Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
Apple CEO Tim Cook.
It's going to flop.
It's going to fail.
Why would anyone need this?
That was the story with the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, three products that went on to be very successful. (Yes, iPad sales continue to decline, but the business is still very strong overall.)
It's also the story ahead of the Apple Watch's launch on April 24. Depending on who you ask, the new gadget is either going to be a massive failure or a massive flop.
In an interview with Fast Company, Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed the buzz by pointing to Apple's track record with new product launches when asked about why a smartwatch is useful. Emphasis ours:
Yes, but people didn't realize they had to have an iPod, and they really didn't realize they had to have the iPhone. And the iPad was totally panned. Critics asked, "Why do you need this?" Honestly, I don't think anything revolutionary that we have done was predicted to be a hit when released. It was only in retrospect that people could see its value. Maybe this will be received the same way.
Cook seems to be teasing that we won't know why the Apple Watch is useful until people start experimenting with it. That's also been a common bull case for the watch: It's a brand-new platform that developers will have to play around with before it becomes a must-have gadget.