Steve Wozniak is a co-founder of Apple and the engineer who built the foundations of the company. So, when he’s got something to say about Apple, people tend to listen, especially if he’s critical of Apple.
It’s not the technology, though, as how it’s sold. In the middle of praising Tim Cook during a Reddit AMA, Wozniak took a detour where he criticized the mindset of the Apple Watch:
I mean I love my Apple Watch, but – it’s taken us into a jewelry market where you’re going to buy a watch between $500 or $1100 based on how important you think you are as a person. The band’s the only difference? Well this isn’t the company that Apple was originally, or the company that really changed the world a lot. So it might be moving, but you’ve got to follow, you know. You’ve got to follow the paths of where the markets are.
Of course, it’s not clear the paths of the market led to smartwatches. The Apple Watch, while hardly a dud, isn’t really selling as much as Apple would like, either. That said, Wozniak has his own things going on, although elsewhere in the AMA he notes that Steve Jobs always ensured Wozniak could badge into any building on the Apple campus.
And, of course, there’s a flaw that bothers the engineer in him:
…I just love this little flexible magnetic band. Of course, every once in awhile I’ll put my hand on a table in a restaurant, and pull my hand back, and it pulls back the fork with me, that attaches to the magnet of the watch. That’s kinda funny.
Hey, they can claim that as useful, you’ll always know where your silverware is. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature!
(Via Reddit)