The important point is Apple did not sell those cases when the iPhone was first released. It didn't talk about the idea of customizing it. People will figure out how to own their phone and make it personal.
I think the author of this piece did a great job channeling a likely, and better, introduction.
Right, and what would be the analogy here? I suppose they could've let you replace straps without actually offering other straps? But that sounds like you're not offering more out of some silly superstition?
Apple as a company has more resources today and I think that's certainly part of it. They barely launched a single phone on time in 2007, let alone multiple models. Steve Jobs said that "nobody would buy a bigger phone?" He didn't see people using phones the way they do today. In 2007 "bigger phone" meant "I can't make this smaller because small is hard" and by being small -- but inline with the phones people were using at the time -- it was even more impressive. Hell they STILL get us with that one, every single year. Thinner! Lighter! Yes!
It did not. And what's more annoying is the way he puts it: I KNOW WHAT STEVE WOULD HAVE DONE. I, a big nobody compared to a CEO that's worked for Apple since 20 years, know why he got it wrong. Now I'm gonna tell you what I would have done.
This is the worst bullshit. Critique is great, and you can pull it off brilliantly even you are a little dot compared to the big guys you're criticizing. This is clearly not the case.
About the customization: there's two version of the Watch, one big, one small. The rest is fashion. Apple knew, better than anybody else, that you need fashion to sell something that stays on your wrist and everybody will see all the time.
Deem it superficial, if you want, but that's reality. Once again competitors couldn't do something similar, because they may have the tech. This time around even the ecosystem. Unfortunately the don't have the best team of designers (not merely industrial designer, designer in general) a company has ever employed.
Yeah that's true but it's still silly. Phones sit in your pocket, they mostly look the same, it's not that big a deal.
Watches on the other hand have been fashion items for over a hundred years. There are countless variations. It would be arrogant - even for Jobs - to claim that a single design would satisfy everyone, would be perfect.
I think the author of this piece did a great job channeling a likely, and better, introduction.