"The Apple Watch Epitomizes How Apple Lost its Magic Touch"

Raymond Wong writing for Mashable on how the watchOS 3 essentially proves that Apple no longer has it’s “magic touch.”

There’s no Apple product that better epitomizes how the company has lost its way on user interfaces than the Apple Watch.

It’s time to face the music: Apple got the Apple Watch software completely wrong from the start.

Perhaps Apple didn’t get it right the first time, but to suggest that signals that Apple has lost its touch is a bit ridiculous. Remember, Apple TV, which was unveiled at the same time as the iPhone, has gone through many changes, both with Jobs and without Jobs. The Apple TV of today both looks and functions completely different than the Apple TV that Jobs showed on stage in 2007. In fact, the Apple TV today is better than the one that existed when Jobs was alive.

Wong continues:

Under Jobs, Apple’s products melted hearts because of his intense ability to maintain focus. Apple chief design officer Jony Ive is said to share the same focus as Jobs. Together the pair changed the world with its revolutionary products, saving Apple from the brink of collapse in 1997.

It is true that certain products like the iPhone and iPad were hit products from the start. But I think what Wong is forgetting here is how these products were built on the shoulders of the other products. The iPhone had so many other phones to take ideas and inspiration from. The grid icon arrangement was not new. It was borrowed from other devices such as the Palm Treo. The lack of a physical keyboard also existed in other phones before it too. What Apple and Jobs did with the iPhone was look at the entire market and pick and choose things they liked and disliked. That combined with multi-touch technology allowed them to do something that wasn’t even thought possible.

With the Apple Watch there was nothing to look at. There was no smart watch market. So instead, like the Apple TV, Apple made its best guess as to how it should work. And because Apple is so secretive, it’s likely that very few people had input. This two things increased the chances that Apple wouldn’t get things perfect from the start. And it turns out, they didn’t.

Now don’t get me wrong. I do think if Jobs was there, Apple probably would have shipped a better first-generation Apple Watch. He was such a masterful editor. But what I think Wong gets wrong is that Apple is no longer capable of doing the same things without Jobs. In fact he basically says so here:

Apple under Jobs wasn’t perfect by any means, and it won’t be under Cook either. But now it’s clearer than ever that we can’t blindly trust Apple to really get software and UI design, especially for new categories. In other words, Apple is now like every tech company.

I couldn’t disagree more with this. Apple has several products that I believe are far better than other tech companies, the Watch being one of them. Name another tech company that sold over 12 million Watches in a year? I can’t. Name another tech company that has arguably the best chip designers in the world. I can’t. Name another company that’s building a better tablet than the iPad or a better desktop than the iMac. I can’t.

Apple may not be the same as it was when Steve Jobs was alive, but that doesn’t mean they’re like everyone else. Not even close. Perhaps Wong should rid all of his Apple products and buy ones from Apple’s competitors. Maybe then he’ll see Apple for what they’re worth.