1 thought on “Estimated Apple Watch Shipping Date”
kategladstone
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kate Gladstone
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2015
Subject: Why Apple Watch is making me cry
To: “tcook@apple.com”
When Apple Watch was announced for an April 24th launch, my husband joyfully showed me the announcement and asked if I’d welcome the Apple Watch for a “slightly belated birthday present.” (My birthday — March 19 — was speedily approaching.)
Well, of course I decided I could wait a little longer than my actual birthday; I am a long-time Apple user (converted to Apple by my husband, in fact, before he eventuslly sighed, went back to Windows, and traded in our Mac for a Toshiba. I remain a happy user of my iPad and iPhone.)
So, I waited … and looked for pre-order joy on April 10, particularly since I had a 1-800-MY-APPLE coupon for $100 off any purchase that was over $300 — as long as the order was placed by phone (the coupon had been granted me by Apple Customer Service, not long before after a particularly grueling span of bad Apple Tech Support experiences and escalations). Given that this was a “phone only” coupon, of course, I was okay with the fact that this meant my order would have to be at 7 AM EST (4 AM PST for Apple’s headquarters) when the phone lines open, instead of four hours earlier when the Apple Watch pre-orders would actuslly launch on-line …
… but i’m no child; I can live with that. I’m a big girl; I didn’t expect, therefore, to get the earliest ship-date and gratify my long-standing Apple Watch passion on April 24 … further, I knew I was lucky that Apple was NOT “sold out” of my chosen model (42mm Sport, black band) because that’s what a full 30% of us Watch-awaiters have decided on …
… so, sure, I would have been prepared to settle, oh, for a green band if the black ones were all sold out by the time the phone-lines opened … but to settle for JUNE? Oh, I gritted my teeth and placed the order: funing anf cussing over not just a screamingly late date, but one so uncommunicatively vague that it barely even qualifies as a “date” at all (since no actual _date_ in June was specified, or even hinted at. What’s UP with a thirty-day window of imprecisiom from a company that sells prrecion electronic equipment, including watches?,)
What makes things worse, about this June-but-nobody-knows-a-date-IN-June stuff, is that early in June I’ll be on the road — presenting at an education-and-disabilites conference where I’d been sure I’d have /a/ the zillion benefits of the Apple Watch and /b/ the fun of having it noticed. I have NO way of knowing whether, at that time, my Apple Watch will be /a/ on my wrist where it belongs, or /b/ still in the warehouse or the factory, or /c/ fruitlessly trying to make its way towards my shipping address while I am 1500 miles away, constantly pulling out my iPhone as I go between the convention center and the hotel: both places where I COULD benefit from my Apple Watch, but neither of them a place where I can expect Apple or FedEx to deliver, even if I get to know that the shipment is in progress: IF it is … maybe …)
For an Apple Watch at ANY time in April — even in May, given that I ordered a full four hours later than the earliest “early birds” — putting up with delays and inconveniences had made sense.
Apple isn’t magic, after all — hey, I’d already resolved to put up with a quick-dying battery and non-waterproof construction: features that I would NOT accept in any other watch costing the same list price (or even the $100-lower price that my phone-in discount provided). So I wouldn’t have blinked if the projected ship date had been, oh, a week or even ten days later than the “April 24” that Apple had so powerfully been publicized to everyone, evverywhere, who had even HEARD of the Apple Watch …
… and I would not have been quite so upset if, at the very least, the oops-we’re-late correction (June) had come with a number hung on it (June 1, June 30, or anything else to tell me when to expect it, and therefore what plans I need to make in order to finally let the watch and me intersect in space-time).
I still want my Apple Watch.
I still look forward to getting it on my wrist.
But — every time I look at it (or listen to it, or get its taptic feedback) —
I wonder if I’ll feel as nervous and betrayed as I do now:.
Every time I fasten the band, will I feel ridiculous over having trusted a computer company — now a watch company — that’s vague on dates?
