Apple Watch is a Flop (Unless You Ask People Who Have One)

Perception and reality, part two. A piece from Re/code  says more than half of those surveyed by the advertising technology company Fluent said they considered the Apple Watch a flop. For fun though they asked people who actually knew what they were talking about and got a very different answer.

Referring to the negative ones, the piece says,

“That sentiment — expressed by the majority of the 2,578 adults in the U.S. who responded last week to an online survey — reflects how the device is perceived by the tech press and industry insiders, many of whom have been pessimistic about the Apple Watch from the start.

Asked whether they considered the Watch a successful product for Apple, 53 percent responded ‘no’.” Again though, ask people who know what they’re talking about, i.e. people who actually have an Apple Watch, and the answer is different. Not only do 77% of these Fluent respondents who have an Apple Watch see it as a success, 66% say they plan to upgrade to the next version of the device once it’s available.

What do they like about it? What it has to offer.
79% of the respondents go for activity, tracking and notifications.
75% use it for listening to music.
And finally 66% of respondents use it for checking email or chat.

Asking friends and colleagues who own an Apple watch what they most liked about the portable device, activity came out on top overall. Timer or stopwatch, notifications and playback controls all tied for second. And SIRI and Watch tied for third, which is funny.

Never would it have occurred to me to use my Apple Watch as a watch. It’s almost as crazy as using your iPhone as a phone.

Interestingly Apple Pay was mentioned a few times but not as the number one option for the Apple Watch. More recently I venture out without a wallet trusting Apple pay more often, right up until the other day when the shops card reader refused to acknowledge it’s existence.