There are already smartwatches available, and they’re all also gadgets. They live in the tech sector too, and they’ve been designed and marketed as such, to the same old crowd of consumers. They are geek toys, without exception.

Apple doesn’t care about that market, because it’s a tiny segment of an industry they already dominate. What Apple cares about is the wristwatch market.

Excellent piece, and I’m largely in agreement. There’s no doubt that the Apple Watch will be extremely popular among geeks, and even mainstream consumers. What’s not so clear is whether it will succeed in charming users of traditional, mechanical watches. Those are a different kind of customer altogether, one that Apple has never courted before.

That is what may ultimately make or break the Apple Watch’s case as a timeless, iconic device, and take it beyond the space occupied by typical tech gadgets in people’s minds. Judging from Apple’s marketing strategy thus far, it looks like they’re keenly aware of that, and are acting accordingly.