Start Saving: You’re Going to Buy an Apple Watch Next Year
Well maybe
It’s always risky writing predictions about technology; there’s a very strong chance that you’ll get them completely wrong. We may have self driving cars (of sorts), jet packs (of sorts) and robots in the home (of sorts), but it’s hardly the Jetsons is it? Damn you Hanna-Barbera for crushing my dreams.
Nevertheless, as 2014 comes to a close, I thought that I’d take a stab at a technological prediction for 2015 and here it is: the Apple Watch is going to be an enormous success.
Foolish words you may think? You’re not alone: some analysts on Wall Street are not convinced that consumers will flock to buy the Apple Watch either — though I would retort that those analysts were probably just as skeptical about the iPhone and iPad too. I also doubt that many of them have ever used a smart watch.
But I have. I’ve been using a smart watch for the last three months and it’s been awesome.
APPLE TO GOOGLE
For reasons I won’t bore you with, about 18 months ago I swapped my iPhone 4s for an Android Google Nexus. I also became an ‘Explorer’ — an early adopter of Google Glass. Using Glass quickly made me realize that wearable technology has a truly huge potential, if only it didn’t make people (like me) feel self conscious.
So when the Moto 360 was announced — which is by far the nicest of the Android watches currently available — I thought that it maybe worth giving it a try.
Prior to buying the Moto 360, I hadn’t regularly worn a watch for years. Like most people these days, I just looked at my phone whenever I needed to know the time. Yet, within the first day of using my new smart watch, I was astonished by just how useful it was. With just a glance at my wrist I could see who was calling, check email, read a text, get directions, and all without ever needing to get my phone out of my pocket. The Moto 360 had all the day-to-day advantages of Google Glass, but without making me feel like a techie nerd; no one paid the slightest attention to me on the subway.
NEW SMARTWATCH ETIQUETTE
I also soon learned that there are some inherent disadvantages to using a smart watch. When I was in a business meeting or with friends, I quickly realized that I needed to be extremely tactful about when, or when not to glance at the watch. Checking your phone in a meeting is rude enough; looking at your watch is tantamount to shouting “when can I get the hell out of here?”
But tactlessly glancing at your watch is the least of your worries if an inappropriate text comes through; because if you’re with anyone, they’re likely to see it before you do. I speak from personal experience.
In the middle of a recent meeting, ‘Monty just pooped’ flashed up on the face of my watch: an auto text sent by my dog walking service that handily tells me when either of my dogs have ‘done their business.’ On the whole, disrupting the dog walking industry is a wonderful thing, but not on this occasion — though it certainly started a great conversation about the most embarrassing text that could appear during a meeting / interview / date.
All in all, the disadvantages of having to learn a whole new etiquette is massively outweighed by the sheer usefulness of a smart watch —a point that was recently driven home to me by the fact that I can no longer use mine.
GOOGLE TO APPLE
Last week I bought an iPhone 6 Plus and finally returned to the Apple fold. Now my Moto 360 sits idly on my bedside table while I wait patiently (rumored to be the spring of 2015) for the launch of the Apple Watch. At least I have some time to save up.
You should start saving too.
