Just like there’s still an industry for cameras, there will always be an industry for a quality watch.
So I just finished reading this Forbes piece how Apple is singlehandedly killing the Swiss watch industry and I have to admit – I haven’t read that much bullshit in such a small format in a long, long time.
And after fifteen years in journalism I can say I’ve seen my share of bullshit, too.
The author backs his bold claims stating that Apple sold more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry in the last year – 30.7 million units, compared to 21.5 million sold by the entire Swiss industry.
But guess what, just because Apple named it “Apple Watch” – doesn’t mean it can stand in the same category as a Swiss watch (or any other watch, for that matter).
Not everything that tells time is a watch
It’s a wearable device, a piece of digital technology, a gadget. It’s not a mechanical timepiece.
The author has even said it himself, yet he chooses to be oblivious to the difference, for whatever reasons:
“Experience shows that the Apple Watch is more than something that tells the time, and is instead receives notifications, evaluates your physical activity, shows the weather forecast, tells you if your team has won, and a myriad other things, including whether you are suffering from an arrhythmia.”
Well in that case, the smartphone industry beat Apple to the punch, killing the Swiss watch industry before, because – duh – the phone in your pocket tells time, too! Oh, while we’re at it, I can also say that the car industry has killed the bicycle industry because both are transportation tools, yet one has more gimmicks than the other!
Yes, wearables are taking off and yes – both wearables and watches go on your wrist, but to suggest there’s no room for both and that one excludes the other is just bullshit. There will always be people who appreciate a good timepiece and will wear it in certain situations, rather than just sticking a display to their wrist at all times.
Just look at the amount of effort that goes into building a proper watch – it’s easy to see why people will appreciate it, why there will always be a market for these things and why it’s so much different than a smartwatch.
While we’re on the topic of idiotic statements, here’s another gem – “As soon as you start using the Apple Watch, you realize one thing is clear: the rest of your watch collection will live on in a drawer from now on.”
I need sports results on my wrist because of reasons
Sure thing, mister, whatever you say. But guess what – there are plenty of people out there who’re already fed up with notification overload and the stress that’s associated with the always-on lifestyle. That arrhythmia you’re mentioning – some argue that it could be caused by smartphones.
The idea that less notifications means better mental health has been around for a while now, and even your precious Apple understands the danger and offers digital wellbeing features with iOS 12 (Google, too, by the way). Not to mention the fact that sales of “dumb phones” is on the rise, as people increasingly decide to disconnect and retake ownership of their lives.
To put it into words said by our dear Forbes author himself – “As is always the case when disruption occurs in an industry, traditional competitors are not able to see the threat.”
“I inherited a smartwatch from my grandfather” – No one, ever
This isn’t a battle of one type of watch against another type of watch and to suggest such a thing is just stupid. The two are incomparable and there will always be a market for both. Hell, if that’s the case – how come the camera industry isn’t dead already?
To say that a gadget that tells time (among other things) can sit in the same category as a piece of jewelry seems rather ignorant at first.
But then I read this jewel of a sentence and it hit me:
“Over the coming years, as we notice the number of people around us wearing an Apple Watch, we’ll still observe those hopeless nostalgics with their air of superiority, showing off an expensive Swiss timepiece.”
This whole article is just the author venting his frustration for not being able to afford a proper watch and hopes the entire industry burns to the ground so that he doesn’t have to watch other people wear fancy jewelry any more.
Well if he was better at writing, maybe he’d get paid more and would be able to afford a nice watch!
Image Credit: Flickr / Daniel Go
