Apple will no longer fix the $17,000 gold Apple Watch::The original Apple Watch models, including the $10,000-plus 18-karat gold Edition that Beyoncé wore, are now officially obsolete and won’t get parts, repair, or replacement services.
The irony of building something so expensive, opulent and heirloom worthy around one of the most rapidly depreciating assets you can buy (technology)
VelociCatTurd@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Even before they were unsupported, how have they not been “obsolete” for some time. Cannot imagine how slow a gen 1 watch would be. I can see the appeal of a timeless heirloom watch, but this is such a brain dead purchase.
MossyFeathers@pawb.social 1 year ago
Is there really a reason to need faster smart watches? I can understand shrinking the internals to pack in a larger battery, but I’m kinda confused about what newer smart watches do that requires a more powerful processor (I don’t own a smart watch).
It seems like you could support backward compatibility pretty easily by having basic software running on the watch with a program-agnostic API to send and receive info from the watch (kinda like midi or osc). I doubt the processor necessary to send, receive, decode and display information in this format would require that much power. If smart watches honestly get slower over time, the only thing I can think is that the software itself is getting less efficient at doing the same tasks it previously did.
sbv@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Software is a gas: it expands to fill the processor and memory you give it. That’s a goofy way of saying that, as manufacturers cram faster processors and more memory into devices, software developers will use the extra facilities.
If you’re on an old device with limited CPU/RAM, you’ll be forced to upgrade to a newer OS that was built with newer devices in mind.
kobra@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Mostly new sensors rather than larger battery I think. For instance, newer Apple Watches can monitor temp and oxygen (at least in some capacity).
DJDarren@thelemmy.club 1 year ago
I have a S3 Apple Watch, and while it’s stuck on an older version of watchOS, it serves my purposes perfectly. Sends me notifications, lets me control my music and tracks my exercise. That’s pretty much all I need from a smart watch at this point. The battery isn’t amazing, but if I charge in the evening when I’m watching TV, it’ll last me through the night. I give it a little bump while I’m drinking coffee and reading in the morning and it’ll still be on 40/50% when I get home from work.
Neve8028@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Good one lol. I’m sure apple will think about it haha
korewa@reddthat.com 1 year ago
I wonder how much of that price is just the value of gold.
I’m seeing a 24k bracelet no watch and similar shape is $5k to $10k
ArghZombies@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Very little of the price is the gold.
An actual gold watch (excluding the bracelet) weighs about 20g.
At about £50 a gram that’s £1000.
And I doubt the amount of gold in the case of the Apple watch is anywhere near the same amount as in a traditional gold watch case.
pineapplelover@lemm.ee 1 year ago
It’s a fucking watch. I mean it can also monitor bpm and stuff like that but I can’t imagine it’s doing any complex scientific calculations on there.
VelociCatTurd@lemmy.world 1 year ago
And I’m sure you’re posting this comment from your eMachine? The Apple Watch is a computer. As applications become more demanding, any older computer will be “slower”.