It's clear Samsung's decision was a response to a "rumor" that Apple is working on a watch. Apple is almost certainly working on a watch. However, for 2 very proud companies this is so sad to witness. Samsung to react defensively with "I gotta have it too" mentality and for Apple to try to force a watch on us. Who the heck wears watches these days? My mom wore a watch for 50 years and last year she stopped wearing one because her phone told perfect time. And Apple (and Samsung) won't even be the 1st with a smart watch, not by a long shot. Is this the best Apple has these days? So sad.Mr. X-Doc is easily saddened. It is hard to understand why he believes that working on a product (or announcing that one is working on a product) is so tragic. It has long been par in the marketplace for more than one producer to compete by offering products in the same category. Would Mr. X-Doc chastise farmers for selling wheat when other farmers already sell wheat? What about selling toilet paper, shovels and laptop computers? Do the vast majority of car makers and plastic-bag makers suffer from an "I-gotta-have-it-too" mentality? Or are they pursuing the rational goal of trying to earn a living by exploiting a market opportunity to provide products and services that people want?
X-Doc's complaint is too broad, if correct, to pertain only to smart watches or only to the rivalry between Samsung and Apple, or only to any particular product that he happens to know about and that he regards as superfluous. His is actually a lament about market process as such. Of course brand-new inventions are important. But the inventions that we already have are also important. To make a profit, a company must strive to satisfy the needs of consumers somehow better than competitors do. Fulfilling this goal often entails marginal but still significant improvements in the product as such, or in its price, distribution, or other aspects. These efforts don't make me feel sad. I am glad that so much work is put into providing goods and services that make my life easier.
Contrary to X-Doc's assertion that Apple is trying to "force a watch on us," no person is "forced" in a market to buy any product that, with respect to his own values and purposes, misses the mark in some way. That's why X-Doc's mom--who for some reason is offered as representative of the prospective market for smart watches--was able to dispense with wearing a watch despite her half-century habit of doing so. X-Doc should distinguish between voluntary transactions and coercive transactions. An offer to sell is not the same kind of action as an order to buy given at the point of a gun.
