When you think back to the telling of time, it's really only in recent centuries that we've had any degree of precision. Agricultural societies used the sun and the stars to give a sense of what time it was, but really they were more focused on figuring out the season of the harvest and when to prepare for a cooler winter. Eventually we had the invention of the sundial, then larger and cumbersome clocks, then finally, the pocket watch.
Now it's easy for us to find clocks. They're on our smartphones, on our computers, even on devices such as televisions and DVD players. In fact, most people eschew wristwatches these days because it duplicates devices we already have. That's where Apple is hoping to make inroads. After shaking up the industry with its iPhone nearly a decade ago, the tech giant just debuted the Apple Watch.
"Apple Watch represents a new chapter in the relationship people have with technology," the company writes on its product page. "It’s the most personal product we’ve ever made, because it’s the first one designed to be worn." The company lists a host of benefits for its technology, ranging from accurate timekeeping to an easy way to see notifications to even keeping track of your fitness statistics, which is likely a push against the Fitbit trend of late.
Is the demand there for Apple? Some early indications show that the market may be soft. An Ipsos poll of 1,245 Americans online in the days after the watch was announced showed that 69% of respondents were not interested in buying it. And half of them said they feel smartwatches are a "passing fad." That said, most said they had not heard of the watch yet, so perhaps it is a question of awareness. The survey is considered accurate within plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
And oddly enough, there has been a boost for a competing product -- the Pebble, a smartwatch that is undergoing a Kickstarter campaign right now to raise money for further development. The company asked for $500,000 and is now in the black to the tune of nearly $20 million.
“When the biggest company in the world enters your market, that’s the kind of validation you can only dream of," Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky told TechCrunch. "Ultimately the more awareness for smartwatches, and the more choice for consumers, the better for everyone. 2015 is going to be an extraordinarily exciting year.”
So what are the benefits of the watch? The Guardian says that it will boost the metrics of what some people call the "quantified self", where you can keep track of daily steps or time learning new skills. It cautions, however, that we should be less focused with minute-by-minute metrics and instead focus on benefits in the long term.
And even those who are dedicated to fitness have their doubts. TechRadar writes, "The Apple Watch doesn't have GPS, it can't structure training plans to get you fitter, and the battery will last as long as a chocolate roll at an eight-year-old's birthday party. It's not in the same league as dedicated running watches by any stretch of the imagination, so for the enthusiast it's a non-starter."
Still, Apple faced similar criticism with products such as the iPhone and the iPad. They have a dedicated group of followers who loyally line up at stores every time a new version of these products is released, and there surely will be a similar buzz when the Apple Watch releases on April 24. To paraphrase Shakespeare, the evil is not necessarily in the technology, but in the use of it. Perhaps there is an innovative use of the watch or other wearable technologies that could benefit others.
Top image: Apple
