Why would anyone get particularly excited about a 6-12 month per charge e-ink watch with no "fancy CPU and fancy radio"?
That's just a watch. The e-ink adds no real value if you can't do interesting things with it. If this were "just" an e-ink display mimicking a mechanical watch, I'd personally rather an actual mechanical watch.
I'm hoping that much like how I don't for a second resent having to charge my smartphone every night in return for all the "extra stuff" it does over my perhaps once a week recharge requirements from my last non-smart phone, that this thing will do "new stuff" that makes it worth charging every night, and also happen to be a perfectly functional watch as well. (Much like my phone isn't so much a "phone" these days, its a "pocket web browser / email client / twitter client / gps mapper / casual game device" which also happens to make phone calls.)
Now that the smartphones are doing the smart things other devices will either be absorbed (palmpilot, mp3 player...) or will be slowly killed.
IMHO, a smart watch can have a place, if only as a fashion accessory, as long as it doesn't add too much burden to the daily routine.
Look at how many people are still wearing watches around you and ask them why they do that when they have a smartphone - [and that's just without the charging burden]. You may be surprised: around me it either to look good or to still have time when the smartphone has been fully discharged.
For Saint-Exupery, perfection is not reached when every feature has been added but when any unnecessary feature has been removed.
IMHO daily charging and advanced features should both be removed or made as easy as possible for a true smartwatch success.
Then I would get very excited at a eink watch similar to the seiko SGDA003 but selling at a fraction of the price - especially if it was made of a good quality titanium alloy.
Added value is in the eyes of the purchaser : IIRC the Seiko sells for $1000 and doesn't do anything fancy : they just looks great (the display is gorgeous) and are rumored to be tough to damage.
Apparently such basic features justify enough value for the pricetag. Removing the radio and the power-hungry cpu, then aiming at a $200 pricetag with a device looking as good as the seiko should be possible - and I'd buy one!
But it seems like the company went into another direction, aiming at geeks who wants many additional toy functions (untested market) compared to the actual buyers of eink watches (tested market) who want something lees expansive, better looking and maybe also more open.
You charge your phone and your bluetooth handsfree. But would you also charge your watch? And your glasses? And other gizmos?
I think many people will be quickly fed up and just stil to charging the device that helps them the most (here: the smartphone) and replace the others by dumber and power-efficient devices.
That's just a watch. The e-ink adds no real value if you can't do interesting things with it. If this were "just" an e-ink display mimicking a mechanical watch, I'd personally rather an actual mechanical watch.
I'm hoping that much like how I don't for a second resent having to charge my smartphone every night in return for all the "extra stuff" it does over my perhaps once a week recharge requirements from my last non-smart phone, that this thing will do "new stuff" that makes it worth charging every night, and also happen to be a perfectly functional watch as well. (Much like my phone isn't so much a "phone" these days, its a "pocket web browser / email client / twitter client / gps mapper / casual game device" which also happens to make phone calls.)