Perhaps you should go back further in the history of Apple.
Prior to Steve Jobs, Apple was mired in dysfunction, couldn't get a relevant product released and all sorts of other issues. So, Apple, without Steve Jobs, has NOT been the most successful company ever. Far from it. So, Apple has a lot to prove post-Jobs. This product is the first to be released under Cook.
In 2001, there were not "hundreds of Mp3 players. In fact, the early Ipod was one of the first. (http://gizmodo.com/5437243/mp3-players-in-the-year-2000-were-not-so-good-but-we-still-loved-them) At the time, I had a Archos Jukebox and after the ipod was announced, quickly moved to the original 30gb Ipod.
In 2007, there were not "hundreds" of smartphones. Apple CREATED that market. There were some early iterations of Android that could not even come close to competing with the smartphone Apple created. (http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jan/24/smartphones-timeline).
Prior to the Ipad, very few were trying to make tablets. i had a version of a resistive touch screen using Android and it sucked. It wasn't usable. Again, I am the epitome of adoption at the bleeding edge. And I was one of the only techies I knew trying a tablet. There were Hundreds and thousands of computers, in different form factors at the time, but not Tablets. Apple CREATED the market. Apple also CHANGED how users interact with their computers in a massive way. I remember getting my first and second Ipads. Man - a game changer.
Now we come to the Apple Watch. Apple will sell a bunch. But, in wearables, there are literally thousands of competitors and options. At CES this year, I walked past hundreds of booths of manufacturers of wearables all with a different slant. Apple did not create this market. Their offering *seems* to be a "me too" offering and will count on the large number of iPhone users who want a watch in perfect sync. I don't blame those users at all and think they will sell a ton.
But this isn't a market mover product. Moreover, watches, unlike phones and computers, are a very personal decision. Unless you go back to Swatch, where you could make a plastic $30 watch unique, watches are personal and are not akin to mass adoption.
I also believe Tim Cook's Apple, while growing and profitable right now, still benefits from Steve Jobs. That will wear off more and more with each release. I think Apple is missing a massive market opportunity in tablet computers - where the Surface Pro and others have captured an important mix of full laptop capability but with touch screen, writing, etc. I cannot figure out why Apple didn't go after that space as they would have dominated from the user experience they brought to iPad's and macbooks.
So, I will happily hold on my posiiton that the Apple Watch is a "me too" offering that will be heralded by its sales in the first year but ultimately signal the first product released post-Jobs that didn't move a market.
Does that mean Apple sucks? Not in the least. But in this market, they are very vulnerable and that hasn't been the case since Apple Lisa.
The problem here on Free Republic is that there DOES EXIST a group ... that I call the “APPLE-HATER CULT” and “APPLE-HATER TROLLS”.
These Free Republic posters are few, but they have a PSYCHOLOGICAL DISEASE ... some kind of Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder ... in which they cannot resist going onto threads that they actually HATE THE COMPANY and the PRODUCTS and proceed to tell everyone there why they are idiots, they are stupid, they have been snookeered, or if they have money in Apple, that they are about to “lose their shirts” and that Apple is “going out of business” any day now, and they are the “evil empire” for putting together an “ecosystem” in which (according to them) everyone is TRAPPED INSIDE and cannot get out ... LOL ...
You can easily see who these posters are, as they are definitely Obsessive/Compulsive, in that they “come into” threads that they HATE and proceed to tell everyone else on that thread “how wrong they are”. Just look for THOSE TYPES ... and you’ve found the APPLE-HATER CULT GROUP MEMBER on Free Republic.
There are others who simply discuss something that they would like from Apple, but maybe Apple hasn’t done it for them, and they have one or two complaints about this or that. We’re not talking about them. We’re talking about the HARD-CORE and persisten APPLE-HATER CULT MEMBER on Free Republic.
There is a difference between the two ... and you can easily see WHO IT IS by reading the posts and see who fits that description and criticizes everyone who has Apple Products and anyone who likes Apple and anyone who thinks Apple develops excellent products.