There was a scathingly daft story about the Apple Watch in the Guardian yesterday where someone who'd never seen it or used opined about it being a major mistep and, to double-down on the daftness, trotted out the vapidly cliched "this would never have happened with Steve" line.
All of this came before the unveiling of potentially the most outlandish Apple product in history: a $10,000-plus 18 carat gold watch. It was almost as if Apple needed to pat itself on the back for the good it does in the world, in order to justify catering to such a niche market. All delivered without a hint of irony.
Apple has not had a product failure in more than 10 years, but the Apple Watch could very realistically be the first.
The argument presented is so uninformed and so inarticulate, it makes you wonder why it was written or published. Jim Dalrymple of The Loop found an answer to the first part:
[The Guardian article] was written by Martin McNulty, who they say at the bottom of the article, "is chief executive of Forward3D and Locaria," which are basically marketing agencies. Seems innocuous, right?
It is until you take a look at some of McNulty's clients, which include Kering, the owner of Boucheron; Dodo; Girard-Perregaux; Gucci; Jean Richard; and Ulysse Nardin. All of these companies offer high-end luxury watches.
As to why Apple made the Apple Watch Edition, I've already given my theory — it gets them into fashion-industry conversations and it gets them on high-fashion wrists.
Ben Evans has an even more detailed take on it, including parallels to the worlds of couture and makeup.
It's been a bad, bad week for big media when it comes to Apple coverage. Here's hoping next week is better.
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