There was a lot riding on the Apple Watch when it first hit stores on April 24th, 2015. It was the first new product category Apple had entered since Tim Cook took over as CEO for the late Steve Jobs. And even though iPhone sales were still riding high, it was becoming clear to the industry at large that the smartphone market couldn't continue to grow at nearly the same rate it had thus far. Apple needed to prepare its next hit -- and in the months leading up to the first Apple Watch reveal in the fall of 2014, it was obvious that tech companies big and small were betting on wearables.

Much like the original iPad, though, the first Apple Watch was a classic "first-gen" product: intriguing, but rough around the edges. That lack of polish showed up mostly in the Watch's sluggish performance. Sure, notifications were handy, the watch faces looked great and its health- and fitness-tracking features showed promise. But third-party apps took far too long to load data, making it easier to just grab your phone.

Perhaps the biggest issue with the first Apple Watch was a ack of focus. Apple just didn't do a good job of explaining who it was for. It had a bunch of really strange "digital touch" communication features that never caught on and were later de-prioritized by Apple, but they were a big deal for the company when the Watch first launched. (Refresh your memory here!) Additionally, third-part apps were hit-or-miss, with tiny, fairly useless versions of Twitter and Instagram showing that Apple and its developers didn't quite know what to do with the Watch.