[addabox]

So I'm just going to chime in here and mention that I checked the Watch out at my local Apple monger on Saturday. Count me among the "cool, I guess, don't really need something like that" camp.

And but, you know, um...... all of a sudden I kind of want one. I mean, I'm sure there are lurking issues with actual ownership, but just from a few minutes of playing with one it felt right, and good, and fun, and.... well, like Robo said, it's about how it makes you feel. And in the feels department, I think Apple (as per usual) pretty much nailed it.

I had my doubts, reading the various online reviews and caveats and "maybe this time Apple isn't quite sure what they're doing" type think pieces. I read that the UI wasn't intuitive, that a smart watch is the answer to a question no one is asking, that apps were half finished, that $350 (much less $500 or $750 or $10,000) is too much to pay for a bauble that does nothing my phone doesn't already do.

And maybe that's all true. But when I tried one on, when I played with the tethered demos, when I observed how they looked on other people-- it seemed to make sense. The glances and digital crown and force touch and all of it. Just seemed like I could see myself rocking a space grey aluminum with a black band.

Reality distortion field? Random acquisitiveness? Dunno. But I think they're going to sell a lot of these (apparently they already have), and I didn't necessarily think that before I saw one in person. I thought maybe it was really going to be Apple's first big stumble, post-Steve. Now I think it's going to do to the smart watch category what the iPhone did to the smartphone. Not in absolute numbers, of course, but in disruption and by defining what a smart watch should be. Look for everyone else to start moving towards Apple's take, all the while loudly denouncing any talk of copying-- because, you know, they already had watches on the market something something sheep.

At one point I was looking at the new MacBook tethered to an iPad mini which had an iPhone 6 next to it and was within eyeshot of the Watch and I felt the old fever rise up. Everything was just so fucking nice, you know? All beautifully engineered, meticulously constructed, every more seamlessly compatible, ever lighter, thinner.... Like Paul, I haven't really been feeling it for a while, maybe that's just age, but right at that moment it seemed like Apple can keep taking market share and kicking ass for as long as they want. There is nobody, and I mean nobody, that is doing what Apple is doing right now. I don't think anybody can, without a billion dollars in investment and a couple of years. Nobody else even wants to, they don't see the point.

Sorry for the unabashed fanboy outburst. I can see why someone who wasn't much into "nice" finds this shit embarrassing. BECAUSE THEY ARE SOULLESS DOGS.