Smart Watch – Which watch to watch

There are still too many reasons why this won’t work.

• Wearable technology is not a new idea; it is just that no one has managed to create any with mass market appeal.
• Remember the Microsoft SPOT watches from 2003? (Click here if you can’t)
• Another example is the older generation of the iPod Nano which came with a wrist strap and a clock function but it never really caught on.
• I suspect that a combination of short battery life and the fact that one had to turn it on to get the time was a factor in its demise.
• However, I think the biggest factor was the fact that watches are major items of fashion and Apple is not a fashion brand.
• This, I believe will be the single biggest factor limiting the appeal of smart watches beyond the geek crowd.
• There are endless rumours circulating about how Apple has 100 people working on a smart watch through Microsoft ordering components to Samsung tinkering with prototypes.
• At this stage all they are doing is experimentation and I do not believe that there are firm plans to launch products.
• This is because the evidence is that in their current form, smart watches are unlikely to sell.  
• The one that comes closest is the Martian Passport Watch.
• To me, this is because it can almost pass as a regular watch and will function as one when the user glances at it just to know the time.
• In my mind there are three criteria that need to be met before this segment will fly.
  • First. A smart watch needs to offer functionality that adds utility. i.e. it needs to do something more than act as a mini-screen and remote control for a smartphone.
  • Second. A smart watch needs to tell the time with exactly the same ease, reliability and battery life as a regular watch.
  • Third and most important. A smart watch must be seen as fashion item. This, I suspect, will require the involvement of the big brands who, so far, are conspicuously absent from this whole wearable technology fad.
• Fulfil all three of these requirements and I can see the segment taking off but until then it is likely to remain the realm of dreams and white elephants.