As an observer of most things tech I’ve been considering what to write about for this blog article. The blog posts are not as frequent as I would like and the age old excuse of ‘not enough time’ always rears its ugly head. It’s a fairly lame excuse to be honest. Apparently though our perception of time passing more quickly as you age does bear some credence – so perhaps a valid excuse after all? Try reading ‘Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pass at Different Speeds and How to Control it’ by Steve Taylor for a better insight.
So talking of tech and time, it begs to ask the question do I need a smart watch? Will a smart watch help make my time last longer?
My oh so mobile smartphone travels with me just about everywhere I go. There are obviously some exceptions – it’s not a smartphone of the newly waterproof variety. Perhaps more a reflection of the time we live in than an inherent need to be in-touch and connected everywhere I go. So if I had the same or similar tech strapped to my wrist would this ‘make my life better’ and give me more time?!?
I’d be less able to put it down somewhere and ‘lose’ the pesky thing. Ok, one up to the smart watch. It would live semi-permanently strapped around my wrist.
Is it a smartphone replacement? No. Absolutely not. I confess that I need glasses to easily read the rather minute text on the 5″ LCD display on my smartphone. A smart watch with anything larger than a 2″ display would be an absolute behemoth. Not a replacement for the smart phone then. Not just yet.
So what then? my smart watch would very likely communicate and interface with my smartphone so that all the stuff on my phone is mirrored on my smart watch. Wouldn’t it? Not so sure. A small 1.5 to 2-inch display is definitely not suitable for the reams of content such as emails, social media feeds, images etc. Perhaps my smart watch would inform me when I have new email, text or app notifications. Ok. But my smartphone is in my pocket or sitting on the desk beside me. It can be put down, I don’t feel the need (or the desire) to be permanently connected.
Perhaps the smart watch needs to be (and some are already) more personal. Monitoring. Measuring. Tracking. Heart rate, temperature, activity, rest etc. A personal tricorder. In the fictional Star Trek universe, a tricorder is a multifunction hand-held device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data.
On a more esoteric level I think more data – in whatever form it takes – needs more time to be digested which inherently makes time pass more quickly. If I were to live in a rural backwater – without data – surely the days would drag slowly and pleasantly by?
So when all is considered would a smart watch give me more time in the long run or ultimately just tell me the time. From an aesthetic point of view I think they look good. Or am I missing the point this time…?