Iterate Weekly - Issue 175
This week we're talking about a new plastic Apple Watch, making OOO messages more fun, selling concert tickets that include public transportation fees, a new stadium in Saudi Arabia, and "Babes"!
Welcome to issue 175 of Iterate Weekly.
Hope you’re all doing well. This is just a friendly reminder that you can always reply directly to these messages or leave a comment on the Substack post. Feedback is highly encouraged and I’m happy to answer any and all questions that come up.
Thank you as always for reading!
🤖 Tech
Could we soon see a plastic Apple Watch?
There is a rumor floating about that Apple may release a cheaper, plastic, perhaps more kid-friendly version of the Apple Watch.
Why is this is a big deal?
Only because Apple has spend the better part of a decade hammering into our heads that these watches need to be made of various expensive metals to withstand the daily rigor of our lives. They need to be solid timepieces that will hold up and feel solid on our wrists. They need to only come in silver, black, and maybe gold casing.
But what if there was a new generation of Apple Watches that cost less, were lighter on the wrist, and came in a fun rainbow of plastic colors?
It sounds like a smart move to me. And if more kids start wearing them, that’s a bonus! But I think there is certainly an adult audience for watches that come in more fun colors and still have most of the functionality of the other watches but maybe sacrifice a few bells and whistles for a lower price.
As someone who spent most of his 20s wearing different cheap, colorful watches everyday, I love this idea. I’m not saying everyone needs several Apple Watches, but I could see hardcore devotees having a metal watch for more formal occasions and a more fun colorful version for everyday use.
The big take away here is that the Apple Watch has hit a saturation point. People aren’t going to update their watches as frequently as they update their phones. They need to reach a new audience that maybe doesn’t have the same budget and are open to fun colors and different form factors. Sure, teenagers come to mind, but it should certainly be an option for everyone to get a new flavor of Apple Watch.
Now if they would just let them easily connect to Android Phones as well, we’d really be onto something!
🎓 Education/Productivity/Work
Can’t OOO messages be more fun?
Don’t you just hate getting out of office email replies?
First, it usually means that you have to send an additional email to someone else to get the response that you need. And it probably makes you jealous of the person who is off doing something way more fun than answering emails.
Well, apparently Gen Z employees are having more fun with vacation response messages than their predecessors.
The fresh approach to these stale messages is welcomed by many but can offend some. Personally, I used to have some fun with these messages myself. Never anything crazy, but it’s nice to give a fun response when you’re out on vacation or maybe enjoying a major life moment. Perhaps a cheeky message when you’re getting married or having a baby is more appropriate than just going to the beach for week. But your mileage may vary depending on your industry.
I’m surprised that I don’t see more people in my networks with humorous out of office messages. Because it hasn’t been something I’ve seen recently, I’ve defaulted back to pretty standard messages or just removed them altogether. It seems like we should have a better way to handle these vacation messages, but alas it’s still very much the wild west about how to handle your time away from the physical or virtual office.
♻️ Health/Environment/EVs
Selling concert tickets that include public transportation fee
If you’re an international pop star like Adele, you can really call your own shots. Instead of embarking on a global tour, you can just build a new arena from scratch and host a series of shows there.
The temporary stadium will be built in Germany and allows for a pretty custom setup from the ground up. Does this make sense at all from an environmental standpoint? Well, yes and no.
So the idea of building a new venue when plenty of other venues already exist doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But, the carbon footprint of a series of events in one location is surely smaller than a global tour. And with this temporary design, the materials should be easily recycled or transferred to other uses once the string of shows is over.
And maybe the most interesting part of this arrangement is that every ticket sold for these shows will also include a ticket for public transportation. Because the venue is being built up from scratch, there isn’t a proper parking infrastructure to support thousands of cars. So concertgoers are encouraged and incentivized to take public transportation to the event.
This is the first time I’ve heard of such an arrangement with a venue and local transportation provider but I love the idea. I would argue that every major sports stadium in the United States should get on board and use the event ticket as a transportation ticket as well.
🛍 Grab Bag
New Saudi Arabia stadium is unlike anything I’ve seen
That image above is a rendering of a proposed new stadium in Saudi Arabia. Yeah, it’s hard to tell what’s going on but it’s basically a futuristic, cyberpunk-inspired venue perched atop a new city on the edge of the water.
It should be open in time for the World Cup in 2034 but right now it only exists in these wild concept images.
The shapes above the stadium are really something. It seems like something out of Tron and I’m not entirely sure how functional the design is. But it certainly attracts attention and is unlike any other stadium design I’ve seen.
We’ll see how closely the final product resembles this concept image, but it’s exciting to see new and different stadium designs that push the envelope like this.
💬 Quote of the Week
"A great artist is always before his time or behind it."
-George Edward Moore
🎥 Content Review
“Babes”
If you’re looking for a fun summer comedy to watch this week, I highly recommend “Babes”.
Yes, the poster above claims that it’s the comedy of the year and I can’t really disagree. It’s clever, thought-provoking, and has a nice mix of physical and subtle humor.
Add it to your list of fun summer comedies today.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
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