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Re:Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from co... by Crespyl on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @08:30PM (#22951641)
I'm probably oversimplifying, but there is some truth to the notion of Apple being as much a fashion company as they are a tech company, and smart-watches fit perfectly into that niche of fashion-tech.

FitBit was a good product, but Apple had more experience and resources available when they decided to enter the space.

Even so, I have no doubt there were other factors at play as well.

Re:Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from co... by npunt on Thursday April 23, 2020 @05:04AM (#22954089)
Yeah definitely! Fashion is itself a framing mechanism and a way to convey meaning, and part of any good product launch is having people understand your product the way you want it to be understood.

If one of the properties you want your product to have is being fashionable and communicate something about you, you have to both invest effort in making a product that reflects that need (through the design decisions of form & function), and gets people to understanding it through that lens (framing it through product marketing). It's a push and pull to create something fashion-forward, the product adapts to the market's needs, and the market shifts what's fashionable to include the product.

Re:Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from co... by pfraze on Thursday April 23, 2020 @01:54AM (#22953207)
I think that's exactly what Pebble' problem was, unfortunately. It wasn't fashionable.