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Comment by trustno2 | Hacker News Reader

I remember the watch being kind of unpopular, and most people didn't really know what is it for and how to use it. Now it is really popular.

Apple TV also really didn't find much of a success, really.

That being said... the watch was not as big of an investment, so they could iterate relatively quickly and make new versions. Apple Vision Pro is really expensive.

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Total non sequitor, but the Apple TV + Home hub combo is really great. I love the privacy-by-design aspects, and that it works as a LAN device properly: totally unaffected when the network cuts out (which is frequently in my area).

The privacy invasion of literally every other tv-device / tv that isn't a DIY device is a total nightmare. I just want to sit down and watch a program without all my data going to 1000 different companies interested in profiling me. Have you seen what eg Samsung is doing with their TVs?? Or Roku? It's really nuts.

If you're already in the Apple walled garden, it's also really nice having good tv controls baked into your phone/watch/earbuds, seamless casting / display mirroring. I'm totally aware that you can get all of these setups without Apple hardware. But the integrated experience works really seamlessly.

Exactly this. The Apple Watch got some pushback initially too. I don't think it's over yet.

I think the Vision Pro was released a bit too early, though. The current-gen just isn't quite good enough, unlike the very first gen Apple Watch (which I owned).

The problem is that they prioritized the wrong things and made the headset too heavy. If they release a gen 2 that is maybe 50% the weight, and likely drops the front screen to get there (maybe reducing price), they'd have a much more usable product.

I have a suspicion the design team didn’t engage with any competitors headsets in a meaningful way and just assumed they knew better. Because wear a heavy headset for 15 minutes then swap to a lighter one and the relief is palpable.

Glass and aluminum is just the wrong choice for something pressing on your face, but they just really wanted an excuse to play with curved glass in a design.

Watches (both traditional and GPS for runners, hikers, bikers) and fitness trackers (Nike, Fitbit) were very popular prior to the Apple Watch. AR and VR are still unproven markets besides some games. Skepticism over Vision Pro is more reasonable than Watch. Iterating Watch was about improving implementation and delivering the features that we knew people wanted. Iterating Vision Pro is about creating a market that doesn’t exist yet.

edit: typo

I sort of remember the opposite. I remember that there was some initial pushback to wearables, but once Apple watch entered the scene it was quickly adopted - and in fact helped to establish smart watches in general as niche product.

It was not the ubiquitous success of the previous consumer products, I think, but it quickly gained traction.

I don't think that VR glasses are going down the same route.

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