So Spring breakwould not be complete (for me) without carving out some time to go try out/onthe new Apple Watch. I went to one of our local Apple Stores (at the mall).There was no wait time for a walk in demo which was cool! I asked to try out/on the one I pre-ordered the day before (42mm Steel) w/ classic black leatherband with buckle and the black sport band. It looks very elegant on the wristand both felt very comfortable (I almost liked the sport band better than theclassic leather band with buckle). Both were very easy to put on as well. Themost amazing thing I noticed during the entire demo was the clarity of theretina display…it was down right beautiful and added to the elegance Iexperienced. I got to try out some of the functionality…I rolled the crown backand forth, single and double tapped the button under the crown, swiped throughglances, opened up some apps, and triaged email which was insane!!! I got toexperience the haptic feedback as well which, by the way, is going to be a great way to remain aware ofwhat is happening digitally in my world…enabling me to further cultivate themental silence I crave during the day. Wearing the watch for 10 minutes doesnot compare to what many in the tech world have had the luxury to do over thecourse of the past week or so which brings me to my next point.
Full scale reviewsof the watch started finding their way to the Internet the day before the April10th pre-order launch. I've read almost all of them and I will be honest withyou, I was not looking for justification from anyone of these people with regardsto buying the watch. I knew I was going to buy one, I knew which one I wanted,and (as anyone who has read my blog this week knows)I knew why I wanted the one I ended up pre-ordering.So, reading the reviews gave me a chance, among other things, to see the agendaof each of the writers…figuring out, among other things, whether or not theywere (not) Apple people. Enter the review written and videoed by Nilay Patelfrom The Verge. I have nothing against Nilay Patel. I didn't even know who hewas before reading and viewing his "definitive" thoughts about theApple Watch. It only took me a few minutes though to figure out that this is aperson who is "definitely" not an Apple fan. That's ok too. Justbecause I am does not mean everyone else should be. I'm fine with someonewriting an honest, factual, and opinionated review of something. That said, Ihave to wonder, did he wear the same thing I tried on earlier this afternoon?How could someone in his position write such a brutal review after wearing thesame thing I wore for only 10 minutes?! Trust me, I get it. The competitionneeds people like Mr. Patel out there doing "this sort of work."
And…while I'm atit…did any of you notice that his video review(especially the segment where he talks with a panel of techie people that workfor the website Racked) cast the watch and its bands in such poor lighting that they bothlooked down right pedestrian which isexactly what he was going for. Being the first review I checked out I have tosay, it almost worked on me! However, I dare anyone to go into an Apple Store,try one of the watches on, and walk out telling someone that it is not anelegant piece of technology! I'm glad I went to the Apple Store today to tryout/on the Apple Watch, I'm glad I woke up early and got the one I wanted, andI wish Mr. Patel a happy rest of his career; as a writer of fiction!