NYT: Apple Design Chief Jony Ive on iWatch Design: “Switzerland is in Trouble”

iWatch concept by Martin Hajek

Nick Bilton from the New York Times writes about how today’s batch of smart watches and wearables are downright “really ugly”. He calls out the Pebble, Neptune Pine, then drops this nugget, which he says comes from people who work at Apple with design chief Jony Ive and the company’s upcoming wearables (note: plural):

While we don’t have much of an idea what the coveted iWatch will look like, I was able to glean one small detail from people at Apple who work on the company’s wearables.

According to a designer who works at Apple, Jonathan Ive, Apple’s design chief, in bragging about how cool he thought the iWatch was shaping up to be, gleefully said Switzerland is in trouble — though he chose a much bolder term for “trouble” to express how he thought the watchmaking nation might be in a tough predicament when Apple’s watch comes out.

What’s another word for ‘trouble’ that Ive might have used? Switzerland is f****d? Screwed? Use your imagination.

According to multiple reports from Re/code, Apple is expected to launch a wearable device at its September 9 media event, where it will also debut new iPhone 6 models. The device will apparently ship in early 2015, with a price that Apple executives have mulled coming in at $400.

Nonetheless, these little nuggets coming from multiple media reports are only heightening expectations for Apple’s upcoming event next week, which is scheduled to take place at the Flint Center in Cupertino (capacity: 2400), where the company is also constructing its own external venue.

The countdown is on folks!