I would have thought that the 'short battery life' depends upon your perspective of what you are using the Apple Manacle for. If you view it as a watch (yes, I really want to throw away my Omega Tresor for this ... or not, as it happens) then having to recharge a watch every 24 hours is going to be a pain. If you view it for what it really is, a bluetooth device designed to complement your iPhone then slinging yet another device onto the nightly recharge list is not too much of a hardship.
Either way I am not impressed, I really do not want to have an array of exhausted Apple devices lined up by my bed every night, hyped-up designer-wear notwithstanding. Perhaps Apple should have included a self-winding option - after all they seem so interested in telling us about the variable wrist action.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
