Skip to main content

Company co-founder Steve Wozniak blasts the Apple Watch in AMA

There are two types of AMA that play out on Reddit — the limp, languid affairs where a prominent figure shills a product under the guise of a Q&A session, and the interesting alternative where the subject actually answers some questions truthfully.  Yesterday saw Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak engage in the latter variety.

As well as answering queries about the invention he would like to have come up with and the best prank he’s ever pulled off, Wozniak dove into some serious issues. Of course, the dispute between Apple and the FBI was broached, but Woz also found the time to share his views on the divisive Apple Watch.

Recommended Videos

Wozniak expressed a ‘worry’ about the device, stating “I love my Apple Watch, but it’s taken us into a jewelry market where you’re going to buy a watch between $500 or $1100 based on how important you think you are as a person.” He would go on to criticize the fact that the range of bands on offer is the only thing that differentiates the product line.

“Twenty watches from $500 to $1100,” wrote Wozniak. “The band’s the only difference? Well this isn’t the company that Apple was originally, or the company that really changed the world a lot. So it might be moving, but you’ve got to follow, you know. You’ve got to follow the paths of where the markets are.”

An explanation of Woz’s harsh stance on the smartwatch can be found in a separate answer he gave, where he sets out his ethos that progress toward new technologies should be about “making the human more important than the technology.” It seems that in the case of the Apple Watch, he sees the product being put before the person using it.

Interestingly, Wozniak’s comments were not prompted by a question specifically pertaining to the Apple Watch. He was in fact being asked about his thoughts on Tim Cook, whom he praised as “continuing a strong tradition that Steve Jobs was known for.”

Brad Jones
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
Apple just dropped a new watch band and wallpapers for Pride 2025
Apple Pride 2025 collection.

Apple just announced its "2025 Pride Collection," which includes a new Sport Band for Apple Watch, a dynamic watch face, and a dynamic wallpaper that will be available for iOS and iPadOS. The watch band is available to order from today and the watch face/wallpapers will drop in upcoming software updates.

Apple has been releasing special edition watch bands for Pride Month for almost a decade now, each with a different take on the rainbow/multicolored design. This year's is pretty straightforward, making use of bold stripes of color just like actual pride flags.

Read more
Revisit the Apple Watch’s launch ads from exactly 10 years ago
The first Apple Watch

Following years of speculation, Apple finally announced its intention to enter the smartwatch sector in September 2014, releasing the first Apple Watch the following year on April 24. 

Exactly a decade on, now is as good a time as any to revisit the ads that gave everyone their very first look at Apple's debut smartwatch.

Read more
Nomad’s always desirable glow-in-the-dark Apple Watch band is back
The Nomad Rocky Point Band.

If you missed out on Nomad’s fantastic, limited edition glow in the dark Apple Watch Sport Band which was released at the beginning of the year, you’re about to get another chance to get one. Nomad has a brand new glow in the dark band to reveal, and this time it’s made for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. 

The new glow in the dark model is based on Nomad’s Rocky Point Band. While it’s compatible with all 49mm, 46mm, 45mm, 44mm, and 42mm Apple Watch models, the fluoroelastomer is waterproof and shouldn’t tear, and the shape of the underside will help reduce sweat and keep your wrist cool, so it’s ideal for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. What’s more, the hardware — which comes in black or natural silver — is made of titanium to match the case of the Apple Watch Ultra 2. 

Read more