[HN Gopher] Apple will no longer fix the $17,000 gold Apple Watch
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       Apple will no longer fix the $17,000 gold Apple Watch
        
       Author : ortusdux
       Score  : 42 points
       Date   : 2023-10-02 21:57 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theverge.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theverge.com)
        
       | pleb_nz wrote:
       | I assume these are solid gold and it can be cast into something
       | useful for many more years?
        
       | worik wrote:
       | I would prefer it if we could all just start ignoring Apple.
       | 
       | Thank you
        
         | chongli wrote:
         | Easy enough to do! Just skip over the Apple articles on your HN
         | front page!
        
           | gorjusborg wrote:
           | If you haven't already, I would encourage both of you to read
           | the guidelines of posting here:
           | 
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
           | 
           | Specifically:
           | 
           | > Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-
           | examine. Edit out swipes. > Comments should get more
           | thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more
           | divisive.
           | 
           | If you have already read them, treat my comment as a reminder
           | to be respectful and try to generate stimulating
           | conversation, not wage battles.
        
           | booleandilemma wrote:
           | [delayed]
        
       | jkubicek wrote:
       | I doubt this ever mattered, especially to folks like Karl
       | Lagerfeld, who never even set his up (or appears to have charged
       | it).
       | 
       | https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/karl-lagerfeld-audemars-pi...
        
         | demondemidi wrote:
         | If I was worth what he is I'd be buying expensive gadgets on a
         | whim every 15 minutes. Then just buy a new house when the
         | current one fills up with said gadgets.
        
           | sgu999 wrote:
           | Well, then I guess we should be happy inequalities prevent
           | one more person from wasting a tremendous amount of rare
           | materials and energy.
        
             | [deleted]
        
         | SahAssar wrote:
         | That's mentioned in the article.
        
       | jklinger410 wrote:
       | Apple is to servicing their hardware products as Google is to
       | maintaining their software products
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | crgwbr wrote:
         | This was a one off first-gen product that was sold almost 9
         | years ago. How long do you expect them to keep maintaining it?
         | At least no one is attempting to build infrastructure on top of
         | an Apple Watch--that can't be said about google's services.
        
         | expazl wrote:
         | I get that the luxury watch crowd will look at this as a
         | failure because they count the time a watch works not in years
         | but generations. But the Apple watch isn't that type of watch,
         | it's a wrist computer. And from my perspective having gotten 8
         | years of support on a smartwatch that was still one of the
         | early generations for the device type itself is pretty decent.
         | How long would you expect them to keep supporting this?
        
         | mahmoudhossam wrote:
         | Google's software rarely makes it beyond 5 years though
        
       | RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote:
       | There's a story about this newly rich woman who is trying to
       | impress her new friends. "I clean my diamonds with milk, and my
       | rubies with dilute vinegar,..."
       | 
       | Finally, she turns to an older lady and asks, what she uses.
       | 
       | The older lady just smiles and says that when her jewels get
       | dirty, she just throws them away.
       | 
       | The gold Apple Watch is a status overpriced, impractical good for
       | signaling and technological obsolescence is not really something
       | that a person who buys it cares about.
        
       | lovemenot wrote:
       | The purpose of these watches has long been served. They
       | introduced Apple Watch as a premium digital watch to the masses,
       | getting free media attention.
       | 
       | Celebrity owners would have got a brief sparkle from it. Perhaps
       | also some of Apple's marketing budget too. And they continue to
       | own a legacy item which will have notoriety beyond mere function.
       | 
       | Collectors of rare historical firearms presumably don't actually
       | fire them.
        
         | _3u10 wrote:
         | They do, generally at least before selling it to prove it
         | works, as a working firearm has more value than one than
         | doesn't.
        
       | nlunbeck wrote:
       | I'm curious what the convention is for gold consumer electronics
       | at EoL. Do you bring it into a jeweler and get the gold casing
       | pried off and melted down?
        
         | twoodfin wrote:
         | I'm not sure it will beat the S&P 500 or Apple stock, but I'd
         | bet that an OG Apple Watch Edition will hold its value better
         | than the gold you'd melt out of it.
        
         | surfingdino wrote:
         | Ultimate planned obsolescence and an ultimate flex.
        
         | SSLy wrote:
         | People have repurposed gen0/1 AW's into mechanical watches with
         | a bit square-ish case.
        
         | Cockbrand wrote:
         | I kinda expect a YouTube video to exist of a Chinese hardware
         | hacker transplanting the Watch Series 9 innards into an
         | obsolete gold (or better: ceramic) Apple Watch case.
        
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       (page generated 2023-10-02 23:00 UTC)