Today may be the day that Apple finally release full details about the Apple Watch; when it’ll be available, how much it’ll cost etc. With that in mind, I thought I’d put down in writing my thoughts about buying this first generation product.
Disclaimer: I have no inside knowledge of today’s Apple Event, and because of that I won’t be speculating (any more than I have in the opening paragraph) on it’s contents.

In readiness for when the Watch arrives, I’ve been thinking about it since the original announcement back in , trying to get my head around how I’d use it, what I’d use it for and based on that, what I could justify paying for it. The honest answers are I’m not sure, I don’t know, and an uncertain amount! Here’s why:

This is a first generation device, and despite Apple’s undoubted design expertise, like all ‘first attempts’ it’s undoubtedly not going to be the finished article. Think of the first generation of iPhone (no 3G, no apps), and iPad (bulkier, heavier, slower, no camera) and you get an appreciation of how far these devices have come in their subsequent iterations.

But that’s not the only improvements that have come through time. When the iPhone and iPad were first released, nobody knew what they could do, and many of the fantastic apps that are available now hadn’t even been conceived, let alone developed, used and improved.

For me it doesn’t matter how great the product is, until it’s out in the wild with people (other than Apple employees), not all of the uses and future enhancements will have been fully conceived. When end users and third party developers (other than Apple’s favourites, who may, or may not, have been involved at Cupertino to design apps for the Watch) get their hands on the device, I’m sure we’ll begin to see lots of new ways to use the Watch going forward that may shape the development of future versions. And that’s where we usually start to see some exciting uses for these new products. If you look back at the original models of iPhone and iPad, the way we used them, and the apps that developers began to create, shaped the future of the products, and they’ve been hugely enhanced by the input from outside of Apple.

For that reason, I will (of course) be ordering a Watch when they are released in the UK. But unless the mid range (Apple Watch) is around the same price as the cheapest model (Apple Watch sport), I’ll be getting the most affordable model. I expect this will be perfect for me until a later generation could be deemed to be the ‘finished article’ when I’d be prepared to spend a bit more money to get the nicer steel version. For me, the gold model (Apple Watch edition) is a no-no. The rumours on pricing are wildly different, but based on the gold content alone they couldn’t be any cheaper than £650 which would price me out. Firstly I’m not keen on gold watches. And secondly, I can’t imagine spending that (and probably substantially more) on a wrist watch. But then if you’d told me about my total spending on phones and tablets a couple of years ago, I’d have laughed at my future self!

Don’t forget the ‘Spring Forward’ event is available live on the web, and on your Apple TV at 6pm (UK) tonight. I’d love to hear from you on your reactions to whatever is discussed.