When Apple announced the Apple Watch, I knew I wanted one. In fact, when Motorola announced the Moto 360, I wanted one of those too. If it had been compatible with iOS without any tricks or hacks, then I might have even bought one. It’s probably safe to say that the idea of a smartwatch appeals to me greatly.
But since the announcement of pricing for the Apple Watch I have found myself in conversation with more than a few people who just don’t seem to get why the Apple Watch is so exciting to some of us. It’s expensive, they say. It doesn’t do anything that your iPhone doesn’t do, they point out. You just don’t need it.
And they’re right on all counts. It’s far from cheap, even in its Apple Watch Sport incarnation. Our iPhones do, bar some of the health stuff, exactly what this newfangled watch will do. And no, I don’t desperately need one. But I do want one.
People not understanding what makes me tick about the Apple Watch is fine though. In fact, it’s much higher on the ‘fine’ scale than that awful pun. After all, it just wouldn’t do for us to all be the same now, would it?
But when I see someone looking at the Apple Watch and decrying me as a mad man for even thinking about buying one, I think back to my own stance on technological advancements over the years.
When everyone was buying thick, heavy mobile phones because they had the best cameras in, I just didn’t understand why. I didn’t want to take photos with a phone. The idea was just stupid.
When smartphones were just starting to put in an appearance, long before the iPhone, I wanted the smallest, thinnest and lightest dumb phone Nokia had to offer. I had a computer for computer-y things. Why would I want to do them on a phone?
Of course, these days all the mobile phones we are interested in are of the smart variety, and camera capabilities are very much at the top of anyone’s list of requirements when making a purchase. My iPhone 6 is my one and only camera, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
In case you were wondering, there is indeed a point to this little trip down memory lane. My point is a simple one, and it is that times change, Technology changes, and more importantly, our uses for that technology change along with it. What smartwatches can do today pales into insignificance when compared with what they will be doing tomorrow. I don’t think we have even scratched the surface with what we will be using the Apple Watch for once developers get their teeth into it properly, and that’s what excites me. I get giddy not for what the Apple Watch will do come April 24th, but what it will be doing come six months down the line. Or twelve months. Or five years.
After all, look at the iPhone back in 2007. Eight years later, compare that with what we have now and how we use it. They can’t, and shouldn’t be compared.
So with that in mind, just imagine what the Apple Watch will be doing in 2023.
We might live in the future, but there’s always more of it around the corner. I can’t wait to see what it has to show us, and I think it might just be smartwatch-shaped.