Marco Arment: The Apple Watch Got Me Hooked On Mechanical Watches

Marco Arment, known for creating great iOS apps like Instapaper and Overcast, has written a piece on his blog called The Apple Watch got me hooked on mechanical watches. In the piece, Arment says that the Apple Watch is an incredible piece of hardware, so much so that it made him start looking at mechanical watches, and has now converted him to the point where he doesn’t seem himself going back.

While I can understand Arment’s point, I think his conclusions are a bit short-sighted. Take this part for instance:

Timekeeping on the Apple Watch is especially frustrating: it gets you hooked on having the time always shown on your wrist, but like most of the Watch’s features, it’s unreliable. The screen stays off unless you tap it or twist your wrist, and if it doesn’t recognize the motion properly, you’re just staring at a blank screen until you get impatient and perform a second, exaggerated wrist motion, hoping nobody’s watching.

This is a first-generation product. Do you really think the display on future versions of the Apple Watches is going to be blank? No way. I don’t think it’s going to be long before the time (or whatever else you might want) is persistent on the face of the Watch. Many Android Wear watches are doing this already. Once that’s figured out and done property, seeing the time will be just as fast on the Apple Watch as it is on a mechanical watch. Thus Arment’s issue is eliminated.

Apple has aggressively pushed the Apple Watch as high fashion, but it’s simply not. It’s a utility watch, much like quartz watches, that has many useful functions and can be made to look very nice but won’t ever be a prestigious fashion item. There’s no shame in that. The sooner Apple realizes this and lets the Watch be what it really is, the better.

I agree that the Apple Watch is not as “high fashion” in the way a Rolex, Panerai, or many other watches are. But again, you have to realize this is the beginning. Look at many Apple products and then look at how much they’ve evolved. The iPhone was nice when it came out, but it’s way nicer now. The iPod was similar, and so was the iPad. To think that the Apple Watch has hit peak fashion with the very first version seems cynical. I totally expect the Apple Watch to get nicer and even more fashionable as the years go on. Remember, Apple is learning too.

This is where he gets me though:

But I simply like mechanical watches more. I’ve completely converted, and I don’t foresee myself wearing the Apple Watch much in the future — the additional functionality it offers isn’t useful enough to me (your needs may vary) to overcome the far greater joy I get out of wearing a nice mechanical watch.

I mean, c’mon. We’re not even a full year into a first-generation product and Arment is claiming that he doesn’t see himself ever wearing an Apple Watch much. It’s almost as if he doesn’t think any other valuable features will be baked in. That it won’t look any different. That it won’t become something that offers more value than it does today. Maybe he’s right, but to claim that less than 12 months into its existence is sort of foolish if you ask me.

I wouldn’t argue with Arment if he was talking about the third or fourth generation of the Apple Watch and very little progress was made. But we all know its super early and that there’s a lot of potential for all wearables, including the Apple Watch. I think the wiser thing to say that the Apple Watch isn’t there yet, but the opportunity still exists to make this a product that is very valuable.

Remember, these things take time.