Steve Wozniak, the guy who co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs, isn’t impressed by the company’s smart-watch

Nov 11, 2014 15:53 GMT  ·  By

Even before it’s hit the shelves, the Apple Watch is something of a marvel in the eyes of the consumer. But Steve Wozniak, the guy who co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs in the latter’s garage, isn’t so impressed.

Speaking to CNNMoney from Capital One's new Innovation Center in Plano, Texas, The Woz openly admitted to some things that he didn’t really like about Apple these days. For starters, he suggested that the company’s smartwatch was unimpressive to him.

A “luxury fitness band” is what it is

Woz is a geek at heart. The first Apple computers he and Jobs sold were actually hand crafted by him. It hard to steal that from someone, even as transistors shrink to the edge of physics.

But while he does hope to “wear” his favorite smartphone features, he doesn’t think the Apple Watch is it.

“I kept saying that I'd like to have a smartphone on my wrist, so I bought a few smartwatches when they first came out.” Wozniak said. “I got rid of them so quick. I got real negative on smartwatches.”

He called the product a “luxury fitness band,” but admitted that he’d have to buy one to give it a go. To be fair, the Apple Watch is indeed an expensive fitness band, especially the gold model. However, the features touted by Apple at the September 9 launch event, coupled with the device’s potential outlined for developers, could push it well beyond that status.

“It's more distinctive than all the others,” Wozniak added. “And who knows? It might sell well. There are a lot of wrists out there.”

On Siri and big screens

Woz is known to be a big fan of Siri, and he’d even picked up on its scent long before Apple acquired the company: “I bought into the company that made Siri a year before Apple owned it,” he said. “I couldn't talk people into using it -- I told everyone it's the best app ever.”

Finally, the Woz touched on iPhone and the fact that Apple apparently waited far too long to equip its flagship product with a big display.

He actually hinted that Apple should have done this some three years ago, or around the time Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs as CEO of the company.

“Apple could have had a much bigger share of the smartphone market if it had a larger-screen iPhone for the past three years,” Wozniak said. “It could have competed better with Samsung.”

In all fairness, that’s a conclusion anyone can make, now that everything has been said and done.

Steve Wozniak and Apple Watch photos (6 Images)

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