Wife Hates Technology, Wants Apple Watch

A husband takes his wife who “doesn’t care about technology” to an Apple Store to try on Apple Watch. The results are interesting and it shows a perspective many probably don’t realize exists.

Apple Watch, while having an overall volume that is larger than the FitBit Charge HR, has a case that is actually shorter than the electronics of the FitBit. It hugged her wrist like it was created for her and she said it felt like it wasn’t there at all. Success?! Not yet. She still wasn’t sold. In her mind the FitBit did everything she needed as far as tracking activity and she wasn’t bought into the idea of spending 3x more on Apple Watch. Then it vibrated on her wrist as the demo video showed a (fake) incoming call. The FitBit does caller ID as well so this wasn’t a big deal but when the Apple employee mentioned that she could answer the call on her watch as long as the phone was connected via Bluetooth, her mouth almost hit the floor. “You mean I can leave my phone on the counter and not have to carry it around the house all the time?!” Sold.

I, too, have witnessed similar outcomes based on features I didn’t think were a big deal. In my anecdotal observations, the reason why people want the Watch range from “it’s cool” to “my husband is getting one.” Almost none of the answers have sounded very technical at all. It’s really fascinating.

Continuing on:

I mentioned to her that she would need to charge the Watch everyday, not just every 4-6 days like she does with her FitBit. She immediately said, “that’s actually better. My FitBit lasts almost a week but when it tells me it’s about to die, it’s often at an inconvenient time and place. Knowing I have to charge every night will put me into a routine with it like I do with my iPhone and I’ll never run out of battery at 9am again.”

This again is why I think the “techie” crowd is the wrong crowd to ask if this is a product for the masses. Establishing a habit is actually a good thing. It makes very little sense for Apple to extend the battery that much longer unless they can achieve several days. Adding a few hours will help sure, but it’s not a huge priority.