Apple Watch Analysis Name Institution
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Which innovation characteristics could Apple leverage to manage resistance to future generations of Apple Watch? The Apple watch – the first ever produced by Apple Incorporated – is the most eagerly anticipated smart watch of the year 2015. It was designed using a three-fold concept that would help the future generations; 1) To make notifications intuitive and simple 2) To promote wellness and health via its watch. 3) To make it usable for simple day to day activities such as replace the keys to a car or even enable the user to make simple payments online. Like the current smart watches produced, the apple watch will not only serve the purpose of indicating date and time, but it will also enable the wearer to carry out numerous activities such as; make or receive phone calls, check and send text messages & emails, view notifications on social networks such as Face book or Twitter as well as monitor the heartbeat of the person.
However, unlike previous smart watches of yesteryears, the apple watch appears to be fancier and more desirable. This may be because Apple has released not one version of its smart watch, but several models; the Apple Watch (Standard one), the Apple Watch Sport (Sports version), and even the Apple Watch Edition (a luxury 18 carat gold version!) among others. Apple has launched its watch with more than eighteen different designs. While the design is elegant yet simple, the Apple watch appears to be very sophisticated. ‘In addition to being a beautiful object, Apple Watch is the most advanced timepiece ever created, it’s a revolutionary new way to connect with others, and it’s a comprehensive health and fitness companion.’ (Tim Cook, 2015) Any innovation, either disruptive or sustainable, will have huge implications.
For a smart watch, one of the major implications is its effects on society. The smart watch has ethical & moral implications, psychological implications, legal & security implications and even historical & cultural implications. With Apple’s worldwide popularity, not to forget its reputation as ‘The Disruptor’ ‘ having constantly shown that it can upend any market; this new product from the company will definitely affect the lives of thousands of users like previous releases from Apple Inc.
Discuss the role of propagation mechanisms in reducing resistance to Apple Watch? Like every company, Apple also plans its strategies and implements them considering its own perspective. In the environment, however, there are different views about understanding the initiatives taken by the company. Positive aspects of these opinions will further strengthen Apple as a brand, however, the negative opinions need to be tactfully handled, as they may do serious harm to the company. Critical evaluation of each aspect of their marketing strategy would make them sustain their strengths and overcome their weaknesses.
What are the consumer characteristics that Apple needs to influence to overcome consumer resistance to its smart watch? Like any other company, Apple also plans its strategies and implements them considering its own perspective. However, in the environment, there are different views about understanding the initiatives taken by the Apple Company. Positive aspects of these opinions will further strengthen Apple as a brand; and on the other hand, the negative opinions need to be tactfully handled, as they may do serious harm to the company.
Discuss the barriers and sources of active and passive innovation resistance in the context of Apple Watch. Even though Apple watch does so many things, there are cultural, historical implications, and expectations.’ (Jony Ive, 2015) It is true that any innovation will have both positive and negative impacts. In this case considering the Apple watch, it will have some societal implications like, historical & Cultural Implications, ethical & Moral Implications, Psychological Implications, historical & Cultural Implications Apple watch, like previous smart watches, is still new to the wrist watch market. The latter has been sustained by the sales of conventional watches. Many of the leading brands, Patek Philippe have been in the wrist watch market for several reasons. One of them is because those brands form part of a super group. The wearer of a Rolex or Swatch watch is perceived differently just because of the history behind those companies. Those Swiss watchmakers have a long, rich heritage, dating back to the 1800s. Based on the afore-mentioned reasons, it would be disadvantageous for the Apple watch to be compared with the centuries-old conventional watches. Even the luxurious 18 carat gold edition of the Apple watch may seem inferior to a Swatch or Rolex due to the latter’s heritage. Ethical & Moral Implications The Apple watch has many moral & ethical implications. The watch can be classified as both intrusive and non-intrusive wearable technology – depending on how it is used. If the watch is used as a complementary device ‘ one which does not affect our interactions ‘ it can be termed as non-intrusive. However, if the watch is used as a supplementary device ‘ whereby we use data generated by the watch to interact with society ‘ it can be classified as intrusive. For example, for the apple watch, by constantly using the heart rate sensor and sharing the data on social media, the wearer is using the phone as an intrusive technology. Many people tend to become self-obsessed rather than just health conscious. As a result, their behaviour may become unethical. It can also be argued that the Apple watch will have unethical implications as it will enable sharing of a person’s private data, for example, the Research Kit will collect health information for a user and many users will tend to share that data on social networks, rendering this unethical. There is the risk of privacy leaks when people share too much of their personal data. By sharing intimate details about themselves, they may also be at risk of identity thefts. Another potential societal implication of the smart watch is that it will encourage people to rely too much on it. From planning of schedules for meetings to saving information such as credit card pin code and personal login information, the user will tend to save everything on the watch.
Psychological Implications Another profound impact of the watch on society would be the psychological implications on human beings. As mentioned previously, people will tend to become self-obsessed with some functions of their smart watch, namely the heartbeat sensor. People will be addicted to the bio data and this could have an adverse effect on the psychology of the user. Rather than being relaxed, people will have the tendency to be excited on a constant basis as they will be able to read any variation in the heartbeats; for example, in a person’s life, there are moments when the heart rate is slow and at times it may be high. Many people might resort to different alternatives to try to lower the heart rate and it may cause an adverse psychological effect on them.