The [new] Apple Watch Experience
The bad, not good, horrible experience of trying out Apple Watch on launch day, April 10, 2015 is worth something documenting. And now, with a revision after four try-outs in different stores and days. Look at the end.
After weeks of reading, analyzing, discussing the new smartwatch, doing some actual shopping for traditional watches in jewelry stores (to understand the traditional experience) and actually owning competing devices from Motorola and LG, I came to the conclusion that I had to give this thing a try. If it was half the useful that my Android Wear watches were, it was going to be a hit for me.
So, on April 10 I woke up at 2:50a.m to make sure I was going to get my first choice of watch (pre-order) and try-on appointment (10a.m in my local store). Expecting a rough experience ala iPhone 5, iPad Mini and iPhone 6 pre-order process, I made plans for a long night of trying to buy from three different devices and two internet connections. To my surprise, at 3:15 am I was sound asleep again with two watches bought, and a first-appointment slot at 10:00 am the following day.
I got the first watch order at 3:02 a.m. Shipping April 24-May 6. The second order at 3:03 a.m, shipping in May-June. Granted, the second order was for the least expensive option, which is probably one of the most popular ones.
At 10:00 a.m I was dilligently waiting for the store to open. No long lines, no crazy environment, no red-eyed people waiting outside. Business as usual.
I got in, waited “in line” for the staff to take me to the sparkling new Watch- tables for about 10 minutes, while they were trying to figure out what to make of the internal training instructions they had just 3 hours before, with no rehearsal of procedures other than reading emails from Angela on how to greet, line up, introduce and help on this new experience for both consumers and Apple.
There are over 38 different variations of Apple Watch. This is a very personal device that requires a different type of “selling experience” and a different kind of interaction between people at both ends of the transaction. The notion of buying a $350 or $900 or $10,000 mini-computer that attaches to your wrist and is nothing without another $700 iPhone in your pocket is radically different from anything that Apple has done, and this time, there’s no Steve Jobs to obsessively control the experience. This is why Tim Cook and Angela Ahrendts worked in tandem to design a fashion-item kind of experience, instead of a technology oriented one.
I think they failed at training their employees in this dramatically different approach.
After being handed to two different people in blue shirts, I finaly got “paired” to a store rep that guided me to a center table where they had layed-out 6 elegan mats similar to the ones that jewelry stores pull out for watch try-outs. To its right, an iPad used as display of facts, data and general information on the product, and a tiny watch attached to the table, for software demo purposes. It was smaller than I thought, with a smaller screen that actually through my sales rep out of balance when I asked for the size; “Is this a 42mm or a 38mm?”. It was the small one, she said.
Under the table, there are matching drawers that can only be opened with one of the iphone-powered terminals that the sales people have. It’s slow, inconsistent and weird. The drawer pulls out, and there they are: A dozen of devices from -almost- all variations, in both sizes and a few strap options. No gold watches here.
My eyes mus have popped, because the rep told me to “step aside and not so close to the watches, please”. “NO, don’t point at them”. “No, you can’t touch these”. I, in my bluntness, couln’t avoid saying out loud:
I’m not going to steal the freaking watches, you know?
The “experience” continued to, basically, suck. I realized that the watch on display was, in fact, the 42mm (and it was small!), most of it’s features were either unresponsive, disabled, or plainly SLOW.
The sales rep offered her help putting on the different watches I tried, and she almost died when I took the watch out of the boundaries of the blue mat, and probably for a good reason because I almost dropped it when trying to put it on.
It turns out that in trying to Think Different, Jony Ive has designed bands that are so un-intuitive to lock, that are quite diffficult to get used to put the watch on safely. The rubber (I refuse to use that stupid name they gave it) band has a pint to lock and then you have to wiggle your fingers to stuck the strap underneath itself. The milanesse loop (a gorgeous piece of art by itself) needs to be threaded through a small opening and then your hand needs to grab the watch while you loop it and click it in place with the magnets.
The leather bands have as much leather as I have Irish ancestors. It’s literally plastic with a thin -insanely thin- layer of “genuine leather”. For $145 this is crazy expensive.
Probably the only band that was intuitive was the modern and traditional buckles, but they are either crazy expensive too, or are not available in 42mm size.
The watches you try on are not turned on. This means that you are out of luck if you want to test the early reviews claims about lagging response to turning the screen on when you raise your hand, or try an actual product on your hands.
All in all, the “experience” lasted about 20 minutes. Yes, I pushed the boundary set at 15 minutes for each appointment, because I made it very clear to this lady that she was being disrespectful and rude by dealing with me as if I was a crook, stupid or ignorant.
All and all, the watch is gorgeous and I agree with much of what the early testers have to say about it’s speed, design and future generations. I’m still getting one, of course.
I’m scheduled for another appointment now, to see if it was only a matter of luck and first-day growing pains for Apple. However, my impressions on the watch are pretty simple:
It’s a gorgeous piece of hardware (especially the stainless steel one) with amazing design and engineering combined, but in an unprecedented store experience environment for Apple that they don’t know -yet- how to sell.
The best part of the day at this Apple Store though, was to actually witness the amazing new MacBook 12". This is yet another hit for Apple, and clearly a glimpse of the future. It’s just too expensive, under port’ed?, and underpowered.
REVISION:
Turns out that I wanted to give Apple another chance, and waited a week before scheduling my second appointment. This time in New York City Grand Central Station store.
The experience was, in short, much better. They still had the slow-to-open drawers with watches, only a limit of two watches out at a time, and a limited assortment of combinations available. The representative that guided me through the 15 minute experience was more comfortable in his own skin, and treated me respectfully, but with a good amount of skepticism and caution. The answers to my questions were similar, but without the speculation, including the fact that despite its website’s information, the Apple Watch is NOT RECOMMENDED to be used while taking a shower.
Three try-on appointments later, I can confidently say that your experience will be DIFFERENT EVERY TIME. In one appointment, they actually turned on the watch that I was trying, and it had a “video-only” demo, meaning no interaction, but also meaning that I got to feel the haptic engine, see the screen on my wrist, and appreciate other details otherwise not possible to see. In another appointment, they were totally surprised when I asked about the diagnostics port that you can see in one side under the band base, and in another appointment they declined to comment but at least acknowledge it instead of trying to hide it.
At the 5th Avenue store, they actually allowed me to play with a demo watch (the ones attached to the iPads) without having an appointment, for about 30 minutes. Other stores kicked me out.
The reps are always confused or at least hesitant on calling the watches by their name. -”Do you want to see the Apple Watch, or the Apple Watch Sports?” would be the correct one, but I heard everything from “the shiny or the matte one?”, “The aluminum or the steel” to “the cheapest or the most expensive”. I’m totally betting that Angela is getting destroyed over the surveys that Apple is getting back from customers like me.
I also got to see the Edition version (Again, a confusing name for everybody) in the 5th avenue one, and it looked amazing, but something I would definitely not get even if it was $500.
So, yes, the experience varies greatly, which is not something so dramatic with other Apple products. These guys are not sure if they are selling jewelry, watches or computers for your wrist. The message at the store level is not clear.
