The New York Times has come out the door swinging with one of the very first Apple Watch reviews. The piece, penned by Farhad Manjoo, focuses on what works with the watch, what doesn’t and what needs improvement.
It also makes some fairly salient points in that it cites the author’s initial hesitancy about the device, the learning curve, who it’s designed around and what to expect from it.
Perhaps the most interesting point the piece makes is that it helped wean the author away from his smartphone to a degree. Manjoo points out that since the adoption of smartphones in our lives, we’re constantly inundated with new information, and though useful, much of it is often irrelevant. The review points out that the Apple Watch was able to help the author filter the flow of information, not constantly have his nose stuck in his smartphone, much to the gratitude of his spouse.
Manjoo also cites current issues with third-party apps, as quoted below:
Third-party apps are mostly useless right now. The Uber app didn’t load for me, the Twitter app is confusing and the app for Starwood hotels mysteriously deleted itself and then hung up on loading when I reinstalled it. In the end, though, it did let me open a room at the W Hotel in Manhattan just by touching the watch face to the door.
It’s a good piece, take a gander and we’ll have additional coverage on the Apple Watch all the way up until its release on the 24th.