will compromise both functions. I am buying one anyway, as cheap a setup as I can get. I'm a guy with a small wrist so will go for the small sport series with whatever band comes with. Just want to find out for myself whether this is (or will become) the next leap forward in personal tech.
[quote name="Quadra 610" url="/t/183166/historical-implications-made-apple-watch-more-difficult-to-design-than-original-iphone-jony-ive-says#post_2632047"]It's Apple hardware that runs iOS - adapted perfectly to a watch form factor. It'll be a hit. Just sit back and watch the rest of the industry try to respond. It'll be pure comedy.[/quote] And of course it will have it's naysayers just like ever other Apple product has in the past. Now I'm hearing it's basically doa because it's not "cross platform". That seems to be the new buzzword these days. Do people not know how Apple makes its money? Until the watch can be a stand alone device it won't be "cross platform". The only way I could see that changing is if Apple sees data that more people would buy the watch if it worked with devices beyond iPhone. And even then the data would have to show that ?Watch sales are really being depressed because of iPhone exclusivity. I don't ever see that being the case.
I am big an Apple fanboy as they come, but, for the first time for an Apple product, I do not feel the desire to purchase an Apple Watch. I have a Fitbit that I use to track my fitness (or lack thereof) and it gets bumped and tugged and crushed almost daily. I am planning on picking up the $250 Fitbit Surge when it is available early next year, $100 less than the lowest end Apple Watch. I just don't see the point in spending, at minimum, $350 for something that will be abused. I also am not a big fan of the UI, although I have obviously not played with one yet. Unfortunately, I think many people will buy this just because it's an Apple product and they want to show off the latest sparkle to their friends.