A new interview with CEO Tim Cook, lead designer Jonathan Ive, and Operations head Jeff Williams sheds some light on the development of the
Apple Watch. Ive remarks that Apple first began working on the project about three years ago, and calls it "probably one of the most difficult projects I have ever worked on." The company delved into an extreme amount of research, going so far as to invite watch historians to speak at its Cupertino headquarters. "What was interesting is that it [watches] took centuries to find the wrist, and then it didn't go anywhere else," Ive says. "I would argue the wrist is the right place for the technology."
The company experimented with many different interface options, including pinch-to-zoom, before settling on things like the "digital crown" revealed at last week's press event. It is even
said to have designed the Watch's packaging to double as a charging stand.
Williams led a team of hundreds of designers and engineers to produce the Watch's S1 processor, as well as its heartrate sensor and the special alloys used in its bands and casings. He comments that while Apple could have shipped the watch in time for the US holiday shopping season, the results would've lacked "fit and finish and quality and integration." Apple is "willing to wait" for "the best product in the world," he says. The product should ship sometime in early 2015.
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