The much anticipated and the (already) much maligned Apple Watch was released with fan fare far and wide. For over a year the world has heard wild rumors about the Cupertino company taking aim at that blank space on your wrist. We came to expect Apple to be releasing something similar to the Apple Watch today as we read quotes about this years product lineup to be the best in 25 years with the company. And it has arrived.
Meet the Apple Watch.
It has long been in use as a way to not disappoint those you have a scheduled appointment with and to ensure you arrive at your destination when needed. It has been a statement about yourself and your desire for aesthetically pleasing jewelry. It has been a keepsake that many people pass down as a token of past generations. But Apple has changed all that. Now, many will stand up and yell and say Movoto or Samsung has already changed the way we think about a watch. But they are wrong. Samsung has come close to the way we can use technology on our body but Apple has changed the way we think about using a watch.
It used to be that a watchmaker was an artist. A man who would craft together a precise number of instruments to create as precise as possible instrument to tell time. These parts were all built by hand and we reveled in the finest of hand crafted timepieces. Eventually, like everything else, a watch became obsolete. It became only an accessory to accompany an outfit. Or it was an investment such as a Rolex. But we lost so much appreciation of what a watch used to be due to the transformation of technology. But technology never transformed the watch. Until now.
Apple has spent a lot of money making this watch. Do not think for a moment that Apple has not spent billions over the last year to bring to market what an artist would consider “good enough” (artists are never truly satisfied with their work). Other companies have only dabbled in the transformation of the idea of the watch because they had opportunity to beat Apple. But when you take your talents into a marketplace that is hyper-competitive and you are going up against Goliath, well you better have revolutionized your sling shot.
Let’s rewind. Remember the release of the iPad? Remember when the world went crazy over how crazy they though Jobs and Apple were over releasing an “oversized iPhone”? Well they did. They were also criticized for getting rid of the plastic keyboard on the phone. And the CD drive. And the mouse. Well this is it again. This is the moment the critics will complain about the Watch being a useless, undefined category, waste of space, too expensive, already done, not unique enough product. And they will be wrong.
When the Apple Watch is released we will see the innovation of apps and ideas of ways to use the device like nothing we have seen since the release of the iPad. This is a watershed moment for the life of the watch as we know it. It’s suddenly NOT all about time. It is about the space between the spaces that we never thought would affect the very fundamental ways we live our lives. From how we can communicate with our children, our homes, our cars, our money, our loved elderly ones, our work, right down to our social networks, the Apple Watch will become more ubiquitous than the iPhone because we won’t hide it in our pockets or purses or forget to leave it at home or in our cars.
Welcome to Apple Watch. Enjoy.
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