John’s review was the first I read when the embargo lifted yesterday morning. And, it’s the only one I’ve read in its entirety. It’s an enjoyable read from beginning to end and I can’t wait for him to publish his thoughts on the user interface — which he noted to be a separate review that will published at a later date.

I found his section about Digital Touch to be in-line with my thinking about the feature — especially this bit at the end of his review:

If you’re the only person you know with an Apple Watch, your timekeeping will still be precise, your activity tracking will still be accurate — but digital touch as a form of communication will be pointless. Digital touch only works, only becomes a thing, if Apple Watch becomes a thing. Digital touch is not designed for an isolated product. It is designed as a tentpole feature for a hit product with widespread appeal and adoption. The single most innovative feature of Apple Watch — the most intimate feature of the company’s most personal device — will only matter if some of the people you care most about wear one too.

This pretty much sums up my hesitance to go all-in on the Apple Watch — the Watch’s most compelling feature is only useful if the people I care most about own one too. Which means I have to judge the Watch within the context of it costing me $698 (one for me and one for my fiancée). And unfortunately — not being someone who already wears watches — I just don’t think its worth the cost. Not without some brilliant killer-app from a third-party developer or at least another year’s worth of hardware development.