Am I impressed by the lack of support for anything outside of the US, no, if that's what you trying to get at?
How could you possibly interpret his post as trying to ask whether you are impressed by the lack of support outside the US?
If you want to answer his question, answer his question. If you don't, then don't. But don't pretend he was asking something completely different than he was asking so that you can make a completely different point.
In response to the OP's question: I don't believe the approach to the Band comes from "listening" to anyone, but rather shows that they are learning from the financial debacle that was the Surface RT. The RT was a great device at the time (I bought three for my family), but it was priced too high to get traction, and there just weren't enough people interested at that price. Also, there was enough delay between the announcement and the actual release that the enthusiasm had died and people had found reasons to complain before it even hit the shelves. MS went all in, and had a billion dollar write-down because of it.
The smartwatch market is still new, and manufacturers are still trying to guess at what will appeal to consumers. I think MS is wise to quickly dip its toe in the water, fine tune the product, and then make a bigger push once the picture is more clear.
I think Apple made a huge mistake with the iWatch. First, I think they made a huge mistake by selling a product that requires an iPhone. Despite the hype, the iPhone has roughly 1/3 of the US smartphone market. Sixty-two percent of the smartphone market is Android users who have no use for a watch that requires a different phone. Apple's share of the global smartphone market is even smaller than its share of the US market. So their first mistake is cutting off the vast majority of potential customers.
The second mistake they made is overpricing. (The same way MS overpriced the Surface RT.) All market surveys indicate that $300 is generally the limit of what people will pay for a smartwatch.
The third mistake they made is the 1-day battery. (The same way the Surface RT and original Surface Pro suffered from below-par battery life.)
The fourth mistake they made is failing to release it in time for Christmas. (The same way the original Surface Pro failed to hit shelves before Christmas.)
The fifth mistake they made is unveiling the product several months before it hits the shelves. (The same way MS announced the original Surface line months before hitting the shelves.) There are too many good devices coming out between now and then at good prices, and the iWatch just doesn't have any compelling features to justify the high price.
The sixth mistake they made is failing to make a compelling argument for people to buy a new kind of product. Most people don't wear watches anymore. Getting used to them is uncomfortable. The health and fitness crowd will buy Fitbits and MS Bands because they offer something new if you're into health/fitness. But there's a reason people stopped wearing watches when smartphones came out -- the smartphone rendered them largely unnecessary. Apple hasn't given a compelling reason to put one back on.
I predict the iWatch will be an iFlop. I think the whole smartwatch market will be a bust save for the health and fitness crowd. But there's a good size market of health and fitness consumers out there, and companies that tailor to those consumers can sell some products. FitBit is doing well, and MS is off to a good start. The iWatch, IMHO, simply misunderstands the market.
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