What is it?
Apple's newest creation: a smart watch.
How will it change my life?
The release of any highly anticipated product should be viewed with the caution of those who know what awaited Dorothy at the end of the Yellow Brick Road. In short, be wary of the hype: you might be expecting a mighty wizard but sometimes all you get is a bloke hiding behind a curtain.
It's an approach I kept in mind when taking a first look at the latest arrival from Apple. The buzz surrounding the Apple Watch has been nothing short of phenomenal with high hopes that it will prove as innovative as the iPod, iPhone and iPad before it.
Apple is trying to attract an entirely different customer base for its latest offering, pitching it not at technology buffs but at the more fashion conscious. This is unlikely to deter die-hard Apple aficionados shelling out for it, of course, so what can you expect to receive for your money?
Good points?
It looks sleek with Apple providing a range of watch faces to choose from, and it is a device that will no doubt become popular with app makers.
By taking its time to enter the wearables market Apple has ensured that the physical quality of the watch has not been compromised.
The personal aspects of the technology are especially interesting and will only grow with expected updates including vibrations on your wrist when a notification arrives on your phone.
The fitness apps are sufficient for a first attempt and have plenty of scope to move forward into other areas such as golf swing analysis.
Bad points?
The battery life is said to be less than a day, which doesn't send a progressive message. Pricing will also present a major obstacle to many potential buyers desperate to get their hands on one.
Best for ...
Those who like to wear their tech bling not so much on their sleeve, but proudly on their wrist.
Avoid if ...
You prefer to let early adopters iron out the bugs before investing.
Score:
6/10. There's no hiding the fact the Apple Watch lacks the sparkle of the company's past successes.
Apple Watch, £479 (apple.com)
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article