Durban – It’s official. We’ve gone gadget crazy. Watching the launch of the Apple watch recently I couldn’t quite find a compelling reason why I would want this or any other “smartwatch”. Sure it does a whole lot of cool things like open your garage, monitor your heart and call a cab, but so can the phone I already have which cost me seven grand.
But smartwatch makers have endeavoured to convince us that you need this device for convenience. That’s right, it’s annoying and too much of an effort to reach into your pocket and take out your phone. Way too much of an effort.
And latest scientific studies show that reaching into your pocket too often can cause hand/arm/shoulder damage and increased stress levels leading to heart attacks and strokes. Well, that’s at least what Apple should’ve told me if they’d wanted to convince me to buy their latest gizmo.
I don’t get it, just the other day I was told my life, happiness, social standing and general wellbeing depended on me having the latest smartphone, today I’m being told that my smartphone isn’t “the future” anymore and that a smart watch is now “the thing”.
Stop screwing with our heads. We are not brainwashed zombies.
Oh wait, that’s exactly what we are. Because, those of us who see this as naked capitalism and excess are in the minority. The rest want this absurd device, but oddly can’t offer any compelling reason why, except that it’s “cool”.
Business was always about satisfying a need and somehow Apple and their competitors have managed to generate a faux need for high tech watches.
This whole hullabaloo reminds me of grade 7 when a class mate turned up at school one day with a Casio digital watch that happened to be a calculator. I was blown away. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen.
He had bought it on holiday somewhere in the Far East and to me this guy was the kid equivalent of James Bond.Wow, a calculator watch.
I wanted one so bad, it didn’t matter that I already had a calculator, the fact that I could calculate and do calculations if I ever wanted to was pretty exciting. I think the watch was also able to store phone numbers. Like 20 of them. Even cooler.
This was my first experience with a “nice to have” but “don’t have to have” gizmo. Of course, Casio never had the kind of marketing budget Apple has today so their original “smartwatch” never became that much of a big thing.
But in many ways that smartwatch made more sense than the one Apple is making today. This was pre-cellphone days.
After investing billions of dollars and hours into convincing people that their phone is more important than their children, religion and life itself, essentially what Apple is telling is that we are spending too much time with our phones and should rather use a watch.
I had to laugh when one of the big bosses said the watch would help people be less distracted. Sure, let’s reduce people’s obsession with technology by giving them another gizmo. A contradiction if ever there was one.
Where previously you could ignore your phone by keeping it in your pocket or bag, your life will now be consumed with endless pings, message notifications and flashing lights. Not distracting at all. If anything, Satan’s watch is likely to immerse you even more in whatever it is it’s suppose to save you from.
This isn’t even progression from a techno-utility point of view because we are told that the watch doesn’t even replace your phone. From what we’ve been made to understand is that you would still have to keep your phone because the watch works in conjunction with it.
I have to wonder what we might be “convinced” to buy next?
It’s a matter of time before another everyday item is turned into a “smart device”.
Give it a little bit of time and you might find i-Glasses hitting the market – smart sunglasses that allow you to answer text messages by blinking, or that allows you to add someone on Facebook by merely looking at them.
Of course, then the rationale behind such a device would be that holding up your hand to use your smartwatch takes too much effort and is too distracting.
How technology “needs” have seemingly become so absurd that in an effort to be as connected as possible we are more disconnected than we ever have been.
Disconnected from what is really important in pursuing, those around us, our loved ones and ourselves.
Sure, get a smartwatch if you think it’s going to make you happy, but remember, it’s just until the next distraction comes along.
Twitter: @masoodboomgaard
Sunday Tribune