 |
| Smartwatches (Image credit: theregister.co.uk) |
The implied advertisement subliminal message: "You need this. You can't live without it."
The newest wave of technology apparatus has reached American soil. Among the many offerings now comes Smartwatches.
Yes, they not only look smart, but, they are smart in the sense of having none other than a built in computer -- literally.
I don't know about you, but when I come home, at night I take my analog Timex watch off and leave it on the dresser where it stays until the next day.
Yet, I too am the same person who in the 70's was the first to buy an LED watch. I have always been a 'sucker' for technology. Was then. Am now.
So, how important is it to have a smartwatch? Will it change my life for the better? Is it a fad? And if so, what will it be replaced by in the next technology wave?
These are things I think about. I haven't had a bad case of techno-lust for quite some time. Not since 2007 CES did I experience a bad case of it.
That was the year of Nokia's N95 smartphone. It was also the year for the introduction of Apple's first smartphone, the iPhone.
I didn't hesitate to buy the N95. It was (and still is in many respects) the best technology I'd ever seen or wanted.
The price $800 wasn't an obstacle. It's all about want vs. need. I wanted it.
Do I feel anything akin to that today? Nope. In fact, I don't like most smartphones. I'd rather have a phone with buttons personally. I miss that aspect of the N95.
But time marches on. Here come the smartwatches. And now a new young generation swells with lust to have. Their focus diverts from the smartphone.
Will the smartphone get left behind? I don't think so.
But I am not convinced smartwatches will be anything as large a market as smartphones is.
So, is using a Smartwatch stupid? I argue for the point that it is, unless someone can convince me otherwise.
If I need to carry any form of computing on my person, it will remain the smartphone if I can locate a decent one that lives up to my expectations.
Smartwatches isn't something that represents a life changer like the smartphone. It's just proof that we can put silicon wafer chips into smaller and smaller form factors, that's all. And I don't need to prove that by wearing one.
-- Dietrich