Manzoor's Thoughts 
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Kate Gladstone
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2015
Subject: Why Apple Watch is making me cry
To: “tcook@apple.com”
When Apple Watch was announced for an April 24th launch, my husband joyfully showed me the announcement and asked if I’d welcome the Apple Watch for a “slightly belated birthday present.” (My birthday — March 19 — was speedily approaching.)
Well, of course I decided I could wait a little longer than my actual birthday; I am a long-time Apple user (converted to Apple by my husband, in fact, before he eventuslly sighed, went back to Windows, and traded in our Mac for a Toshiba. I remain a happy user of my iPad and iPhone.)
So, I waited … and looked for pre-order joy on April 10, particularly since I had a 1-800-MY-APPLE coupon for $100 off any purchase that was over $300 — as long as the order was placed by phone (the coupon had been granted me by Apple Customer Service, not long before after a particularly grueling span of bad Apple Tech Support experiences and escalations). Given that this was a “phone only” coupon, of course, I was okay with the fact that this meant my order would have to be at 7 AM EST (4 AM PST for Apple’s headquarters) when the phone lines open, instead of four hours earlier when the Apple Watch pre-orders would actuslly launch on-line …
… but i’m no child; I can live with that. I’m a big girl; I didn’t expect, therefore, to get the earliest ship-date and gratify my long-standing Apple Watch passion on April 24 … further, I knew I was lucky that Apple was NOT “sold out” of my chosen model (42mm Sport, black band) because that’s what a full 30% of us Watch-awaiters have decided on …
… so, sure, I would have been prepared to settle, oh, for a green band if the black ones were all sold out by the time the phone-lines opened … but to settle for JUNE? Oh, I gritted my teeth and placed the order: funing anf cussing over not just a screamingly late date, but one so uncommunicatively vague that it barely even qualifies as a “date” at all (since no actual _date_ in June was specified, or even hinted at. What’s UP with a thirty-day window of imprecisiom from a company that sells prrecion electronic equipment, including watches?,)
What makes things worse, about this June-but-nobody-knows-a-date-IN-June stuff, is that early in June I’ll be on the road — presenting at an education-and-disabilites conference where I’d been sure I’d have /a/ the zillion benefits of the Apple Watch and /b/ the fun of having it noticed. I have NO way of knowing whether, at that time, my Apple Watch will be /a/ on my wrist where it belongs, or /b/ still in the warehouse or the factory, or /c/ fruitlessly trying to make its way towards my shipping address while I am 1500 miles away, constantly pulling out my iPhone as I go between the convention center and the hotel: both places where I COULD benefit from my Apple Watch, but neither of them a place where I can expect Apple or FedEx to deliver, even if I get to know that the shipment is in progress: IF it is … maybe …)
For an Apple Watch at ANY time in April — even in May, given that I ordered a full four hours later than the earliest “early birds” — putting up with delays and inconveniences had made sense.
Apple isn’t magic, after all — hey, I’d already resolved to put up with a quick-dying battery and non-waterproof construction: features that I would NOT accept in any other watch costing the same list price (or even the $100-lower price that my phone-in discount provided). So I wouldn’t have blinked if the projected ship date had been, oh, a week or even ten days later than the “April 24” that Apple had so powerfully been publicized to everyone, evverywhere, who had even HEARD of the Apple Watch …
… and I would not have been quite so upset if, at the very least, the oops-we’re-late correction (June) had come with a number hung on it (June 1, June 30, or anything else to tell me when to expect it, and therefore what plans I need to make in order to finally let the watch and me intersect in space-time).
I still want my Apple Watch.
I still look forward to getting it on my wrist.
But — every time I look at it (or listen to it, or get its taptic feedback) —
I wonder if I’ll feel as nervous and betrayed as I do now:.
Every time I fasten the band, will I feel ridiculous over having trusted a computer company — now a watch company — that’s vague on dates?