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iWatch, the end of Apple?

Apple has launched its iWatch.

Way back, when Apple announced its iPad, I was one of the very few commentators who predicted big things for the ground-breaking new tablet.

Whist others were suggesting that it was simply a solution looking for a problem and something that (without a keyboard) would never become a mainstream device -- I saw the potential and suggested that it would change the face of computing.

Woohoo... *I* was right and so many others were wrong.

So now is my chance to ruin my perfect score at predicting the future of new Apple devices by suggesting that the iWatch will be a bust.

The iPad had everything going for it. A large screen, plenty of functionality, great ergonomics and a "wow" factor.

By comparison, the iWatch is a dog.

No watch will ever have enough screen-space to do a sensible job of presenting data and the trade-off between bulk and battery-life is also a killer.

Then there's the big question... what benefits does it offer?

Sure, you'll be able to check and see if you've got any new messages without pulling your mobile out of your pocket -- but "big wow!" -- is that really worth the $400+ that Apple will be pinging Kiwis to grab one?

So many other companies have tried and failed in the smartwatch area that I find it very, very hard to believe that Apple will make a go of it. The concept has too many fundamental flaws.

Perhaps if Steve Jobs was still still at the helm he'd have come up with a way to make the iWatch somehow more stylish or more functional than all the others -- but from what I've seen in today's reports, the Apple has no "killer feature" or super-slick design. In fact from a styling perspective, the iWatch is pretty crappy when compared to the far sexier Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch -- although I do concede that "style" is a highly subjective issue.

I'm afraid that I find the iPhone's "mini iphone on a strap" design to be very ho-hum.

Sadly for Apple, as the first "brand new" product since Jobs' death, I suspect that any failure will inflict a huge dent in the company's stock price. Investors have been looking for assurance that Jobs wasn't a huge part of the company's intellectual capital and that it could continue to roll out "must-have" devices even in the wake of his death.

I'm going out on a limb and saying that the iWatch is the new Apple Lisa.

Yes it will work. Yes, avid, die-hard Applers will buy some but NO... it will not become a must-have piece of kit and the iWatch may well spell the beginning of the end for a company that has played a monumental role in the computer and personal communications marketplace over the past almost four decades.

The iWatch... a device that Apple would have done better not to release?

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