In our world, there’s a clear divide between people who wear watches and people who don’t. The non-watch wearers dominate the scene these days, but only time will tell whether the status quo will change after Tuesday’s release of the Apple Watch.
Personally, I don’t wear a watch. I eat, sleep and go to the bathroom with my iPhone. If I had to take a guess, I’d bet that most students and professors on campus would agree with me. We’re constantly infatuated with our smartphones.
As technology increases and clocks appear on LED screens lining every street corner, owning a watch has merely become a vanity that symbolizes luxury.
Companies like Rolex and Cartier make money off a niche group of clientele who wear watches not only to tell time but also to brand a certain lifestyle.
Therefore, one might say that having a watch is obsolete. Sadly, many young students haven’t even learned how to tell time via an analog clock.
Since technology is ever-present in our lives, it seems logical that the watch business should evolve. In order for this to happen, watches need to advance by morphing to conjoin with online, ?social platforms.
It’s attracting two groups of people: the high society watch-wearers and the Apple-obsessed technology lovers.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., unveiled the Apple Watch on Sept. 9. At first glance, it looks pretty and shiny, and all I wanted to do was hold it in my hands and play with it.
But as he got more into explaining the design and purpose for the watch, I became apprehensive.
Marketed as a “comprehensive health and fitness companion,” I felt like Cook was trying to sell me a personal trainer for the small fortune of $349.
Then, Cook went on to explain how you can send your friends personalized drawings, as well as the beat of your own pulse, all through the wristwatch.
Suddenly, I realized Apple is trying to take the feeling out of personal connections. Gone are the days of human interaction. Here are the days of inanimate objects ?literally running our lives.
With the Apple Watch, we won’t have to respond to text messages anymore. Apple now has the capability to understand texts and create logical responses that are then corresponded back to the sender.
At first, I thought the smart watch was good idea. But an idea, like that rainbow layer cake you saw on Pinterest and attempted to make, turned out looking like cow ?manure.
Instead of hugging loved ones goodbye, we will be sending them a recreation of our heartbeat. It’s intimacy at a ?distance.
It’s a little troubling.
Who knows, next year Apple will probably be designing an app that chews our food for us.
jkarl@indiana.edu
